”No, that’s not correct. You can’t say that”, I was told off. It felt a bit like being squashed down the shoes, especially since it was a Master of Wine who said it – at a wine tasting where we were discussing Languedoc wines. I had said that I thought one of the wines had a sweeter nose. But no, sweet has no smell, I was told. I was fairly quiet for the rest of the tasting.
That thing came to my mind when I recently read what a wine writer wrote in one of his columns, that wild strawberries have no taste. Oh, yes? The MW was perhaps right in that sugar has no smell. But if honey, a very ripe peach of fruit jam does not smell sweet then I do not know which way to turn. And perhaps wild strawberries has no particular taste, other than slightly acid, if you completely removes the smell. But that is quite a pointless point to make. If you take away the smell (e.g. by holding your nose) of anything you eat it becomes rather tasteless. So what is the point in saying “wild strawberries have no taste”?
To me, wild strawberries will still taste of warm summer days and smell very sweet. Taste and smell has a lot to do with feeling, imagination, and likenesses/parallels. To try and apply strict technical principles (like the above) to it defeats the purpose. In my opinon. Instead you should use your fantasy, make comparison and find likenesses and difference when talking about taste and smell. And never tell someone off and say he’s wrong.
BKWine Magazine
Some big news, really big: the redesign of our site is done and bkwine.com becomes BKWine Magazine. Or at least almost done. There are still plenty of things to iron out and lots of contents that need to be fixed, polished, and organised. But it is at least fairly finished. And above all, it is available to you so you can read it! We hope that the new design will make it easier and nicer for you to visit us on BKWine Magazine and that you will find more interesting contents. Try it now, go visit BKWine Magazine !
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2,000,000 visitors
Almost at the same time as the new site arrived we, i.e. bkwine.com, had our 2,000,000th visitor! We are happy and proud. We must be doing something right. Read more about the stats in the Brief.
Contributors
One more thing that we are very happy to tell you: We have two new guest writers on BKWine Magazine that we introduce in this Brief: Jeff Leve, who is a specialist in Bordeaux and who writes about the primeurs, and Stuart George who has written in this issue on wine auctions and on natural wines.
Wine Tours
And finally we must remind you of our wine tours. We have some places left on the Bordeaux wine tour in October. It promises to be a superb tour with some great chateau visits. Sign up for it NOW!
Britt & Per
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One Response
Totally agree with you about sweetness. I was told that you cannot smell sweetness when doing my diploma at WSET in the 1970s, but for people who communicate about wine it is not merely acceptable, but absolutely essential that we indicate whether there is an impression of sweetness on the nose, just as much as we should indicate whether there is an impression of wild strawberries, say, or pineapple, butter, cashew, coffee etc on the palate. The honey and ripe peach aromas you mention do have an impression of sweetness, and when we describe wines it is the impressions that matter. I suspect that if the MW who pulled you thinks about, he or she (I don’t want to know the identity – could be a friend!) is being selectively pedantic and thus a hypocrite. If he or she has ever described the taste of a wine with any descriptor other than one of the basic tastes (sweetness, sourness, bitterness, saltiness and now, I suppose, umami) without qualifying it as an “impression”, then he or she is as guilty as you because wild strawberries, pineapple, butter, cashew, coffee or literally every other flavour commonly associated with wine is detected as an aroma.