WINES: What the Wine Is Really Saying — In Practice
- Paolo Galloni
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
Paolo Galloni on why a great bottle of wine is never just a drink, and what three decades of tasting have taught him about time, memory, and the art of paying attention.
If all of this sounds persuasive but faintly abstract, let me make it more useful. The idea that wine “speaks” is only valuable if you can learn to hear it with some consistency, particularly in the setting that most people care about: a restaurant table, a list in front of you, and a decision to make.
After thirty years of tasting, there are a handful of things I look for almost immediately. Not because they make me right every time—they do not—but because they give me a reliable starting point.
1. The First Signal: Balance, Not Flavour
Most people begin with flavour. They ask whether a wine is fruity, oaky, light, or full-bodied. Those are surface descriptions. The more useful question is simpler: is this wine in balance?
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