The Art of Observation - Part 2

[READ THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE - The Art of Observation part 1]

Just as that celebrated English detective was able to deduce precise information of the lives of his interlocutors by gathering – and connecting together – all the small details of their person, carefully observing our glass we can formulate accurate hypotheses on the organoleptic qualities of our wine. 

A bright straw yellow, with greenish reflections, may in fact suggest that we are dealing with a young, fresh wine, in which hints of flowers, fruit and herbaceous notes will probably be dominant, while an intense ruby ​​red, with garnet reflections throws the valid prerequisites for a vintage wine, with a good alcohol content and possible tertiary notes of aging in wood.

The same hue of the color and its intensity can provide us with important clues on the grape variety or on the winemaking techniques, the fluidity with which the wine rotates in the glass can reveal its body, while an important clue on the alcohol content can be drawn from the famous arches that they form on the walls of the glass as the wine passes.

In short, a simple glance, provided that it is attentive, is able to provide us with an incredibly large amount of very useful information to prepare our judgment, and the greater our ability to find (or exclude) connections between them, the more we will be able to express judgments that are accurate and in keeping with the true nature of our wine. 

We end with two brief but necessary considerations.

The first concerns the close correlation that links the knowledge - practical and theoretical - that a taster has and the power of his observational ability: between the two terms there is an indissoluble bond that reveals the importance of always cultivating and nurturing one's curiosity, making the most of and enhancing every opportunity for study, practice and comparison.

The second, although (or precisely because?) it comes at the end of this article dedicated to logic and reasoning, should really be viewed as an invitation … to always pursue the acquisition of ever new notions, but cultivating at the same time, with equal dedication, our ability to be surprised and enchanted by that special, almost ineffable charm that only wine can express.

Cheers Watson!