Here at Vinehunter we've developed the concept of a Palate Print: your unique representation of the Aroma Wheel that demonstrates the type of wines you enjoy. Read on to find out more.
How do wine buffs manage to pick out flavours in a wine? Are they really tasting raspberries, wood, or freshly opened tennis balls? What does wood even taste like?!
I think everyone goes through the sudden realisation that, in fact, NO blueberries were harmed in the making of this red wine – and that hint of blueberry flavour has NOTHING to do with blueberries at all. The flavours a wine is described as having are just imitations (chemical compounds) of everyday flavours. A faint imitation, like the fading fingerprints on a banister, that remind you of the flavour of blueberries or the smell of wood.
Everyone has a unique palate, so one person's blackcurrant might be another person's Skittles. Neither is right or wrong. But to provide some consistency, a particular flavour in a wine is given a particular name. So if the winemaker tastes blackcurrant, they'll call it blackcurrant – and then it's down to us as wine drinkers to associate that flavour with the name. Which might mean: ooo, if I taste purple Skittles, that's what's called blackcurrant.
These standard flavours – across red, white, rosé, orange and sparkling wine – are captured in an Aroma Wheel. Now, there isn't a single standard aroma wheel flavour map (that would be too simple, and one thing we know about the wine industry is that it likes to seem complicated!). But here at Vinehunter we've developed our own, which captures the most-used and popular flavours.
What we do at Vinehunter is help you develop the association between the flavour you taste and the name attached to it.
Which brings us onto Palate Prints. As you use Vinehunter, you'll slowly build up which flavours you like and dislike, and in which combinations. This is the basis of building your own unique Palate Print. Here is our very own founder Missy Mills' Palate Print for red wine:
You'll see Missy typically likes lighter red wines – with flavours such as red fruits, in particular cherry and raspberry. She likes some dark fruits, not as much as red but still a 3 out of 5 for blackberry and blackcurrant. She has a real love for earthy flavours like wet leaves and mushroom, a bit of spice, and a bit of wood. So Missy's red wine Palate Print is unique to her.
But how does this translate to a wine? Each wine has its own palate print based on its flavour profile. These change based on how the wine is treated – for instance, an oaked Chardonnay will have more wood and yeasty flavours than an unoaked Chardonnay, and their palate prints will look different. The beauty of this method is that when you know what YOUR unique Palate Print is, we can match it to a type of wine. In Missy's case, her Palate Print is quite a good match for:
PINOT NOIR! A typical Pinot Noir has red fruits, earthiness, spice and wood – all flavours Missy likes. It also has floral notes, but is unlikely to have black fruits. So not a perfect match, but pretty close, and worth buying a bottle knowing she'll likely enjoy it. And yes – Missy LOVES Pinot Noir!