All of these pictures are of vineyards in Burgundy & the Rhone valley, namely Hermitage and Chateauneuf- Du-Pape. As a wine buyer I am looking for a common denominator on my choices. Every taster has an identity. My identity or how I would like to be judged, is that the wines I choose are brimming with elegance. What does this mean? Elegance in wine speak means that the alcohol levels are in sync with the acids and phenols within the wine. Of course I am referring to wines that are considered to be fine wines. There is a nice mouthfeel when the balance of the ingredients are in harmony with each other. When the balance is out of whack, it will usually lead to a bad experience. I have deliberately selected some photos from Chateauneuf, Hermitage and Burgundy as quite often these wines are perfectly balanced and consequently very elegant. Drinking a good bottle of wine is a serious business and can be the difference in a deal going through or not. Believe it or not when you have tasted enough your mouth becomes accustomed to the different textural natures of different wines. Barolo, Burgundy and Chateauneuf all have a similar feeling in the mouth, that is to say, it feels like to me that the liquid makes the tiniest of mouthfuls once inside the mouth and although it’s a liquid and not a solid, one can breakdown the different flavors as if it were a solid compartmentalizing them into almost what feels like a bento box. Does that make sense? Most of these wines have similar phenolic chemical compounds and one of the common aromas and flavors I get of these wines is a kind of Darjeeling tea, or Earl Grey. It’s very subtle and you have to go after it, but I promise you it’s there. I feel it’s very apparent in great Brunello’s. As a barometer, this is how I measure elegance. Elegance is the keyword and although I am not just looking for this tea like aroma, I am examining the structure, its edges and its sleekness. The fruit level is very hard to describe, but in a word it’s the backbone of the wine. It gives a strong indication of where the wine is heading for better or worse. One thing I strongly advise is that these types of wines need time once opened. You cannot expect performance in twenty minutes. If you are prepared to treat the wine in the manner that it should be treated then it will be your friend considering all the stars have aligned. If you just pop the cork and start drinking, you can forget the whole experience. Good luck !!