Describing wine can bring out the poet and the fool in many of us. Especially when it comes to comparing wine to other aromas and tastes. Terms like leather, tobacco, barnyard, gooseberry, flinty, vanilla and citrus are tossed about. Some we know, and some we only imagine. When was the last time you smelled a barnyard?
Gooseberries, however, appeared at our farmers' market recently. It had been a long time since I had tasted one. And, Ed didn't think he had ever tasted a gooseberry.
We both love Sauvignon Blanc. We seldom see a description of the wine that doesn't include some comparison to gooseberries. The classic, according to Jancis Robinson in her book "How to Taste" is, "Cats' pee on a gooseberry bush."
She goes on to clarify that thinking by saying, "There's something definitely 'Green' about it; some people fine raw gooseberries while others sense nettles, grass or the smell of blackcurrant leaves..."
We decided to conduct a tasting of the wine and the fruit. We had two New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, from, Kim Crawford and White Haven on hand.
We kept the berries at room temperature for full taste and sniffed and tasted wine and gooseberries alternately. We even squished some berries to bring out the aroma and to separate the taste of the skin from the interior.
The skin has a more citrus taste, but the juicy interior did remind me of the wine. In the aroma department, I also agree with the classic description. However, I still smell the rain on the granite outcroppings along the coast when I sniff a good bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.
Ed was unsure and wanted to redo the experiment. He'll add a comment here when he has come to his conclusions.
This idea of tasting something real with a wine was suggested by our friend and wine tasting companion, David Zeigler. Thank you David. Let's do more of it!
By the way, we do recommend the book "How to Taste." One of my favorite wine writers, Jancis Robinson, helps you think about what is happening in your mouth without the stuffiness or pretention so common in the world of wine.
And, since I'm currently reading and enjoying "Women of the Vine," I've added that one here as well.
