Lately a discussion has floated around the wine world as to
whether “every palate matters.” It’s a
valid question, especially since the internet allows us all to express our
opinions publically alongside the opinions of professional critics and folks in
the wine business. To me, it all comes
down to how you’re judging the wine.
This question jogged a memory from grad school, so I dug out
my notes on Immanuel Kant and David Hume’s theories of aesthetics from a
literary theory class. I’ll spare you
the gory details, but here is my simplified (and somewhat extrapolated) version
of things. There are 2 ways to judge an
aesthetic experience – like art, music, or wine – that is meant to bring
pleasure or have some effect on the senses and/or emotions:
1) The purely
intuitive approach. This means you don’t
think about or analyze the experience very much. You just let your senses and feelings take
over, and see what they tell you. For
wine, this would mean just drinking and going with a gut opinion (pun intended). Either you like it or you don’t. This approach is more subjective, based on
your own tastes.
2) The
analytical/critical approach. To do
this, you must have knowledge of the thing you’re experiencing, like a music
critic reviewing an opera. You apply
your knowledge and judge whether the aesthetic experience is working or
not. For wine, this means you would
taste carefully, make notes on aromas, balance, structure, varietal
characteristics, etc., and come to a carefully reasoned judgment. This approach is more objective.
Both approaches are valid.
The intuitive approach to wine is where “every palate matters.” You know what you like, and you should drink
what you like, even if the critics say it isn’t good. Wine is meant to be enjoyed. The analytical/critical approach is where we
can benefit from wine experts. They have
studied and trained in this area and can judge a wine based on objective
criteria that we may not be able to perceive, such as nuances of balance,
ripeness, and subtle faults.
Experts can also help us understand WHY we like what we
like, direct us to new things that we may enjoy, and help us find the best
value. Roger Ebert once said his primary
purpose in writing movie reviews isn’t just to tell you whether a movie is good
or bad (although he does that), but to also describe the movie in a way that helps
you figure out whether you would like it or not. Wine critics can help us in the same way.
So does every palate matter?
My answer would be yes and no.
Yes, because your palate matters to you.
Wine should be enjoyable, so drink what you like, even if the experts
disagree with you. No, because education
and experience matter. Some people know
more about wine and have learned to be better tasters than others. I think the right answer is a balance between
these two sides.
So learn about wine, improve your tasting skills, be open to
trying new wines, and listen to those with greater knowledge and
experience. All these things will deepen
your enjoyment of wine and lead you to new and exciting wine experiences. But keep drinking what you like!
by Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan, Master of Wine. The book aims to
help all of us – beginners to professionals – quickly identify our wine
preferences and find new wines we will like.
This is accomplished by an 11-question (1 minute) quiz about our food and drink
preferences.
