The Poetry of Wine Tasting

I’m a newbie to the wine thing. I’m one of those Johnny-come-latelys who were inspired by Sideways.
At my local wine shop, I discovered non-snotty counter personnel who know their shit and about 75% of the time, provide me with a bottle of something I’ve never heard of that makes an absolutely delightful accent to dinner and dates.
While tasting wines is a steady process of educating my palate to recognize the different components of a wine, it is my verbal sense that is the most inspired by some of Bacchus’ (and others’) comments about various wines that remain in my mouth long after my impeded anti-diuretic hormone has enabled the rapid excretion of said vino from my body.
itchy-scratchy.gifAs an example, from Wine Intelligence part 2: “dead-mouse nose”; or my personal favorite: “cat piss”. Perhaps someday we’ll find a wine described as “itchy & scratchy”. A sweet mousy nose with a bloody cat aftertaste.
While one can and should begin by questioning the value of anything one would drink that tastes like something one would normally want to wash out of one’s carpeting or upholstery, “cat piss” remains a sought after nose for some Sauvignon Blancs. Go figure.
The key point is this, while “dead mice” and “cat piss” remain low on my list of things that I want in my nose, I remain amused and amazed at how wine can inspire these perceptions in the first place. Wine-tasting has become a new way to enjoy poetry without all those dusty ‘ole books and snooty academics in favor of dusty ‘ole bottles and snooty academics.
-Dionysus

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