I would like to thank Lettie Teague, who writes the weekly wine column for the Wall Street Journal, for planting this idea in my head. In her book about learning to appreciate wine, Educating Peter, she tries to explain to a friend, Peter, how to approach wine. Peter is a newbie, and he really only likes oaky Chardonnay.
Lettie begins by telling Peter that there are six great grape varieties: three red and three white. The reds are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir. The whites are: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling.
Like many wine professionals, she is big fan of Riesling (which has made me a fan of hers.)
Having read her book, I concluded that one of the best ways to get to know wine is to concentrate on just these six grape varieties that she described. Pick one of them—say Merlot—and only taste wines made from that grape for the next two-three months. Fortunately, there are wines made from Merlot grapes grown all over the world.
Then after working your way through Merlot, move on to Sauvignon Blanc. And after two-three months, move onto Pinot Noir. And so on.
But, the main thing, whichever wine you are focused on, is to pay attention to the wine. Where is it from? What is the climate like in that location? How old is it? How much did you pay for it? Which winery produced it? How does it taste? Is it similar or different from other Merlots you have been tasting? Have you begun to develop a preference for Merlots from one part of the world or another?
If you want to become even more diligent about this, you can keep a notebook and record your perceptions about each of the wines. Wine professionals carry a notebook, because there are far too many wines to remember. It’s their business to keep track of wine. If they can’t do it without a notebook, then neither can you.
We know this approach works, because we have used this approach when we taste Riesling. After 15 years of growing and producing wines from the Riesling grape, we have tasted hundreds of Rieslings from all over the world. Our brains and taste buds have locked in on the spectrum of flavors, and we are always looking for a new one.
There are more than 4,000 grape varieties used to make wines, so it is not possible to taste them all in this level of detail. Even attempting to get your arms around the six great varieties in Lettie Teague’s book is a challenge. We have not come close to mastering all six.
Nonetheless, we keep trying. Pick a classic grape variety. Taste wines made from those grapes. Pay attention. Tell us your stories.
Bruce,
A perfect column for widespread readers -as in the FLT!
J. P. G. Romulus