How to start to know about wines?

Alex Russell (Alex Russell) – doctor of science from Sydney University more than ten years was a wine merchant. Not so long ago he finished a doctoral dissertation on the theme “perception of taste and aroma of wine.” It was discussed that we need to begin to understand wines.

The doctor States that anyone with a functioning nose and mouth, can become a wine expert.

“Many people think that wine experts endowed with special abilities. But I spent seven years studying this question and found that in the skill and exercise”

Publishing their tips on the website of the University of Sydney, Alex says that is possible to achieve the first results already within a few hours. By adding that to achieve the expert level will require “time, money and a lot of enthusiasm.”

It is a set of simple tips is a kind of program primary of the intensive for those wishing to understand the fault.

1) Select 4 hours of your time.

Working on my doctorate, I invited the newcomers to his laboratory, where they tasted a variety of wines. In most cases it was given about an hour, and much progress we have not seen. But if they stayed at least another half-hour, it was starting to show some results, and after 4 hours is already quite noticeable. Experts they are not, of course, was never, but it is obvious that they did not need years to dig into the subject.

2) Drink a different wine.

No one has risen to the expert, staying on that loved one. When we go to places, try new things. Expand your horizons – book different wine by the glass, even if it is possible to take a bottle of whatever you like <Russia Council is wasteful, but technically correct, approx. translator>.

Compare wine varieties, by type, by region and producers.

3) please have a glass of wine sets.

Memory for scents you can be good, but it can fail, like any other memory. Instead of trying from memory to compare the wine in the glass that you drank at dinner in Italy, organize a parallel tasting different bottles to have the opportunity of direct comparison.

4) Close your eyes. And remember.

Main ridge wine expert – the ability to confidently and consistently identify the flavors. But wine with aroma of black currants are not made from black currant or its Appendix, and apparently it does with it not connected. And it is difficult to identify a specific flavor, if you do not establish a clear visual Association. Actually, wine do contain compounds that by themselves – if they are isolated from wine smells of black currants, strawberries, hay, etc.

Sniff all with my eyes closed, trying to identify and remember odors, enrich your aromatic “database”.

It may seem difficult, but with time you will notice obvious progress.

5) Having problems with aroma – add it yourself.

Not sure that there are a ton of peach Chardonnay? Add a little peach syrup in another glass. So you will understand the smell of a peach in the wine. Gradually reduce the number of their supplements, until you can distinguish the flavor in the wine, without any additives.

Tones that can be found in a glass of wine – hundreds, including chocolate, spices, and even truffle oil!

6) Learn to select words for wine

Are you already an expert in perfumery and gastronomy, but you will still need to examine the wine separately, learning the associated vocabulary.

The essence of the expert evaluation of wine is the ability to associate its aroma and taste with understandable terms. Experts and sommeliers discuss the wine, using a common vocabulary, while newcomers with great difficulty can you describe the wine, not having “a vocabulary of the taster”.

7) a Dog’s sense of smell can be not necessarily

In experiments repeatedly found that the susceptibility to aromas of experts and beginners alike.

In fact, experts feel all the same as beginners, but interpretiruya is much better: as an experienced chess player who looks at the same Board and see the same shape as the beginner, but the clearer and faster understanding of the situation.

8) you can Start with cheap wine. But an expert with him not to become.

Price is not a perfect indicator of quality (all subjective). But, as a rule, more expensive wine better represents the character of the place where it is produced. A knowledge of the regions wine production is a necessary quality of expert

9) Drink – a little. Will have to read.

A wine expert is not only a good taster. He also knows a lot about how wine is made, where it is made and more about what it is accepted to write in the wine textbooks and reference books.

10) don’t be afraid of mistakes

Many people avoid taking part in testing games and competitions out of fear of losing. But the mistakes – this is normal. During the famous French experiment, when white wine tint and filed under the guise of the red, managed to fool many experts. He proved how much our expectations and thoughts influence the perception of wine, as if we “drink the wine with your eyes.”

Experts make mistakes, too. But they are right more often.

“The drinks business”, Aprill 2015 (Illustration: WineFolly)