When trying to explain why the sense of smell plays such an important part in the enjoyment of wine I once used what some people might call a Yogi-ism. Yogi Berra, Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees is known for making statements which make no sense.

I’m pictured here with Yogi Berra. I was one score more, in pounds, and it was seven years ago. I met Mr. Berra at a conference at the Washington Hilton. It was October of 2002. We didn’t discuss wine but the statement I once made regarding tasting wine sounds like something attributed to Yogi Berra. What I said was:

“ Ninety percent of what you taste is from what you smell.” That statement brought unintended laughter. It sounds like it makes no sense on it’s face but nevertheless, it is true.

I recently attended a wine seminar at Pittsford Century Wines. It was conducted by Jordan Ross. He began the seminar with a taste experiment. He gave everyone a cinnamon flavored jelly bean. Instructed everyone to put the jelly bean in their mouth, plug their nose, and begin chewing the jelly bean. He explained that what we were experiencing was purely taste. Only our taste buds on our tongue were functioning.

After several moments he told us to unplug our nose. What we experienced was an almost immediate explosion of flavor from the jelly bean. What we were tasting at that point was what we were smelling. Yogi Berra couldn’t have said it better. You can try this experiment for yourself.

The purpose of this article is to explain how best to taste wine to increase your enjoyment of it. If you would like an in depth explanation of this sensory experiment you can find a discussion at one of Jordan’s web pages:  Sensory Experiment.

TASTING WINE - This is what you should do to increase your enjoyment of wine.

• First fill your glass no more than one third full, This allows the bouquet to build up and flow out into the bowl of the glass.
• Swirl the wine around in the glass. This further releases the bouquet.
• Put your nose into the glass, smell the bouquet, and then pour the wine onto your tongue while inhaling air through your mouth.
• Close your mouth and let the wine rest on your tongue for a moment before swallowing.
• This should greatly enhance your enjoyment of wine.

Back to what Yogi Berra and I were discussing. It wasn’t wine but it was 1961. A great year for the wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy. At the time of the vintage, experts were calling the 1961 Bordeaux the vintage of the century. Some still believe it may still be. In any case it is a benchmark year for Bordeaux. In the movie Sideways, Myles prized bottle, which he drank out of a paper cup with a fast food hamburg, was a bottle of 1961 Chateaux Cheval Blanc from the Bordeaux Appellation of Saint Emilion. Saint Emilion is considered the most beautiful village in the Bordeaux region and is nicknamed “The Land of 1,000 Chateaux.”

Mr. Berra and I were not discussing the 1961 Bordeaux, we were discussing the 1961 major league baseball season. 1961 was not only a great year for wine, it was also a vintage year for baseball. That was the year Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle chased Babe Ruth’s single season home run record of 60. I have had publications in The USA Today and The New York Times in which I state that Roger Maris belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mr. Berra agreed. The last thing he said to me was, “I’ve been trying to tell those guys.” He was referring to the veteran’s committee which is responsible or electing players to Cooperstown. Yogi Berra is one of it’s members.