After many years of being into wine – more than twenty now – there is still a
topic that makes me think every time someone asks me for an opinion about it.
It often makes me think that around this topic – sensorial and analytical
tasting – there is a confusion sometimes even embarrassing. I realize for some
wine lovers, so to speak, more or less experienced, witnessing the
sensorial tasting exercise carried out by a taster is an experience bordering
on witchcraft, fascinated by the number of descriptors listed during the
analysis of what the taster has in the glass. The taster, or presumed one, is
often seen and considered as a special person, gifted with who knows what
supernatural powers, capable of telling any secret of any wine and,
apparently, with comfortably ease and without any effort. For many, moreover,
it borders on the transcendent to see someone who, even with haughty
self-confidence, claims to perceive from the glass enchanting scents ranging
from peach to myrrh, as if he or she were celebrating a rite reserved or
granted to a select few.
The thing that makes me think more, in any case, is the perplexity shown by
some about the usefulness of sensorial and analytical tasting, that is – to
simplify things – what is the real use of concentrating so much on the
qualitative perception of aromas or taste sensations of a wine. Every time,
however, I come to the same conclusion: for everyone the usefulness of
sensorial tasting – besides allowing you to give a good impression to
your friends – is to be able to easily tell a list of mind-blowing and
indisputable descriptors. No one, however, think about what for me is by far
the most useful and, I believe, difficult aspect: the analysis of faults, that
is the most critical and fundamental aspect to define the quality of a wine.
Furthermore, many are convinced that in order to become a good taster it is
very important to taste very expensive wines, assuming, therefore, they are
also very good as well as impeccable in any regard.
In my opinion, however, I believe that to become a good taster it is much more
important – I would add, fundamental – to taste bad wines, those having
faults, especially when they are found in a slight and subtle way. Let's be
clear, tasting wines of the highest quality is equally important and
fundamental as they allow us to form an education to the objective reference of
enological quality. It must also be added a good taster cannot allow his or her
own personal taste – which evidently has – to prevail over the objective
criteria of quality and therefore penalizing wines which do not meet his or her
taste, even though they are good in qualitative terms. If it is true we
recognize a good wine because we know what a good wine is, it is equally true
– and maybe even more true – we recognize a bad wine because we know what a
bad wine is. In particular, we know the enological criteria defining a wine
technically, organoleptically and qualitatively, both the positive values and
faults of a wine and how and why they develop and are detected.
Experience, just like any other activity or art, is fundamental and, in this
sense, there are no shortcuts or tricks of the trade, as the only
way to acquire it is to continuously exercise the senses, tasting as much as
possible all the time. Moreover, and no less important, there is the memory.
Because tasting a wine also means making use of the sensations it produces
– visual, olfactory and gustatory – and then remembering them and making good
use of them, when applicable, at each tasting. As already said, a good wine is
recognized as such because we know what is a good wine. To do this, in fact,
the continuous practical, theoretical and conscious exercise of tasting and
memory is fundamental. Perhaps, as some have already said, talent is also
needed. Moreover, as I consider sensorial tasting – and not just of wine – an
art capable of stimulating the senses and arousing emotions, talent certainly
plays a decisive role. However, everyone has senses, saved the case they suffer
from specific pathologies limiting or preventing their use, therefore it is
also a matter of training and practice. As athletes know very well, the more
you train yourself, the more likely you can get better results.
Sensorial tasting of a wine is very important, it certainly is for me that I
consider it not only a precious personal and professional exercise, but also
a useful tool for telling the story of a wine. A very different description
from the emotional account, therefore subjective and which, in my opinion, is
of little use to the effective understanding of a wine for what it really is. A
matter of points of view, of course, as for some the analytical and sensorial
narration of a wine is boring and useless, just as it is for me the emotional
account of others. I can rejoice and be pleased with what someone has
experienced while tasting a wine, but it doesn't tell me anything concrete
about how that wine is made and what I find in the glass. The usefulness and
meaning of sensorial tasting, however, go far beyond the narration of a wine.
When done properly – and with adequate experience, concentration and method –
it is possible to determine many characteristics of a wine, including the
grapes with which it was produced, territory, wine making techniques, the
course of the season and the factors of ripeness, just to mention the main ones.
The presence of a group of aromas, in fact, allows the identification of a wine
not only according to the grapes used for its production, but also to the
territory and the composition of the soil. In any case, tasting is not just the
olfactory analysis of a wine and the ability to know how to recognize its
aromas. Important information, in fact, is also obtained from appearance and
taste, including, of course, the final sensations, that is when the wine has
been swallowed. Color, in particular, offers an incredible amount of
information, not only on the grape and its coloring property, but also on the
weather of the year and the type of soil where the vineyard is grown. Likewise,
the evaluation of the taste of wine allows, moreover, the determination of the
grape used for the production and the degree of ripeness. Sensorial and
analytical tasting of a wine is certainly not an exercise to show off or amaze
others, indeed it is a precious tool for the effective understanding of a wine.
Last but not least, for the understanding of a territory and its grapes, the
people who made that wine – from vineyard to bottle – of their skill,
agronomic and enological competence, as well as their style of interpretation
of territories and grapes.
Sensorial and analytical tasting therefore makes an enormous and fundamental
sense, it is an indispensable tool of inestimable value for anyone who wants to
seriously listen to wine and truly understand it for what it is. It takes an
enormous initial effort – just like any other thing you try to learn – but
the rewards it gives over time are priceless, both personally and
professionally. Tasting is the profound meaning of wine, the means that
connects our senses to those of wine and which gives a meaning to everything,
for better or for worse, for good and for bad. Finally, sensorial tasting is
also an act of profound respect for wine and for those who made it, because it
requires concentration and attention, just like when you talk to someone and
really listen to them. Listening and feeling are always the highest form
of respect, politeness and consideration towards others, the willingness to
intimately understand and in depth. And this is true with people as it is with
wine.
Antonello Biancalana
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