Reconfiguring Your Tasting Palate
TroubleShooting
Annette Parillo — Bellingham, Washington asks,
I’ve been what you might call a “wine consumer” for many years. My husband and I like to go to wine tastings, we usually order wine when we go out to eat, and we have a pretty nice collection at home. What we have never ventured into is the world of making our own. My friends (who are trying to get me into the hobby) tell me that tasting new and young wines is very, very different than the wine-enjoying experience I’m used to as a seasoned “consumer”. I’m worried I won’t know what to look for as the wine is fermenting, going through malolactic fermentation as well as during aging in the barrel. Can you give me advice on how to taste new and young, unfinished wines with an eye to what it will eventually become — what should I focus on? Fruit, structure, tannins, acid?