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Acquiring A Taste

Refining your palate is as easy as it is fun

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BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Refining the senses, Kathy Charlton, in the foreground along with other women from the Seattle-area chapter of Women For WineSense, samples wine at a recent tasting. Women For WineSense is just one of many clubs and classes, events and nightspots aimed at helping us learn the art of appreciating wine. BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Wine shops offer regular tastings that can be a great value for learning about wine. Here, patrons at Ballard's Portalis Wine Shop have the chance to sip through eight different Bordeaux, all from the 2001 vintage. BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES At Purple Café and Wine Bar in downtown Seattle, guests can select from more than 500 labels of wine or 70 by the glass. Enjoying food and wine are, from left: Reed Palmer, Anita Dornan, Kirk Dornan (not seen), Joe Withee, Sharimae Rossi and Al Rossi. Behind them is a tower that holds 5,000 bottles of wine.

When I first became fascinated with wine some 30 years ago, the options for learning about it were few — other than to taste as much as possible, as often as possible, with people who knew more than I did. A few good books, such as Hugh Johnson's "Modern Encyclopedia of Wine," were beginning to appear, but most wine writing, even the good stuff, was anecdotal. Stories of great meals, colorful characters banging on bungs in dusty cellars, legendary vintages — great fun to be sure, but reading "The Hound of the Baskervilles" does not make you Sherlock Holmes.

Today it's not unusual for kids to have some contact with wine around the family dinner table, but that, too, is relatively new. Growing up, I never saw a bottle of wine. My father was a beer and martini man. My mother, the 11th child of Sicilian immigrants, disliked wine from the time she was very young.

Her father, Antonio Ciancimino, was a drinking buddy of the legendary opera singer Enrico Caruso. Antonio made his own wine in the cellar of their New York home. I imagine he purchased grapes — possibly zinfandel — shipped by railcar from California, and probably turned out a decent home brew, which was quite legal during Prohibition. But since Mom hated the stuff, after that no wine bottle ever graced her table.

Once out of college and on my own, I would occasionally be offered a glass of fairly decent wine. Sometimes it tasted pretty good. I noticed that wine could deliver sensations to my tongue unlike any other food or beverage. Intriguing. Granted, I couldn't tell tannin from Tabasco sauce, but I could tell this: For complexity of flavor, here was a drink that went well beyond beer or booze.

One day, a friend of mine invited me to sit in on a "tasting group" — a bunch of guys sitting around sipping wine and talking about it. It's hard to appreciate how unusual that was in the late 1970s. I seem to recall that the topic was California chardonnays. All around me were lively debates on such esoterica as barrels and fermentations. The names of various exotic tropical fruits were bandied about. Vintages were called out and stylistic nuances critiqued.

I was mute, but I soaked it up. These guys had it down. I wanted to be like them.

Almost three decades later, we've all come a long way. Wine consumption in this country is on a course to make America the world leader in the next couple of years. We have endless opportunities to attend wine dinners, wine festivals, wine auctions and wine cruises. In Washington alone, the number of wineries has grown to more than 500 — a tenfold increase in 20 years. Winery tasting rooms, which used to be modest, home-grown affairs — a purple-fingered proprietor, a wine-stained countertop, a bucket for dumping and maybe a plate of crackers — are now shopping emporiums, stuffed with books, clothing, stemware, kitchen appliances and gadgets galore.

I think we've got the drinking and shopping part down. But consuming wine is one thing; understanding and truly appreciating it quite another. The No. 1 question I still get asked is, "What's the best way to learn about wine?"

Plenty of books and seminars seem to promise instant knowledge, but really, there are no shortcuts. That said, there's plenty to do — and plenty of pleasure to be had in the doing.

A MAJOR WINE-TASTING event, such as Taste Washington or Vintage Walla Walla, can present an embarrassment of riches. You stroll into a large room packed with tables. Behind each stands a winemaker or winery representative, pouring several different wines. Conversation buzzes, and there is a sense of urgency. How on Earth can you taste all these wines, when there may be dozens — even hundreds — of choices? The impulse is to dive right in. Resistance seems futile.

