With great wines, which can age and evolve for years, even drinking one bottle may not be enough for the entire story. In these instances, a case of the wine is better, because it allows you to understand the wine at different points in its evolution. But the idea here is to pay attention to the wine simply over the course of a meal: to enjoy it, certainly, but also to understand your experience. You will note how the wine presents itself before you begin to eat, and then with food; how the first glass may differ from the second, whether it changes in the glass, and if so, how.

You will want to say something about the aroma and how it tastes, but don’t overanalyze. All the vaunted clichés of tasting notes, the genre of writing that traffics in hints of cloudberries, guava, melted road tar, fig compote and so on, actually communicate very little to other people about the experience of drinking that wine. I’ve found that a more general approach conveys far more.

That is, does the wine seem sweetly fruity, no matter what kind of fruit? Or does it seem savory, tasting more of herbal, smoky, stony or acidic flavors? Maybe it’s a combination. I once suggested that tasting notes be eliminated entirely in favor of these two classifications of wine, and while I meant to be provocative, I do believe the words we use to describe wine can often be counterproductive and comical.

Just as important as the smells and flavors of the wine is the texture, that is, how it feels in your mouth. I find texture to be a crucial yet undervalued quality, possibly because words that describe this tactile sense are even more elusive than those used for what is detected by your eyes, nose and taste buds.

I think of texture in terms of its primary components, tannins and acidity. Tannins play a greater role in red wines. They are the somewhat astringent compounds derived not only from the skins, stems and seeds of grapes but also sometimes from the wood of the barrels in which the wines were aged. No doubt, we will encounter tannins in our exploration of Bordeaux.