The Wine Aroma Wheel, developed by Dr. Ann Noble (UC Davis) helps one to quickly identify what aroma you may be smelling in your glass of wine. Simply start in the middle and work your way outward to help get a hint of what aroma your brain is trying to identify.

Now, this is not the end-all, be-all. As I have mentioned to some of you, the other important “trick” to identifying what you are smelling is to smell and taste everything. Spending time in the grocery store and smelling as you move up and down the aisles is important. Produce, bread, coffee aisle, and getting yourself reacquainted with what spices smell like is all good practice to better identifying what you may be smelling later on. By doing this aromatic “homework”, you’re in better shape to start identifying what that mystery smell is. Practice, practice, practice.

Back to the wheel. I’ll just simply say that this tool that Dr. Noble devised has helped me out on many occasion. You may notice that there are many types of aroma wheels out on the market (and via Google Image), but I say that sticking to this particular wheel is the way to go as you continue your wine deviance! They’re kinda a deal at $6 a pop, and if you’re feeling uber-nerdy, grab a shirt, too. My advice is to start with buying the Table Wines wheel (in English, for most of my readers). I’m actually going to pick up their sparkling wine wheel, because I need to focus and work more on identifying many of the descriptors in this area.

P.S. Next time you’re tasting with me, feel free to ask to borrow my wheel. Happy to oblige!

My friend Thea decided to host a bubbles party for a few of her friends, and it just so happened to fall on a Friday the 13th. Your loyal Wine Deviant (me) was in desperate need of a alcoholic beverage to wash away a difficult evening, and talked myself into finally driving northward for about 50 minutes to enjoy a gathering.

Along the way, as I often do, I had KCBS on the radio, and a  commentary article came on that sparked my need to write a quick piece for my blog. During that commentary, some statistics and numbers were mentioned stating that traditionally in this country, it’s uncommon for events and parties to be held, due to our almost irrational worry over Friday the 13th. And when these events or gatherings aren’t held, it affects a number of industries, including hoteliers, venue halls, catering companies, and many other supporting jobs. We’re practically doing our own economy in because of our silly Friday the 13th phobias! (Okay, “doing in” is a bit of an exaggeration, but the money we lose is ridiculous) So, as the reporter was wrapping up, she challenged her listeners to not be so worried about attending a party, get out there and enjoy ourselves. And if we still that superstitious, to take a non-monetary approach – just keep avoiding those black cats and walking under ladders. I couldn’t agree more, and only wished that I could have found an online version of the commentary. Instead, you can enjoy a little history video bit here.

So, in I walk to the party with some food items and my bottle of bubbly (which I didn’t get to taste that night – boo!), and start to enjoy conversations with other attendees. By the time everyone had arrived, our hostess came to a realization: there were 13 people at her home with 13 bottles of wine on Friday the 13th. WHOA, talk about being deviant! After our hostess noticed this, I brought up the news piece I had heard on the drive over with some of the guests, and many of us proclaimed that Friday the 13th days were some of our best days of the year.

In fact, this day was such a good day, I not only made 12 new acquaintances, but I found a lovely bottle of bubbly, a Jacques Pelvas Brut Rose, that I will be sure to review in the very near future. It was the stand-out of the night in my opinion, and definitely qualified as a deviant bottle in my book!

So, for all of those out there reading this, we have two more opportunities to deviate from all the phobia folks and enjoy a gathering on Friday the 13th. My challenge to all of you: hold a deviant party on April 13 and July 13, enjoy a few different bottles of your alcoholic beverage of choice (wine, beer or spirits), and be sure to report back on how you deviated with a joyfulness and free feeling!