If you are there to drink and schmooze, go right ahead. But if you want to learn and appreciate, you need a plan. Experience tells me that for most people, about two dozen wines is all you can explore in meaningful detail. After that, unless your name is Robert Parker, it's a blur. So take a moment to study the program, or do a quick tour of the room and decide what you will focus on.

Talk to the winemaker if he/she is pouring. Ask questions and offer a comment or two. With a little concentrated effort, you can take away something quite specific those first 15 or 20 tastes. will give you something specific to take away from the event. Then, by all means, feel free to dive in and just surf the room for pure enjoyment.

Tastings both large and small provide a chance to get personal with the wine on so many levels. You can dial in the specific flavors of a grape, a region or a producer. That's why I advise attending as many tastings as possible, as often as possible, not only paying close attention but making notes. Writing down your impressions helps organize and consolidate them. You don't need a lot of flowery language; your goal is to get the name of the wine right and decide if, how and why it pleases you.

To get started, contact the wine shops in your area and inquire about wine tastings. Most shops pour flights of a half dozen wines once or twice weekly, and many tastings are free. There are other advantages. The wines poured will have some connection — the same winery, the same grape, the same importer, something that ties them together. So before you go, it's a good idea to read up a bit on the featured wines and/or region. You'll know more going in, and retain more coming away. With all that knowledge and energy in the room, it's your chance to take away memories not only of good wines but of great times.

Back when retailer Dan McCarthy opened his original wine shop in the Ravenna district, he presided over a Tuesday-evening tasting that was so crammed full of people that it was impossible to move. But the wines were always interesting, and if you listened to the comments of the regulars, and prodded McCarthy into describing what he was tasting, you learned a lot.

Rand Sealey's Esquin Wine Merchants was another favorite stop of mine in those days. As you entered on First Avenue (the original building was torn down during stadium construction), steps led down to an underground cellar packed with boxes of wine. Sealey was a slender, extremely shy man who spoke with a quavery stutter, but he would welcome patrons to his regular Saturday-afternoon tastings with a brief lecture on the wines, often accompanied by a map or two.

Esquin (now at 2700 Fourth Ave. S.) and McCarthy (now with partner Jay Schiering) still do regular free tastings (Schiering in command of the original store at 6500 Ravenna Ave. N.E., McCarthy in the shop at 2401 B Queen Anne Ave. N.).

Sometimes a shop will charge a fee, but usually the value received is well worth it. For example, a recent tasting at Ballard's Portalis Wine Shop (206-783-2007; www.portaliswines.com) offered patrons the chance to sip through eight different Bordeaux, all from the 2001 vintage, ranging in price from $23 to $105 a bottle. Cost of admission was $22, which included tastes of all eight, light appetizers and a $10 in-store credit.

ON A LATE SUMMER evening, the monthly meeting of Women For Winesense has packed a private banquet room at Salty's on Alki, where sommelier/educator David LeClaire is presiding over a massive tasting of blended wines. Arrayed on three tables are dozens of bottles, many sold only at the winery. Guests sample freely, moving from Rhone blends to Bordeaux blends, organized by region.

"I call it infotainment," explains LeClaire, who hosts many such events for a variety of clients who find him at www.vinolover.com. "Too much information makes it overwhelming for people. At the end of the day they can't remember anything. I try to keep it brief, compelling and basic, but beyond what they already know."

His client this evening, Women For Winesense (www.womenforwinesense.org), is a national, nonprofit organization that promotes the appreciation and responsible enjoyment of wine. Men and women are welcome at the 11 active chapters, which include three in Oregon and one in Seattle. The Seattle chapter was founded in 1998, and president Terese Flaherty-Vaniman orchestrates a lively mix of events throughout the year, with guest speakers and themed tastings.

Locations vary but include restaurants, wine bars, wineries, cooking schools, wine shops and private facilities around the Seattle/Eastside area. Food is always featured, paired with the wines being sampled. "The goal," she explains, "is to have fun learning about wine."

As is frequently the case, the organizers learn the most. Flaherty-Vaniman (with help from Vice President Diane Litzenberger and volunteers) designs the programs, does the research, obtains the wines and prepares the tasting notes. Often the wines may be purchased right at the event.

Member Julie Anderson tracks her interest in wine to the late 1990s, when she was living in Florida and bringing Washington wines home with her after occasional visits to the Northwest. Now back in Seattle, she says she likes wine classes that focus on history, knowledge of a region or a specific type of wine. "Something more than just looking at the color, swirling and sniffing it."

