winemadeez: This Bud's For You!

I often find inspiration for my blogs while hiking the trails with Kirsten and the other morning up on the the ridge the topic of taste buds came up. A bit strange you might think, but our friend Mary had been telling Kirsten about a report she had heard that claimed people who can readily identify flavors probably have more taste buds on their tongue! I found it kind of thoug

ht provoking and as we continued to walk we talked about gathering with friends to share wine and how often we would find ourselves comparing tasting notes...such as; "This wine tastes like blackberry jam and has a spicy finish!" or, "This tastes like diesel fuel mixed with barnyard!". Inevitably, most everyone will have a different take on the taste of their glass of wine. In thinking about this, I believe tasting wine utilizes more than just taste buds, although your buds are responsible for transmitting information to your brain for processing. I think that smell and memory have a great effect on what you think you taste! The smell of a fresh cut apple, or rind of an orange peel, the bite of a red bell pepper or

smell of a fresh peach all get filed in your memory bank only to be called upon during your wine tasting experience. As we all know taste buds are involved in detecting salty, sour, bitter, sweet and savory. On average, we have between 8,000 and 10,000 taste buds on our tongue and the belief is that 'superstar' tasters simply have more taste buds than average. The more sensitive a taster you are (more buds), the more sensitive you will be to bitterness thus a lean towards more delicate wines. the more tolerant taster you are (less buds), the more open you might be to bolder, bigger wines. Winery websites often give tasting notes by those who have crafted the wine in order to help the consumer identify potential flavors with the wine varietal...for example:

Stag's Leap Estate Cabernet Sauvignon: "Our Cabernet Sauvignon offers continuously aromas of violets, cassis, whole and crushed blackberries, oak spice, dark cocoa, cedar and subtle cigar box..."

Sonoma-Cutrer Sonoma Coast Chardonnay: "Pretty aromas of jasm

ine and rose petal give way to tropical fruits like pineapple and mango..Roasted hazelnut joins nougat and almond butter, finishing with a touch of lime and lychee..."

Cigar box, you say...almond butter and lychee!?! Okay, the fun in all of this is that as you continue on your personal wine awareness journey, you may try to identify what you are tasting to friends and believe me there are no wrong answers. Each person has their own numbered set of taste buds and will come up with their own interpretation of what they are tasting. It is also fun to note that every wine growing region has it's own distinctive flavors...wines from France have often been identified with having the taste of 'old socks' or even 'barnyard' flavors. Wines from Italy have been identified with chalky earth tones and so it goes that the soil has a lot to do with this! I find it gratifying when I suggest to a friend that I am tasting black current on the palate with a licorice finish and they agree! Let's have some fun...below are three wine suggestions. What do you taste? Let me know in the comments area.