Have you ever had a day when your thoughts just couldn't quite translate to words... either verbally or on paper? No? Well, it's hard to explain but there are often times when I wish that we could translate words into more than a combination of letters and sounds... maybe with the other senses of smells, tastes and textures. It'd sure make describing the wine tasting experience easier.
I mean, who really knows if the way a wine is described by someone else is what your or my senses will detect? When a reviewer, critic or winemaker uses mere words to describe what they have experienced (in their words), they are really asking us to accept on faith that our senses will come close to experiencing what they experienced. Think about it, to use an analogy, if I say I want to buy a red Ferrari, you'll instantly "see" one in your mind... although we may be envisioning completely different shades of red or for that matter, completely different cars. That having been said, that's why I love to taste wines blind. And that's why I also love to offer wines blind in my classes. It's interesting to hear the different ways people will try to describe what they are tasting, and the reasons why they do or don't like it. It never ceases to amaze me how the same wine can be described in so many different ways!
And somebody PLEASE tell me how a wine can taste like wet dog or cat pee unless you've actually tasted such nasty things yourself. If you have, then I'll reserve comment for a later time! And if you haven't, then stop trying to convince me that I should know what such things taste like, because even though I love dogs and cats, I'm drawing the line right there!
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