Your Favorite Wine Doesn't Taste Like Your Favorite

You are excited. You've decide to open a bottle of the 2015 Chateau Your Favorite. It's a red blend or a white blend or a Cabernet or Chardonnay or Pinot Noir or Riesling or whatever it is. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that tonight, you are in the mood for your favorite wine. Your favorite wine of all time.

With anticipation, you uncork a bottle a full hour before you play to serve it, carefully decant it just the way we told you,  And, then an hour later, when dinner is ready, you serve it. And it doesn't taste so good. Understand, it's not bad. But, it's not as good as the last time you  had it. Not nearly as good.

What is going on?

The conditions are different. Even though the last time you had a bottle wasn't that long ago, the wine has changed, albeit likely not very much. Over long periods of time, that change might be drastic, but over a month or two in a good wine, significant change would be rare.

But, the climate in the room is different. It's a little bit warmer or a little bit cooler, or more humid or less humid. And, remember, while we might not think of it as such, wine is merely a combination of chemical compounds. And, chemical compounds, generally speaking, do react. And, they react differently in different temperatures.

Then, there is you. The person drinking the wine. The last time you had Chateau Your Favorite, you had had a very active day. You had perspired a fair amount and the saltiness remained with you. Today, on the other hand, you chose to be a lump and and you were fresh as a gentle, morning breeze. 

Hmm. Salt. Salt interacts with wine. In fact, salt is quite basic and it is very reactive with acids and wine tends to be somewhat acidic.

And, then there is the food. The last time you had this wine, you drank it with your favorite dish, a spicy concoction loaded with shellfish. And, today, you are having it with your second favorite dish, a big juicy rib-eye with a baked potato.

Hmm. Differences in food. Way back nearly 8 months ago, we put you through some tasting and pairing exercises to show you how different foods affect different wines. We showed why fat needs tannins and salt needs tannins, but acid often pairs well with acid. 

So, the fact is that you might have liked the wine better the first time simply because of conditions and the food it was paired with. All of those things have an effect. 

Be careful. Your body and your palate really will like wine a little bit cooler in the summer than in the winter. Your food really will affect how you perceive a wine.