I’ve never been much of a wine drinker (more of a bourbon gal) because I felt I didn’t know anything about wine. Watching your show has given me confidence to go for it and try it all. I think I’ll start by throwing a train your palate party, thanks for the fun idea!

great episode! i heard about it, but never got a chance to see this episode. i love the skittles! i have to try this with my waitstaff!

Uh… Gary… think you forgot tobacco. One of my most favorite flavor profiles!

Good luck with that Big League Chew!

love your show man, its great!

Enough time has passed that you need to take it to the next level – Training Your Palate 2… Berries with white peeper, Dirt, tabacco cocktail and yes jalapeno with cinnamon crunch. Posting this classic on twitter and faceook. Keep crushing it my friend.

First time I have ever seen this website and heard of you Gary – you are a complete nutter, but definitely refreshing and I will definitely watch more!

Had to watch this episode again to get pumped up for Palate Builder II in Niagara on the Lake. I’m doing a different winery this year. I’m bringing the grocery list to a dozen friends, we’re doin it up. Love this episode, this gets me passionate. Helping folks connect with their palate and empowering them to get past the scores and tasting notes. Enjoy the hustle, good luck with the wee one!!

Hey Gary, I really dig what you’re doing. This episode I had to comment on. I loved the white pepper in the eye with hints of dentist( clove ) lemon peel on the mid palate with BIG Jalapeno on the back end.
Was that Eric in the back ground laughing??? I nearly pissed myself doing the same.
I read tasting notes of “cats pee” i’m not sure i’ll start there for expanding my palate.
Go Canucks!!!

heard you mention this episode a couple of times, and wow that was by far the one of the craziest things I have ever seen. Way to show the dedication to WLTV, though you might want to get tested after munching the soil from the Dirty Jerz.

You forgot, leather, smoke and wood. Gotta do it over. Seriously though, that was fricking hilarious. I embedded it on my website, because I just cannot do it any better. Check it out here: http://www.wine-4-beginners.com/Nose-of-a-Wine.html. Sad to say that I have just discovered you, but I will be watching. Thanks for the laugh!!!!!!!!!!

nice job. was surprised that I knew many of the flavors from cooking, but hadn’t really picked them up in wines.

Today I was drinking sauvignon blanc and tried to break down the aroma and got…nothing. went to the winery website and they listed 7 items, 5 of which I’d never heard of and the other 2 I couldn’t pick up at any temperature…kept warming from 40 up to 80 degrees to drive off more aroma and finally decided it smelled like wine.

so I can get the big picture “smells like the inside of a sleeping bag that got mildewed” kind of smells, but when people take one wine and strip off 7 different distinct aromas, i just don’t get how that is done. so that is my question, how do you do that? do you go in looking for specific aromas, pick them off and then ignore them and move on? I mean I have plenty of nose to work with, but its not very well trained.

Forgot the hay also, but love your show, just about a first timer, but will finally really get into wines with your help. For mr Hooper, the comment on cat pee, I had a 1982 Penfold’s Grange that I had brought to Mexico on a trip, so don’t know if it was the warm weather but when it got opened, woooo what a drift. Lucky I had also read something about it in a book, or else my girlfriend was sending it to the garbage. I tasted it and WOW, with some time it just went rounder and rounder. Amazing.
Bernard from Quebec.

I LOVE this episode and come back to it often. It cheers me up!

I think you should do these every couple months, trying new things each time.

I think the Jalapeno was a great idea, not so much for the heat that comes from it, but I always detect a real grassy/leaf chlorophyll like flavor in Jalapenos that I detect in white wines.

Ironinc about your comment about Anise/Licorice in many Ports, because I was drinking a port before watching this and thought “Wow, that really has an anise finish to it”.

Some suggestions to try:

Lemon Grass – I pick this up in many whites.

Coriander (the seed which Cilantro grows from) – Again, I taste this in many whites.

Sour Neon Gummy Worms – I pick this up in a lot of really cheap red wines and I kind of like it. I see it all the time in the $3 Winking Owl Shiraz from ALDI.

Vanilla Beans – Obviously you know what vanilla tastes like. But I think it’s a good idea to get that true, raw vanilla flavor.

Freshly Peeled Raw Baking Potatoes – Don’t swallow this because it will make your tummy upset. I almost get a cinnamon play on these and I think it’s interesting that once you cook them, you lose that aspect.

That was AWESOME!

It demystifies all these tasting notes that I read and encourages me to train my palate!

No leather, barnyard?

Great work!

Gary this was hilarious and I really wanna go out and try some of this stuff, especially the red and black current since you use it so much in your notes!

I love this guy, so candid and devoted!

ROFL! That has gotta be one of the best intro’s ever Gary! LOVE IT!

wow this is hilarious but extremly moving at the same time. gary, you’re very very dedicated to wine and the wine world and all of that and it really pays off for the viewers of your show. so im so glad you’re having a whole lot of success with the show and your shop and wine and everything and keep it up and we’ll keep watching it!

http://www.jellybeanwinebar.com/

Jelly belly wine bar. (Yes, it involves the “dirt” beans from the Bertie Botts collection.) Haven’t tried. Rather drink. Sounds like fun.

Just saw this and I thought that it was GREAT! Not much more to add except it will add to my curosity on which foods I eat will taste like wine I may taste in the future!

btw – Yes I love jalapenos and I eat them straight quite often 🙂

Gary you’re a riot! I’m a newbee to your web site. Just started a new job at a local NV winery and watching episode #148 cracked me up. At work one day we were “playing with” some Parker notes and decided he needed to include a little nose of dog s… and mid palate of yellow jackets, etc, etc
well you get the idea……nothin’ but fun!

ep #688

totally, 100% agree with you. i’m san francisco native and i discovered anderson valley about 2 years ago and can’t get enough of it! nearly all the wineries offer free tasting, much more homey. i just stopped visiting napa altogether after i found this haven.

what do you think of handley and navarro? i love handley’s pinot noirs and navarro’s guwervz (i know i short-handed and mispelled it, save the dictionary)

keep up the great work!

-kj

Hi Gary,

My brother just turned me onto your program today with the father’s day special- I’m an instant Vayniac! I’m about 5mths pregnant, and I ended up spending a couple hours today watching some past episodes, getting a backseat tour through some of those great flavours I’m missing, learning about new wines vicariously… I love to listen to the radio or podcasts while I cook on the weekend- you are now joining me in my kitchen with your wine talk.

But THIS episode? Episode #148?!? Almost peed my pants laughing when you got to the cloves- i cam feew my mowf. And the lemon peel! The jalapeno!! I was HOWLING! All for the love of wine- but you gave me some good ideas about pregnancy approved consumption, developing the flavour palate now, for when I can go back to the bottle. hehe.

You are the best, thanks for sharing your passion and talent with the world- can’t wait for more.

Oh- have you done anything on the great BC Okanagan wines that are coming out these days? I had a grape-filled tour through the area last summer and was impressed by the some of the Pinot Gris that we tried.

Erp, nevermind, found the Oh Canada, Oh Kanagan episode- LOVEIT!

Fantastic!!!! who fab info yet better demonstration! Made me cry at the end xoxoxo