Tasting notes are a very useful tool when it comes to wine. They’re a systematic way to evaluate a wine, from its appearance (or color) to its nose (the aromas) and palate (or its flavors and physiological effect on your mouth). Tasting notes are often written in brief phrases or descriptive words, more checklist and bullet points than sentences and prose.
The goal, aside from providing an immediate analysis of the wine, is for the taster to refer back to it in the future or – in the case of wine magazines and websites – to offer a description of the wine so that the reader gets an idea of its style and taste.
That’s the formal way to go about tasting notes, and it’s a helpful strategy for people who process or remember information that way, for wine professionals, and for people “on the inside” who understand the lingo and method.
Absolutely no argument there.
But what if we thought about tasting notes for people who aren’t on the inside? What if we thought about them for… everyone else? How would that look?
This is where smartphones come in. This is where smartphones changed tasting notes for the rest of us.
It’s been happening for a while now, in fact, but especially since the new breed of wine apps became increasingly adaptive, reflexive, and social.
Smartphone-accessible wine apps let you journal the wines you try. They let you take a picture of the label. They let you tag friends. They let you identify your physical location – restaurant, bar, home, a friend’s house, etc.
They let you, in other words, chronicle the context of the wine you’re drinking.
It’s where Tasting Notes become, in practice, Experience Notes.
Yes, there’s room to add tasting note-style descriptors of the wine but the mnemonic device is less verbal and more visual. What we remember, what Experience Notes construct for us, is a snapshot of the surroundings in addition to the wine itself.
Snapping a photo of the label – a mandatory functionality for any self-respecting wine app today – has become the wine drinker’s equivalent of foodies snapping photos of the dish in front of them. Add friend and location tagging, and you’ve got a “note” you’re much more likely to recall.
I experimented with this last night, when I visited Aldo Sohm’s new wine bar in New York. The experience started, and ended, with my smartphone. I knew about the place because I had tweeted (from my phone) earlier in the day, asking friends for their wine bar suggestions; this particular location had just opened on Tuesday of this week. While there I took pictures (with my phone) of the wines we tried. And afterward I took notes (also on my phone) of my impressions.
This is how my very first Experience Note looks:
Wine
1999 Riesling Maximin Grünhaüser, from the Von Schubert estate in the Mosel. It was part of Sohm’s inaugural flight of three Rieslings; the two others were a 2011 Schmitges “Grauschiefer,” also from the Mosel, and a 2013 dry Riesling from Ravines Wine Cellars in the Finger Lakes region of New York state.
Place
Aldo Sohm’s new wine bar on West 51st Street in New York, across the plaza from Le Bernardin. I loved the cluster of lights dangling from the ceiling, the quirky artwork on the walls, and the mix of seating options.
People
I was with my husband, after a long day of meetings for both of us in Washington DC. A new colleague, a Master of Wine who I’d met in Barolo this summer, happened to be there at the same time. We spoke with Sohm himself. And I appreciated the well-trained staff, especially a server from Bordeaux and a sommelier from Austria.
What I Remember About This Wine
- The flight of three wines was Sohm’s effort to “translate” comparative tasting – one of the most beneficial and educational practices for a wine professional – into an experience for everyone. The Riesling, especially the ’99 from Von Schubert, was a special treat and especially distinctive in relation to the first two. The 2013 Ravines was young and fresh and direct; the 2011 Grauschiefer was more complex and textured. Step up to the 1999 Maximin Grünhaüser, however, and your eyes are opened to the expressiveness of this particular grape.
- Sohm’s menu is intentionally vegetable-intense, as a “break” from the meaty, heavier food options normally available at wine bars. If you go, try the whole roasted cauliflower seasoned with “chicken salt” that tastes like the pan drippings from my Sunday roast chicken. Trust me on this. Try it with a sip of the Rieslings – go down the line to experience the differences between the three – or try the vegetable offerings with Sohm’s own wine, a 2012 Austrian Grüner Veltliner by Sohm & Kracher.
- As he was talking about making his own wine, Sohm modestly referred to himself as a “good taster” – he’s world-class, in fact – but not until he made wine himself did he see what kind of tasters winemakers themselves are. It’s been an experience in humility, he said, and it made him into something more compassionate than a perpetual critic.
Should Experience Notes replace Tasting Notes? Certainly not. But they do construct a different, more complete picture of a particular wine in its context. Which makes it more enjoyable. Which means I’ll remember it better. Which is one of the goals of a tasting note in the first place.
Follow me on Twitter @cathyhuyghe.
