Andrew Polmear writes for the love of wine…

How is it that some people can tell an enormous amount about a wine from one sip while others just know they like red more than white? I’m sure that some people are born with a greater sensitivity to flavours than others, but most of the ability comes from practice. And to learn from practice you have to be able to describe what you taste; without words the brain can’t learn from experience. And here comes the problem for the amateur. A description like “chewy ripeness with plenty of structure, limpid in the mouth and a fine zest on the finish” may mean something to the person who wrote it but it doesn’t mean much to the rest of us.
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