Dear Wine Geometry lovers,
We should always start with that. Before tasting your glass of wine, start with ... taking your time.
Most people tend to focus on tasting. They will pop off the cork, serve a glass, observe the dress, concentrate on the aromas, the balance perceived in the mouth, ... trying to look for HINTS in the wine to:
1 / DESCRIBE it, and then
2 / ANALYSE it.
But here are some clues to make this search a bit easier:
1- First, take a moment to OBSERVE the label on the bottle. And, from this label, imagine the wine as you expect it.
2- Then, locate the wine on the map. This simple reflex will make you progress in wine geography.
Consider the following example:
You taste a wine of appellation Madiran. (At the moment, I'm not even talking about the producer or the vintage). Take a wine map and you spot Madiran on the map. By locating Madiran, you will also visualize the nearby appellations. (In this case, the twin appellation of Pacherenc-du-Vic-Bilh, then some neighbors: Saint-Mont, Tursan, Jurançon, Irouléguy, Béarn, ... This visual cue will allow you to better memorize its location. And I often find that in terms of wine, MEMORIZING information is problematic.
3 - Learn about the grape variety of the wine (the type of grape) that you taste. To know the varietal of the PDO Madiran, again, make a Google search, for example.
The main grape variety is tannat, in addition to cabernet-franc, cabernet-sauvignon, and servadou. This reflex allows you of course to memorize names of grape varieties.
What will happen the next time you taste a wine from this (or these) grape varieties? Well, you will make the link with the Madiran, and will try to understand the common points between the wines of these neighbouring locations.
Long story short, find the wine on the map (by locating the neighboring appellations), then look for the vine (s) of the wine.
Sounds easy, right? Now do it systematically!
