D. Gerasimatos wrote:

> How do you manage to taste 45 wines and retain any information about
> them? Is this an art which must be practiced or is it genetic?

Compared to Michael I am a slow taster, but I have taken notes on 20+
wines tasted over several hours. The keys are to spit, to write as you
taste and to employ mental shorthand to reduce the amount of writing.
When you know in advance what wines you are tasting, you can write down
the identification (name, year, etc.) in advance and simply supply your
impressions as you taste. It is definitely a different activity from
even a visit to a winery: more analytical, less time to savor what
you're tasting, little conversation and a minimal amount of eating.
It's not recreation, but a great way to quickly gain an impression of a
large number of wines.

Mark Lipton