This month we want to discuss your palate. The palate is the roof of your mouth, but in wine parlance it refers to one’s sense of taste. If you’ve been drinking wine for awhile, it may be time to ask yourself some questions: Do I have a palate? Do I need one? How do I get one? You need a palate because you want to be able to recognize quality. We’re not talking about wine snobbery; we’re talking about telling the difference between a mediocre or badly made wine, and something that exemplifies the winemaker’s art. If you have given up jug wines; if that $6.99 wine you’ve been drinking for years no longer has the same appeal; and if you have begun to buy all varietals (or blends of varietals) then you are probably developing a palate. You practice at the golf range because you’ve discovered that the better you play golf, the more you enjoy the game. The better you become at wine appreciation, the more you will enjoy your wine drinking.

First, let’s get some basic points out of the way. The human tongue has only four innate senses of taste: sweet; sour; salty; and bitter. Most people will have the same experience with these four attributes. Candy is sweet, pickles are sour; anchovies are salty, and unsweetened chocolate is bitter. But beyond that, taste is pretty subjective, and largely a matter of experience. Let’s make an important point: probably no one in the world has exactly the same palate as yours. YOU are the expert when it comes to your own palate. A person can be color blind and still see perfectly well. He just isn’t going to see the same things as someone who perceives colors normally. Taste is like that too. Some people have superior senses of smell and taste. It is a gift, but anyone who makes the effort can improve those senses. You may not get to Robert Parker’s level of perception, but you can become better than you are. And remember—there are thousands of other wine experts who don’t agree with Parker’s taste! Wine appreciation is like art or poetry appreciation in many ways. There may be wide consensus on what is a great painting or a great poem, but ultimately the value is in the eye of the beholder. Not all paintings affect you the same way, and not all poets speak to you. Not all wine is going to please, either.

If you read wine reviews you will see references to oak, leather, citrus, grass, violets, berries, even earth. If you don’t smell or taste those things, does it mean you don’t have a palate? If the tongue can only perceive sweet, sour, bitter, or salty, how did these other descriptors get into the wine tasting lingo? Good questions! The sense of smell is integral to one’s taste experience. Dr. Stephen Reiss, author of Juice Jargon, explains that we naturally smell what is in our mouths because our nose and mouth are connected by the retronasal passage. Food and drink taken into the mouth are identified by receptors in the nose, and the brain then perceives these smells as flavors. Smell is one of the keenest memory triggers. The subtle aromas of wine summon up a memory of some other past sensory experience, but that may not be the same memory that others experience with the same wine. While we’re at it, let’s define the two basic terms of taste/smell. Aroma refers to smells that come from the grape itself (the grassy quality of Sauvignon Blanc). Bouquet refers to smells that emanate from the wine making and aging process (oak).

How does one develop a better palate? First, you can subject your palate to a wider range of taste experiences. Don’t drink the same thing all the time. A “house” palate is a narrow flavor profile that is comfortable. Branch out and try other wines. When you are in a restaurant, ask questions of the wine steward and try something you wouldn’t have ordered otherwise. Especially take advantage of wines by the glass in restaurants. Share taste experiences with friends. Concentrate on what you are drinking. Take notes for future reference. Attend tastings, or organize your own. Read wine books and become familiar with standard tasting notes for various varietals. See if you can discern the aromas or tastes ascribed to that variety. Buy one of the wine tasting kits offered by Wine Enthusiast, which includes samples of classic aromas, so you will recognize them if you smell them again. Don’t make wine an ego trip. No one - repeat - no one - has the time to learn everything, and even if someone did, half of that knowledge would change with the next bottle or vintage. One of the ways to approach this is to ask yourself at the beginning as you hold a glass of a wine you are trying for the first time: Is this a good wine? Look at the wine, smell it, hold the glass up to the light, swirl it around. Is this a good wine? Then afterwards, ask the question again: Is this a good wine? If so, what was good about it? If not, why wasn’t it good? Was it worth the price? Is this wine experience one to be repeated?

Now, to be honest, developing your palate has some downsides. You are probably going to be more discriminating, which means that you will be dissatisfied or disappointed more often. You may not look forward to the hospitality of friends who don’t have palates. You may find you are spending more money on wines than previously. But recognizing quality has rewards that make it worth the effort. The wine guys at Frugal’s drink wine, and they know wine. They’ve been there, tried that. They love to talk about wine and they love to help customers enhance their enjoyment of wine. Let Jeff, Jerry, Bob and Jack help you develop your palate!