It made Oz Clarke and Gilly Goulden famous and spawned many a series where we watch people drinking wine on TV.

Wine Tasting is a practical pursuit

There’s even a whole TV channel dedicated to it for goodness sake. Wine tasting on TV – what is the point in that?

Read on to find out more 

Wine is a drink that stimulates the senses – sight, smell, taste and to some extent touch. We might even get aural enjoyment from the popping of a cork, especially if we’re talking about a sparkling wine. However, the two most important aspects, to me a least, are smell and taste. Yes, I like to look at a wine, see its colour and how it’s maturing. See that it’s clear and bright and maybe pick up some sediment or tartrate traces along the way.  Fair enough, be the real enjoyment comes in drinking it surely?

But, how many millions of people sit in front of the TV watching someone taste wine and tell you it tastes like “baked chestnuts floating in a Provençal swimming pool” or something like that. Great, but I have still no idea how the wine might taste to me when I taste it – black fruits perhaps, with a hint of vanilla. I know, much more prosaic, but at least you can relate to what it tastes like!

So, my advice is that if you want to learn about wine tasting or what a wine tastes like, taste the bloody thing!  Even come along to a West Mount Wine Tasting Event, but please don’t just sit an watch someone else do it. It’s a bit strange.

Although, I do hear some people “like to watch”, whatever that means…