Hi Gary!

You rock. Some really important seed flavors I think are totally unique and you should try if you haven’t:

1) cumin seeds–both raw and toasted. The flavor is extremely smoky, deep, bitter, like a rich vegetable soup.
2) caraway seeds–familiar from seeded rye bread, of course. To me it tastes like an old cedar chest.
3) fennel seeds–very much like licorice/anise, of course, but less cloying, more herbal.
4) fenugreek seeds–smell like maple syrup and taste like really hot, hot beach sand.

I’d love to know if you found these useful for your wine palate. Cheers!

Aaron

You dropped some massive tonnage in true vino veritas style. Absolutely epic.

Gary, taking one for Team Wine! That was incredible. Although I was a little worried Gary might have an allergic reaction to the cloves, it made for classic WLTV. No BS, Gary always go straight to the nuts and bolts and wine. Speaking of that, where was the graphite that we all chewed on in elementary school! I built my palate in the third grade. Pencil shavings, graphite, tadpoles, dirt and blackberry jam on hotdogs.

I’ve worked my self up to maybe episode 130 and from 200 on but of course that means I missed this episode. You sent this out after the Conan episode and I’m glad you did… awesome episode. You should post the shopping list 🙂

PS I tried not to laugh at the white pepper in the eye thing but I couldn’t hold it almost funnier than the jalepeno and dirt.

THIS is absolutely INSANE!!! But you motivated me to try a couple of things to train MY wine palete, probably not dirt though ;-))

Gary,

Great episode. I look forward to trying this sometime soon. I would have loved to have seen the aftermath of your office after you were done. I also really enjoyed the Conan episode. Tivo did me right catching that for me while I was out of town. Would it be possible to get the shopping list for this episode? That would be great. Thanks again – keep up the great work

So awesome, Gary! I’ve been lurking now for a couple of days and I couldn’t help but jump in with my first comment after this amazing episode! I know how you feel about lurkers! I just happened upon one of your vids on youtube while looking for tasting videos and I couldn’t be more happy to admit that I’m a winelibrary junky!

First of all. Kudos to you for your fearless, raw approach. I approach many things the same way, whether it’s my music, my photography or my appreciation for wine and its many familiar smells and tastes.

The white pepper got me rollin’! And, of course, dirt and then Cristal! Hilarious! I love hearing the cameraman laughing at you. I have a pretty high tolerance for hot stuff so eating raw jalepeños (sans seeds) is one of my favorite things. Apparently my father used to do this so maybe it’s a Spanish thing, not sure.

Anyway, you’ve gotten me back into wine in a big way and so far I’ve already bought two bottles this week. The currant and cassiss flavors are the ones I really need to seek out. I’ve surely smelled and tasted them a lot in wines but never by themselves. You give me inspiration!

Just forwarded this to two dear friends and even sent them cork’d invites as well. I think I’m gonna start a little tasting group with my friends and start watching episodes while tasting. Many of them work in restaurants in NYC and are expected to know lots about wine. Many of them do not know much about wine and so your presence, I think, will be of great benefit to them.

One of the things I thought could be added to the tasting list would be sea water and/or sea salt. I have some French sea salt that I use from Isle de Ré. Without having to actually drink salt water, you can get a lot of the briney, sea character from the salt instead. Love the inclusion of Goji berries. I got turned on to these by a friend from No Cal. I am munching on some as I type! Interesting little berry. Besides the normal white, green and black teas that abound, I also drink a fair amount of maté from South America. In crushed-leaf form it’s still quite dusty and it gives a great combination of earthy, dirt flavors and strong tea, tree, bark and bush flavors alongside.

Thanks again for all your hard work!
I’m only about half-way through the archives but I will continue to watch them intently.

This episode absolutely rocks! I’m catching up (starting watching about 15 days ago) and I’m new to wine, so, when you mentioned this episode in a newer one, I had to go back and find this…. Fantastic – watching you cram the entire bunch of asparagus was the highlight on this, but I’m also slowly getting all the stuff together to re-create…

This is exactly what I need to start mentally processing the smells and tastes that I’m getting as I drink wine – I’ve been very concerned that I simply don’t have a good sense of smell or taste, but doing this on a small scale for a couple of wines has proven that I just didn’t have the reference ‘library’ built up in my head…

Thanks for doing all of these shows and for making things a lot easier for a newbie to not feel intimidated and for showing me that the wine snobs that I have, on occasion, been to dinner with really are the terrible bores that I thought they were.

