Winery Owners

Ever wonder about the type of folks who own a winery? Whether individuals or corporations, they’re usually people with a love of creating something tangible. Something with their namesake on it that might endure over time! They’re individuals who embrace life and the finer things it has to offer and are driven to provide something that will enhance it. Passion, dedication, hard working and determination are all attributes of these folks. Perhaps, most importantly, they tend to have money. Let’s face it, it takes a lot of cash to own and operate a winery. From vineyards, harvesting equipment, a vineyard manager, a building, winemaking equipment, barrels, a magician of a winemaker and a bottling line, it does not come cheaply. 

Becoming a Better Taster

I often get asked how to become a better wine taster. I say that it’s like learning to play a musical instrument. Once you’ve mastered the technique, it’s all about practice. Getting out in the world and smelling different things like flowers, trees, vegetables, fruits and other daily items we come across will further provide your memory with scents that you will inevitably come across in wine tasting. That way you’ll have a library of aromatics to call upon. Palate training exercises are also good, especially for sweet, sour, bitter and salt components. Finally, it’s always a good idea to taste with folks whose palates are more advanced than yours where you can learn from them. Remember I’m talking about tasting here, not merely drinking.

The Aging of Wine

Contrary to popular belief, not all wine is age-worthy or gets better with age. Some are meant for the short haul and need to be consumed young. Others definitely require or benefit from some bottle age and will evolve becoming more harmonious and supple. So what is required for a wine to age or evolve? It needs reasonable fruit, alcohol, balance between the fruit and acid (sweet and sour), solid structure, and for reds, some tannin. Sometimes components in a particular wine are not married and need time to harmonize. With enough wine education and tasting experience, one simply gets to know which grape varieties, wine styles and particular wines will generally stand the test of time or get better in the bottle.

Blind Tasting Benefits

Having taught wine appreciation for well over three decades, I’ve found that, once the technique of tasting is grasped, the best way to learn how to become better at it is through blind tasting. Seeing a wine label before tasting the wine can not only provide information about it, but also conjure up both pleasant and unpleasant memories associated with that wine. All of this influences your impression of it. The key to tasting is to use one’s senses: sight, smell and taste. If you don’t know what the wine in your glass is, then you have to rely solely on your senses to decipher what it’s all about. This makes your senses work harder and more acute to stimuli without any pre-conceived notions of what’s in the bottle.