© 1997 JDM Enterprises GET SMARTby Jerry D. MeadOne of the reasons wine isn't as popular as beer, or even soft drinks or mineral water, is that Americans are a little bit intimidated by wine. One needs no special knowledge or vocabulary to feel thirsty and pop the cap on a Calistoga or Evian, a Coke or Pepsi, or even a Bud or a Coors. And one certainly doesn't worry about what foods will or won't work with any of those beverages. (Well, most people don't...but a few of us do. I enjoy a cola or a brewski with a burger or a dog, but cringe at the idea of having either with a filet of sole.) And I know that I'm occasionally guilty of using jargon in this column that some of you don't understand. I've explained most of these terms at one time or another, but I can't keep repeating myself every week. Worse than me is the wine snob you're unfortunate enough to be seated next to at the dinner party, who bores you to death not only by describing every wine he (for some reason wine snobs are almost always guys) ever tasted, but who goes out of the way to use buzz-words you've never heard and have no idea as to their meaning. I have two suggestions for anyone who doesn't drink wine because of all this "gobbleydeegook." The first is to drink wine exactly like you drink beer or soda pop. Drink it when you want to, with whatever you want to, and don't worry about terminology or what's "correct." If you know you like Beringer White Zinfandel, Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay, or German Liebfraumilch, drink it with absolutely anything that tastes good to you and ignore the so-called rules of wine and food matching. The second is to order something called the "Wine I.Q. Reference Guide," which is all the information you'll ever need to taste wine like a pro, presented in the kind of language you can understand. And it's all on a spill-proof, 8 1/2" X 11", triple-layered plastic card, suitable for hanging in the kitchen or den. One side features the world-famous "Wine Aroma Wheel," created at U.C. Davis by Professor Ann Noble, one of the world's leading authorities on sensory evaluation. And even if you already have an "Aroma Wheel," this is a new, improved version made for use by a non-academic audience. The "Wine Aroma Wheel" categorizes the many smells and tastes that people find in wine, both positive and negative. These are the terms that wine writers and other professionals use to try to communicate taste, which is one of the truly hardest things to do. If you don't think so, try describing the taste of an avocado to someone who has never had one. Under the broad category of "fruity" on the wheel, for example, are subdivisions of citrus, berry, tree fruit, topical fruit, dried fruit and other fruit. Under berry, are listed blackberry, raspberry, strawberry and black currant (cassis), all commonly found aromas and flavors in wine, and all descriptors I have used. Tropical fruit includes pineapple, melon and banana, all of which show up frequently in white wines. One thing the wheel does if nothing else is help you find that smell or flavor you can't put a handle on...like an unpleasant smell or taste you can't quite identify. The wheel might supply just what you're looking for...wet wool, wet dog, cooked cabbage, burnt match, garlic or skunk, on the negative side. If you've never smelled or tasted any of these off characters, you're lucky, and you haven't consumed very much wine. The front of "Wine I.Q." also teaches the basics of how to taste wine and what to look for, and describes the basic flavors of the most popular wine types like Merlot, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer. The opposite side has a really good general guide on how to match up foods and wines that are likely to taste the best together. Some of it is just common sense, like "Match the wine's flavor intensity and body to the food's - neither should overpower." What they're saying is drink big powerful wines with intensely flavored foods, and drink delicate wines with foods with subtle flavors. There's also a guide to proper serving temperatures for various wine types, and a short but very thorough glossary of those terms that sometimes confuse you. Here are a couple of examples:
BEST BUY WINE OF THE WEEKWines are scored using a unique 100 point system. First number rates quality; second number rates value.
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