That's exactly what the Seattle Wine Society tries to offer. The society does a good job of theming its monthly gatherings and matching the wines with food. One recent event, an exploration of the wines of South Africa, also featured a colorful fashion show with designs from a native of the region. Next up (Nov. 14) is a program of pinot noirs from Oregon wineries. The society (www.seattlewinesociety.org; 206-706-3771) also publishes an online calendar of area wine seminars and events.

For a real education from an engaging, polished presenter, it's hard to top Seattle sommelier Dieter Schafer. Schafer has worked as a maitre d'hotel, manager and sommelier in restaurants in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America, and taught at hotel schools in West Africa, Greece and Turkey. Learning about wine, he says, began as a necessity and became a hobby.

These days he is headquartered at the Art Institute of Seattle, where he directs the Hospitality and Wine Education program (www.hospitality-and-wine-education.com). He also teaches at Renton Technical College and South Seattle Community College. A recent four-session program included classes on effective wine tasting, wine vocabulary, a bit of history and geography, wine-buying strategies, wine-and-food pairing guidelines, correct serving techniques and hints for proper storing and aging.

A third Seattle-area teacher, Arnie Millan (www.arniemillan.com), works as the European wine buyer for Esquin and regularly hosts wine classes at the Sixth Avenue Wine Seller. Coming up on Nov. 18 (at the Warwick Hotel) is one of his favorites. Teaming with Dale Sherrow from Seattle Caviar, Millan presents a hands-on exploration of the joys of Champagne and caviar he calls Champagnology. "We do it right," he explains, "with mother-of-pearl spoons, blinis and true Champagnes."

Millan, like his peers, works hard to keep his classes lively. "We always try to make it unintimidating," he says. "I love telling anecdotes that are memorable so that people take the wine knowledge away in a different perspective." By wrapping some interesting wine history around tastings of wines from famous places, Millan believes his students will learn more, and have more fun learning. A seven-part Introduction to Wine series of classes will begin Jan. 6, 2008.

For those who really want to knuckle down and go for a more thorough exposure to wine, a growing number of programs, degrees and credentials are available. The Culinary Arts Program at South Seattle Community College (www.chefschool.com/html/foodwine.htm; 206-764-7942) offers certificate programs in winemaking, wine marketing and sales, and food-and-wine pairing. Central Washington University in Ellensburg has a World Wine Program (www.cwuce.org/wine-education; 509-963-1504) and a good selection of one-day seminars.

FOR THE COMBINATION of great food, great wine, conversation and shared knowledge, it's hard to beat a well-run restaurant-sponsored winemaker dinner. Chris Sparkman, who orchestrates a full calendar of wine events at the Waterfront Seafood Grill (www.waterfrontpier70.com), was awarded "Best Restaurant Event Series" this year by the Washington Wine Commission.

When asked how he puts these events together, he is disarmingly modest. "I am blessed to know some good folks who like wine, and I think we throw a good party," he explains. "That's about as technical as I get. We get the best wineries to bring the best wines, we try to have some nice service and some nice food to help, and then hope people get along real well."

If the fancy dinner isn't quite what you're ready for, then swing by one of the many wine bars popping up around town. Purple Café & Wine Bar (locations in Kirkland, Woodinville and Seattle), the Local Vine (2520 Second Ave., 206-441-6000) and Divino (5310 Ballard Ave. N.W., 206-297-0143) are three that present wines in useful tasting flights, encouraging you to mix and match flavors with shareable appetizers.

These jazzy places help make the point that wine has shed the image of stuffy pretentiousness. These days it is the beverage of moderation, of friendship and celebration, a social lubricant and party-starter. And if you want to learn more, it's no longer difficult to find ways to keep the fun factor front and center. So jump in — maybe even splurge on one of the big tastings offered around the state.

By all means, don't get discouraged. Practice your spitting skills in the shower, and remember the immortal words of Groucho Marx:

"I shall drink no wine before it is time! OK, it is time."

Paul Gregutt writes the Wednesday wine column for The Seattle Times and covers Northwest wine for the Wine Enthusiast magazine. Write to him at wine@paulgregutt.com.