Intrusive aromas

BOD man body spray.

I recently wrote about how environmental variables can impact the way a wine expresses its character. That concept may seem esoteric to many, but it is based on the principles of physics and chemistry. Perhaps more easily observed (and understood) is the way aromas in the tasting environment (or originating from the taster themselves) can confound wine evaluation.

I’m very stringent about the environment in which I evaluate wines for review. I make sure that the room where I taste is regularly aired out. I do not taste when Irene is cooking or has cooked recently. Air fresheners and potpourri are not allowed in the house. Read More

Don’t know what black currant is?

Black Currant.

People new to wine find some aromas or flavors in tasting notes exotic or foreign. They may have trouble identifying those aromas. They may simply not be familiar with the fruit being referenced. Its understandable, then, that they would find wine intimidating.

To the question: “How can a wine, made from grapes, have all these aromas and flavors?”, I offer the following: Biological diversity on this planet appears broad if it is judged on form and appearance, but there is tremendous similarity in the biochemistry and physiology of all organisms. Subsequently, compounds commonly associated with the aromas and flavors of one plant (or its fruit) are rather ubiquitous throughout nature. Read More

Not in the wine trade but want to post my URL!

Spam.

How open is the OpenWine Consortium? So open that it is becoming a popular community to post your profile and URLs – regardless how unrelated your business and web site are to wine. I take no pleasure in making this criticism. As one of the first admins of the community, I worked very hard to promote it because I believed in its potential. I believe in the OWC’s potential, but the community needs some TLC to realize that potential.

At the top of the list of what needs to be done, is active elimination of  the “spammy” profiles that increasingly pop up on the OWC. On the morning of February 9th, I reviewed the 63 most recently created OWC profiles (pages: one through three). Eleven are clearly bogus profiles and one is in the grey zone. Numerous others lack a bio, an “about” section or a link to a web site and their creators seem to be inactive.

Read More

Tasting in the rain

Rain.

The recent El Niño-spawned rainstorms hitting the Los Angeles area have caused me to suspend my wine evaluation. I do not review wines during rainy weather. I’m very particular about my wine tasting environment. The environmental factors of interest to me are: temperature, humidity, barometric pressure and ambient aromas.

While much emphasis is placed on the serving temperature of the wine itself, the temperature, humidity and barometric pressure of the tasting environment impact the way a particular wine shows by affecting the way its aromatic compounds volatilize (emerge out of the wine). Read More

Wine headache

Wine headache.

Today on PalatePress.com: “Not tonight, I have a wine headache…”

I enjoy working with Tom Mansell. We seem to consistently be paired up as author (Tom) and editor (me) for PalatePress.com articles. Perhaps its because our two heads, put together are able to achieve articles we can be proud of.

This time around, Tom tackles the issue of wine headache and the underlying causes. We take a critical look at some of the dogmatic notions about the origins of wine headaches. In writing the article, Tom looked at the ingredients in wine which are candidates for causing headaches and then examined the existing scientific literature on each.

It’s a good read, if I may say so myself. Don’t be intimidated by the subject matter. If you can assimilate wine knowledge, you will be able to understand this piece.

Menu for Hope 6. Win great glassware and great wines.

Sixth annual Menu for Hope

This year has been hard on many of us, but there are many who have a tough year every year. As these coming holidays are a traditional time of giving and generosity, so now, for the sixth consecutive year, food and wine bloggers have organized to make a difference in the lives of people they don’t even know. This effort is called Menu for Hope.

This annual fund raising effort traditionally benefits the UN World Food Programme. The Sixth Annual Menu for Hope will benefit a new WFP program, called Purchase for Progress (P4P), which supports smallholder and low-income farmers. P4P helps farmers improve their farming practices and then allows them to sell their crops to WFP’s global operation.

The farmers win on two obvious fronts. You can win as well. Read More

There is a point to this.

Please take a look at the image below. Then answer the question below.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Now select the option that best represents your feelings (click here if the poll does not show up):
[polldaddy poll="2363067"]

Check back in a few days as I’ll have something to say.