Expanding your wine horizons

How do you go about expanding your wine horizons? often it will be serendipitous, wine pairings at a restaurant or having a glass of what is open at a party or amongst friends would be common areas for finding new avenues of exploration.

There can be such an array of variables to decide on; is it the spice, the fruit, the weight, the feel of the wine that is the key appeal to you or the interaction of all the above.

Many winemakers, retailers, sommeliers and researchers have tried to zero in on one simple method to define the types of wine someone will like.

Master of Wine Tim Hanni draws on our raw materials to build an image of what types of wine you will like. His work has drawn plenty of criticism, but anything that is trying to simplify a complex topic such as wine will always have critics.

Tim starts with the undeniable fact that we are all born with a certain number of tastebuds, some will have very few, while some will have an extraordinary number that means they can sense flavours and sensations that appear in small quantities and are simply missed by many of us.

These “supertasters” have often been lauded as having the raw material to be excellent wine tasters, however, it simply indicates that they have far more tastebuds and thus sense elements such as bitterness to such an extent that they may not be able to handle even moderate amounts.

If you enjoy sugar in your coffee that is very milky (for example a latte) and can’t stand bitter vegetables such as Brussel sprouts or kale then you might be a super/hypersensitive taster or you may also be in the “sweet” category. The easiest way to tell is if you are in the hypersensitive category then you will prefer wines that are dry or overly sweet.

You will probably enjoy wines that are lower in alcohol and tannin with slight hint of sweetness that often helps to soften high acidity in many white grapes and high aromatics.

Given that this group makes up a large portion of the population it can help to explain the big trends in wine, from the fruit-sweet and pungent Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough to Prosecco and slightly more so Rose. As Rose continues to explode this is a great place to explore new wines suitable for any season, or ask for off-dry whites such as Riesling, which are making a comeback in Australia.

At the other end of the spectrum are the non-tasters or tolerant tasters. If you enjoy strong Black coffee, and a glass of Cognac or Scotch regularly you might be in this camp.

You will likely enjoy wines where everything is dialled up to 11. High alcohol, plenty of oak (preferably new) and ripe bold flavours found in “old-school” Barossa Shiraz will probably feature often at your dinner table.

If you’re in this camp the wine world has been shunning you for a few years now with the trend towards moderate alcohols and low to no new oak, but you can ask for wines with plenty of tannin such as Nebbiolo or even Malbec which are gaining mainstream appeal.

If you read the previous two paragraphs thinking well I don’t mind something a little sweet at times, and a big bold red is certain to feature in the depths of winter this year, you may be what is labelled a sensitive taster. You’re malleable and like to explore different wines frequently already.

All I can suggest is to keep exploring and noting any wines that you really like or dislike so you can get a feel for where you can delve a little deeper and explore the variations within one grape or region where you will find ever finer distinctions and exciting revelations.