things i love #21

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Wine.

I absolutely love wine. It's a passion that has deepened as I've got older, and my palate has rejected all the sugary vodka drinks I used to think were the height of sophistication as a teenager!

I can't really remember the moment where I decided wine was the way to go - I remember being about 23 and having had one too many Midori and lemonades in my time, so the grassy, lemony notes of a Sauvignon Blanc were a revelation. Wine made my palate wake up, sharpen and come alive. Touring the vineyards of West Auckland when I was 24 made me love and appreciate wine in a completely new way. I also used to love spending a weekend touring wineries around Melbourne when I lived there. I still remember the Craiglee chardonnay we tasted at a winery just outside Sunbury. It had flavours of melon and hazelnut, and was incredibly creamy.

My parents love wine too -when they came to visit me in Melbourne once, they discovered that their favourite drop from Margaret River, Mad Fish Premium White, was about $5 cheaper in Victoria than it was in Tassie, so we drove all over the place buying as many bottles as possible - we ended up with about 14 in the end!

When it comes to wine there is very little that I won't try - in fact, once I've had a few glasses I need very little persuasion! - but I do have many favourites. I love fruity Italian reds, gutsy Australian pinots, and basically any wine from New Zealand! I've had some delicious reds and whites from Chile, and recently did a wine tasting in Puglia, Southern Italy, which was one of the most memorable experiences of my life:

I really like dessert wine too - I'm a real port gal - and I still have the bottle of Aleatico Passito from Castel di Salve I got from this winery in Italy last year, waiting for the right occasion!

It's been one of my aims to expand my horizons a little and learn a bit more about wine - dear kind Sas gave me a voucher for the West London Wine School a little while ago, and I've finally decided on a course to do!

But seeing my course is still a month away, especially for this things i love post, I sought out the expertise of Green Ink reader, wine educator and enthusiast, and all round bonne vivante Nicole Davis who I regularly turn to with any wine-related query! She very kindly gave me her tips on wine tasting and appreciation to share with you all. To start with, Nicole recommends using a clear, slightly oversized glass so you have some room to get your nose in there and enjoy the smells (!) and not wearing perfume to a wine tasting, as if it's overpowering it can sometimes get in the way.

The key things, Nicole says, that you want to think about with wine tasting are:

Colour (appearance)

Does it sparkle and is it bright and light? It’s probably a young wine. If your red wine is more a dull brick red then it’s probably older. What you see to start with can give you some good clues of what to expect when you smell and taste.

Smell (nose)

Here it’s good to be a cook! It’s all about the similes. If it's spicy like pepper, that could be shiraz. If it's grassy it's probably a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. And that smell of vanilla in my red wine? That means that it has been aged in French Oak barrels.

An aroma list matched to different wine grapes (like this guide http://www.essentialwinetastingguide.com) can be helpful while you are learning. And, of course, take time to savour your food and wine. We all have a sensory memory and it only really works if you keep using it – a great reason to keep trying new things!

Taste (palate)

Here is where it gets fun! Tasting tells you things that the smells can’t but is the least evocative of the 3 areas. Your palate is actually very black and white. Is this sweet, sour, acidic, tannic? These things make up the structure of the wine. A well made wine has some “punch” at the front, but is not too aggressive on your palate and finishes in a way that is cleansing and refreshing, making you want another mouthful. As you get better at tasting, you can identify these feelings or textures in your mouth, which will help you know which wine you like and why. When you know what you like, picking a bottle of wine is so much more enjoyable and satisfying.

As with everything, remember that wine tasting is not a test. It's fun! Try different wines when you get a chance. Next time you're out, pick a glass of wine that you have never tried rather than sticking to an old favourite. Sometimes you might not like it but it's only one glass and if you think about what you didn’t like you can avoid those styles again.

Here is a longer online summary of wine tasting:

http://www.visitvineyards.com/wine/wine-courses/wine-food-travel-articles/wine-education-how-to-taste-jancis-robinson

Many thanks to Nicole for sharing her tasting tips!

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Wine is fast becoming a huge interest of mine, and makes the perfect partner to my other obsession - cheese! It's so incredibly intriguing, the more you know the more there is to know. I guess the things I've learned over the years is to trust your palate, ignore the clichés (like "wine gets better with age", it turns out only some do) and never be afraid to try something different. It's been by trying something different that I've discovered wines that are now among my favourites!

Do you like drinking wine too? What's your favourite drop? All recommendations eagerly welcomed!