Are You a Sensory Overload Drinker?

Some wines are quite subtle. The aromas light and pleasant, the flavors reserved, and even the feel on your palate is soft and serene. Others are far more in your face. Their aromas are strong, often earthy with deep floral tones fighting to come through, the flavors are intense and can hold up to any food, and their mouthfeel is perhaps harsh to some from the intense pucker we get from the tannins.

For some of us, the latter group is just too much. We cannot stand the sensory overload from all the stimulation we are getting. For others, the subtleties of the first wine type we described just don't have anything going for them. I've heard words such as flat, boring, and blah as descriptors. But, each wine has a style ... a purpose. Well, some wines are so bad that they have no style at all, but we're not considering them.

Frankly, however, among people who would tell us that they like wine, I've rarely heard someone refuse a well-made wine because it just didn't have enough pizzazz. They might not purchase such a wine, but they surely would drink the glass handed to them if they didn't have to pay for it.

On the other hand, I have seen people who absolutely cannot drink wines that are too sensory in nature. Let's consider, for example, the very inexpensive (for that wine type) Barolo (less than $20) that we enjoyed last night. Barolo, in addition to the fact that serious wine drinkers cherish a great bottle, is well known for its strong stimulation of the senses. On the nose, we get intense earthy floral tones (my way of saying that the roses and violets have been crushed along a walking trail through the woods). On the palate, in addition to the roses and violets, we get lots of cherry and raspberry along with black licorice and tar. The tannins are dense and robust. It's intense. And, the wine tends to have that highly unusual combination of high tannins, high acidity, and high alcohol that seems to be available in these 100% Nebbiolo wines and nowhere else.

You drink a great Barolo and all your senses are working. If you're particularly sensitive with any of them, you're likely in overload and there are some uumber of people who can't handle it.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to imply that these people have a character defect. But, they are missing out on a great class of wines. Some of them might say the same about me in that I cannot stomach Krispy Kreme glazed donuts because the sweet sensatiom just kills me. But, this is great wine we are talking about, so the aversion is far less understandable. It's incomprehensible, but then again, not everyone has great judgement.

Okay, I'll take my tongue out of my cheek. The struggle truly is real. For some people, overstimulation of one or more particular of their senses is just a killer. I'm still trying to figure out how to train them otherwise.