The complex aromas and flavors that distinguish fine wine are usually quite subtle and sometimes almost but not quite - as elusive as an emperor's legendary new wardrobe of clothes.

It's not hard to learn to recognize these subtleties, but it will take practice, which can make for plentiful opportunities within wine appreciation as it will with just about anything else worth appreciating.

Bordeaux wine maker Alexis Lichine suggested that the best way to learn about wine would be

through opening numerous bottles.

It should be added that the best way to learn wine quickly and well is by frequently tasting wines "blind," judging comparatively without knowing what's in the glasses until you've made your notes and announced your conclusions.

Nothing will concentrate the wine taster's attention quite as intensely as possibly having someone jest with them mercilessly because they just identified a  Chardonnay rather than a Chenin Blanc.

Gaze under such circumstances at two near-identical glasses of golden Chardonnay, and it won't take long to discern the nuances of gold, bronze and brass, apples, chestnuts, figs and yes, even possibly coconut within in the wine.

Even the most objective judge could be influenced to some degree by visually knowing what is possibly within the glass.

Consider that you are comparing a $20 nectar against a $3 jug wine, it would be a lot easier to be honest if you didn't know which is which.

 

The obvious reaction could well be to think that it is easy to tell red wine from white? Okay now try it blind folded sometime and holding your nose as well. Some white-wine drinkers who rarely sample red could be convinced that the differences between the types are quite deep yet very fundamental. Consider the stereotypes: White wine is light, fruity and refreshing, an anonymous tipple for casual sipping. Red wine is stronger, complicated and although fine for connoisseurs, perhaps much harder to get to know. Do these stereotypes have validity? Or are the differences overshadowed by the similarities between what are, after all, beverages made from fruit as closely related as red (or blue or purple) and white (or green or golden) grapes? Prompted by a recent discussion on the subject among several colleagues communicating with personal computers on an online Wine Forum. The decision was made to find out by indulging in the practice of "blind" tasting to its logical extreme. A point being was to ensure that any objectivity is unmarred by prejudice or a preconceived idea . It's very easy to be objective if one does not know which glass contains the $20 boutique wine and which holds the $2.99 jug variety. It's easy enough to arrange this kind of tasting: All you need is someone to pour the wine. It doesn't matter if you see what's in the glass. It will be a little more complicated trying to compare red and white without looking, as a real, if though,  temporary loss of vision is required. Something that can be achieved by asking a colleague to wrap a bandanna over the eyes and around head. As an example try the following:  Use four moderately priced wines - Say two white and two red - for this simple test. A suggestion would be, two California wines - a red 1981 Inglenook Vineyards, Napa Valley, Petite Sirah ($5.49) and a white 1985 Gundlach Bundschu, Sonoma County (Rhinefarm Vineyards) Gewurztraminer ($6.49) - anticipating that these two wines would display marked characteristics that should be rather easy to identify. To add a little complexity one could add a white 1985 Collavini Grave del Friuli, Pinot Grigio, from Italy ($5.79) and a red 1983 Premiat Dealul Mare, Cabernet Sauvignon, from Romania ($2.99), expecting them to be rather simple, yet fruity wines that might be more difficult to distinguish without having the benefit of being able to see them. Differences will definitely exist, but they're more subtle than you might expect. one will fairly easily tell the red from the white, but that could be a little more challenging without having benefited from a number of years' tasting experience. As it will be, it will not be easy pegging all four wines to their specific labels. Use this summary as a helping guide during the blind tasting. Glass No. 1 (the Petite Sirah) should be easy. There will be aroma's of green olives and black pepper and then the mouth-filling, fruity and acidic flavor which will give away the grape variety in this nature of a gutsy, full-flavored wine, it will be the best of the four that are going to be and that can be obtained at such a bargain price. Dry acidity and a hint of oak will be the tell-tale signs that Glass No. 3 (the Romanian Cabernet) will hold over the other red wine. The two remaining glasses will be the whites and could very well be misidentified. Glass No. 2 will obviously be white. It could well pass for an inexpensive Rhine wine with a soft, faintly sweet taste. It will have a musky aroma, reminiscent of an overripe cantaloupe melon, this wouldn't be surprising if found in a Gewurztraminer, but the wine will prove to be the Pinot Grigio. A citrus quality with a faint bitter after taste will clearly be experienced in Glass No. 4 which will also be a white, but, will be misleading because of the wine's natural musk, failure to recognize this wine as "Gewurz;" will not be uncommon for it will lack the exuberantly spicy quality typical from such a flavorful grape in Europe. Hopefully this suggested and hopefully useful exercise, will allow people to salvage their ego by correctly identifying all the red and white wines in this scenario.