Good Morning!

This question hit my email the other day, Do you ever get tired of tasting or drinking wine? My first response is “Have you met me?” but then I thought about when I have been tired of tasting or drinking wine and thought I would share some thoughts on my tongue and it’s ability to recover quickly.

I rarely get bored with wine tasting, but I have had so much to taste that I “lose” my palate. I am not a pro judge, amateur judge or a real taster in the industry sense. I do attend many. many tastings and hundreds of pre-release parties every year. On top of those tastings, I receive about 6-12 bottles of wine a week from winemakers everywhere and I sample and give them my feedback.

I have had many occasions where after tasting so many wines, it all starts to taste the same, and my tongue feels raw. Last year at the ZAP Zinfandel Advocates & Producers party in San Francisco, after about 100 different wines (and I was spitting) my mouth took 3 days to lose the purple tongue and stained teeth and then I could taste food again.

I would love to train and possibly become a judge but honestly after 25-40 tastes, my palette just shuts down. I can still evaluate mouthfeel and detect aromas, but my palette is down. I rarely ever get to try more than 8-12 wines at one time unless I go to a large event where many producers are there with there wines.

But to answer your question, No, I don’t get tired of tasting or drinking wine. I keep it interesting by always trying something new, a new producer, new wine region, new grape varietal or even new blends of grapes. I do however have to use plenty of Crest white strips to keep my teeth looking white!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi