Wine expert?!
Wine expert?
Recently at a party a colleauge was drinking a glass of wine and telling anyone who would listen about it.He said the nose which was spicy which reminded him of a recent trip to spice a market in india and when he drank some he fought he had gone to heaven, vanilla exploded onto his taste buds,all the while holding the glass up to the light and rolling the wine around the glass,he added that he supected the grapes where grown on a coastal facing slope.At the time i was quite impressed with his knowledge as where the others,quite a crowd had gathered.
But now i look back at it i wonder was he just being a bit silly?
Answers:
He's full of crap. I've been drinking wine for over 40 years and I have neve heard of a vanilla taste in wine and you can't tell where the grapes were grown by looking at the wine.
he was trying to sound like a know it all ...and if anyone else at the party knew about wine they would see him as some jerk trying to fool everybody.
He's a poseur, it's best to ignore him as he's trying his best to try and impress anybody that will listen to him.
I mean c'mon! He totally gave himself away with the spicy nose reminding him of a trip to India and going on about the grapes being grown on a coastal slope. First of all, there's no way that he'd get Indian type spices in the nose of a red wine. Secondly, most wines out there are blended which means that the coastal facing grapes are mixed with the grapes facing every other way. Seriously, he's full of it and people like that make my teeth itch.
And to comment on Ron's observation, I've been drinking wine for about 10 years now and I can say with authority that I've tried reds that have had hints of vanilla. I've also had chocolate, cassis, blackberry, leather, tobacco and too many other flavours to mention.
He was the hit of the party! My how we a duped by those seeming to know the right answers.
There are red wines (Syrah) that have spicey in the nose so he could be right on that one. Where the grapes were grown well... he probably took a wild stab. There are some distinct areas.
The vanilla comes from OAK and could be there depending on the barrel in which is was aged. Holding a glass to the light most generally means you are looking for clarity. Rolling the wine around in the glass enhances the nose so he could smell more. He probably has a little knowledge and enhanced it some.
He was being a twit, or similar.
ignore him, drink it, enjoy it, don't talk about it !
me: wine maker and drinker for 20 years and never felt the need to talk drivle like that.
He was indeed being a total numpty. I used to work for Oddbins and that kind of chat was actively discouraged. With regard to the "Coastal.." he may have seen the label of the bottle, or indeed brought the bottle to the party himself.
People like him - Oz Clarke and Jilly Golden spring to mind - should upon uttering such boorish trivia be taken outside, have their photo taken and then never let near a glass of wine for the rest of their lives.
Well they do say that bullsh*t baffles science and it appears to work in many cases.You don't think that just maybe he had a look at the bottle label ....
The other answers are right. He is full of it! He surely liked the wine and had some knowledge, but you can't tell all of that.. If you are wondering go to a wine shop and talk to someone about a good $15 bottle of wine and explain to them what kind of wine you are looking for and they will steer you in the right direction. Many people start with whites and that is fine, whites tend to be cold and your taste fewer of the tastes. The warmer (between 40 and 70 degree F) the more you will taste. But in the interest of learning I suggest a red and if you are new to the subject get a Shiraz, Pinot Nior, Syrah. Or I really like Chiantis and Red Zinfandels. Any of these tend to be less dry and more fruity or jammy, more appealing. Open the bottle and pout it into a nice "bowled" wine glass and begin to study it. stick your nose into the glass and take a long slow sniff to see if you can smell anything distinct like plum or raspberry. swirl it around and examine how it runs down the side of the glass, these are called the legs. Someone will likley say I am wrong but the legs have to do with alcohol content. This also lets you look at the clarity, most wines are not clowdy and free of debris but sometimes you will see a little sediment, this is from the skins of the grape called tanin. Smell it again slowly and breathe out through your mouth. You actually smell with your tastebuds. Take a nice sip and let it sit in you mouth. Swirl it around so you get the wine on all areas of your mouth because differnt sections of the tounge taste different things. Swallow and think about what you just tasted. Did you taste almonds or pepper, Fruits, did it take a the moisture out of your mouth and leave your tounge dry? What kind of fruit did you taste? The more you do it the better you will get. Do it with someone else not to be snooty but another opinion on what you taste can help alot. Try it with different foods like chocolate, fruits, melons or cheese and crackers. It will completely change what you taste. Most of all, have fun enjoy the wine and don't act like you know it all like the guy you discribed it is not about that, it is about enjoying the wine, the company, the food and the fun.
I think he was over-doing the descriptions a bit. or rather he was extremely over exaggerting the tastes and smells. I can often taste certain smells, with wines, but nothing like the coastal slope where it was grown, etc.
The comments about the spicy notes, etc. seemed OK, but when you start getting into describing where grapes are grown, that is overboard and uncessary. I work in the wine industry, and I can tell about 50% of the time where something is from, as in central coast zinfandel vs. north coast zinfandel. But beyond that, i could not tell you much more just based on smell alone.
I would probably think your colleauge was a bit of a poseur/wannabe and was trying to sound like a smarty pants and impress people.
I call them wineprats. He wouldn't know a decent wine if it jumped up & bit his ****! Who serves good wine to drunks at parties?
Next time one of these tossers tries it on just walk away.