If you’re like me, you will have a natural abhorrence for the pretentiousness that some wine-lovers exhibit but you should not let this put you off beginning to think and speak about wine in a more articulate and informed way.

You don’t have to be a ponce to notice that there are very real differences between wines. Being able to talk about these differences is the first step to taking greater enjoyment from your glass. Most wine drinkers adopt the ”I-don’t-know-much-about-wine-but-I-know-what-I-like” approach. They make a virtue of being inarticulate because they don’t want to classed with the very people that they have scorned for so long. But there can be no ridicule attached to being able to tell a cabernet from a merlot, a light-bodied wine from a full-bodied one. There are extremes of sensitivity that can become laughable but there are some basic characteristics that are clearly observable, and when you start to get excited about wine it is delightful to be able to put your finger on what exactly it is that you like or don’t about what is in your glass.

I am no expert so it would be wrong for me to insert a quick how-to-become-a-wine-connoisseur course into this story but there are clear characteristics that Pinot Noir displays and it helps to know what to look for when you open a bottle:

Breathe  |  Observe  |   Swirl  |   Smell  |  Drink  |