Thanks. Ookla

Hello to all,

I’m just starting my wine adventure, so hello to all. I have taken the time to advance my palate when it comes to cigars, cheeses, and beers. So I’m wondering what of that information do you think will transfer over well to the wine world, and what should I really focus on to advance. What kind of wines are a good starting place for me and my fiance. I personally enjoy hearty and hoopy beers, but my fiance enjoys lighter crisper flavors. I would like to find wines we can both start with and build out palates.

Thanks,
Peter E

OMG, Gary, you are such a trooper for trying all of those things! You had me rolling on the floor with laughter. BTW, on the clove numbing your tongue, haven’t you ever heard of using clove oil as an analgesic for cavities if you can’t get to the dentist?

working under Paul Grieco here in ny. was sent this video from a friend. hooked. thanks for your contributions and knowledge!

Hands down greatest episode ever. Thanks GV for eating dirt and then Cristal at the end. I remember in one episode you mentioned firebugs. I’d love an episode where you taste all the unconventional taste notes you’ve mentioned on the vlogs.

Brilliant idea. I got jalepeno on a New Zealand Sauv Blanc today for the first time – prior to watching the episode. I also got my first good dose of ‘slate’ in an alsatian riesling. I’ll be buying some Hero jams this week. Thanks for the inspiration.

That was one of the best episodes i have seen… however… There are other peppers other then a jalepeno, you really should try a Habanero on camera. 😛

do you have a shopping list??

Yes, I am a lurker. Yes, I want to leave comments but don’t know what to say because yes I do love wine but have no idea what it is that I love about wine. This ep is huge! Like the Rosetta Stone of the wine language to me. The more I watch the more I understand and yes, I am going to go shopping and train my palate a la GV. BTW, I love that I get to laugh my ass off every single weekday. Sorry to all the Buffalo fans, great defense, but BRONCOS!!! man BRONCOS!!!

This is a bad ass episode. Big LOVE to GV and all the fine people behind WLTV. My new favorite show. Promise not to lurk so much as my repertoire develops.

And yes I want the lurker T shirt

I LOVED this episode… ever since you were on Conan, I have been wondering how I could train my palate and I saw this episode on the right hand side…and thus me watching it! The white pepper was classic… way to tough it out for us! This would be a fantastic party to do!!!! Thanks for all you do Gary!

You’re a genius! Love what you do!

I suggest focusing on characteristics of one varietal at a time.

get a list of items that are found in Merlots, Chardonnay’s etc… and then taste and smell items for each varietal. This will help to sharpen the focus and allow a base to be established by varietal rather than all at once.

Great job Gary. The wine world needs a person to gather all itimidated people and let them see how easy and fun wine can be.

Corkdorks suck…just enjoy wine. Cheers!

This is quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. I commend and applaud you for undertaking it with the depth of commitment you have. You’ve gained a loyal fan. Thanks!

I saw you do this on both Conan and Ellen but you really went all out here!!! Loved it. I am having a wine and cheese party in Dec and I am going to have some fun with my friends and incorporate this stuff. Great episode.

Thanks for some great ideas a ridiculously long, very fun episode! I’ll have to start piecing together a shopping list and getting some friends to commit to a few palette building nights. Maybe I’ll treat em to pizza after each night if they’re mad about making them try certain things…

QOTD: Yeah, it’s my project for the next couple weeks. One thing I started wanting to see as you went on- parsley to go with sage, rosemary and thyme. It also coulda been fun to watch you bite into a lemon… maybe a crayon and glue to emphasize keeping an open mind? Enjoy the suggestions 🙂

Fantastic Gary, you make me laugh. 99 Cristal was a nice touch too! Very funny episode.

Just watching this episode now, definitely had me laughing.

I will certainly be more aware of the foods/spices/flavors I eat now and am going to seek out some new ones. Great episode.