Bay Area TV weatherman and wine aficionado Spencer Christian, microphone in hand, inhaled the aroma of the South African Chardonnay, took a sip and described for the dinner crowd of 150 the wine's ample apple and pear aromas and flavors.
"I'm not getting that," said one woman at table No. 5. "I'm not smelling anything ... Is the wine corked?"
Her nine tablemates froze, deer in the headlights. They went silent, but their eyes asked, "What is 'corked'? Is there something wrong with this wine that I should have detected? Is learning about wine really this difficult? Can I get a Cosmo instead?"
Gert Cowan took a glass of the wine in question to her friend at another table. Barbara Cruz took a sniff and agreed that the Chardonnay was indeed corked, with a slight musty, cardboard aroma that is the sign of a faulty natural cork. A fresh bottle was poured and as the diners smelled it, pop! went the light bulbs in their heads. It did indeed smell and taste of apple and pear, and when compared to the corked wine, well, there was no comparison.
It was a classic "aha" moment in wine and it came during the dinner that followed the "Wine, Women and ... Flights of Fancy" conference on Feb. 5 in Boston. Cowan, Cruz and the eight other members of Divas Uncorked, a Boston- area group of African American women that has met monthly since 1998 to educate themselves on wine, had unintentionally taught a valuable lesson in wine appreciation to a small but eager-to-learn group. [...]
| Continue San Francisco Chronicle wine editor Linda Murphy's article "Di-vine Divas
Boston group delivers a sophisticated wake-up call to the wine industry about its real customers" ... and then go directly to Cultured Wino
posted in articles on March 3, 2005 4:51 AM | t (0)
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