When Choosing A Wine – Think Taste, Not Grape

The ways in which sommeliers introduce wine lovers to new wines is evolving.  Typically, one expects the wine connoisseur to ask about a favorite grape variety; however, recently, wine sommeliers like Matthew Kaner (@matthewjkaner), wine director at Los Angeles’s Bar Covell, and Thomas Pastuszak (@thomaspastuszak), wine director at Manhattan’s The NoMad, are taking a different approach.  Compared to an unusual lemonade-serving method in which the customer is given unsweetened lemonade and a pitcher of sugar syrup with which one can pour the syrup to taste, these innovative sommeliers are recommending wines to their customers based on the characteristics in a wine that the customer finds appealing.  Instead of sticking to a certain variety, which many inexperienced wine drinkers do, Kaner and Pastuszak take an interest in whether the customer prefers their wine acidic or not acidic, dry or sweet, fruity or earthy.  By taking this approach, the customer is introduced to new varieties, and Kaner and Pstuszak get a chance to spread their knowledge.

“I don’t focus on grape varieties.  They don’t help… I try to think more about wine characteristics” – Matthew Kaner, wine director at Los Angeles’s Bar Covell

Want to find your wine preference? Try out this chart to help you distinguish what wine variety you would prefer.  Click here to read more from Food & Wine on “How to Find the Perfect Wine for You!”

Click here to see Mira’s online store and be sure to keep your favorite flavor characteristics in mind when you are choosing which wine to enjoy!