‘A floral bouquet,’ I repeated, bringing the wine to my nose and smelling it.
‘It’s a crisp wine with a lively, fruit flavor,’ he added.
‘Of pineapple?’
‘And some secondary notes of vanilla and a hint of truffle on the palate.’
‘Would that be black or white truffle?’ I asked, and heard a few laughs, even though I wasn’t trying to be funny.
‘White truffle. With an ample mouthfeel.’
‘Is it buttery?’ I asked.
‘No, actually, it’s supple and very easy drinking.’
‘Give me one of those glasses.’ Palesa held her hand out. ‘You have me intrigued now.’
‘Me too.’ Yanilla joined in, and soon more glasses were handed out.
‘Would sir like a glass too?’ he asked Andrew. I couldn’t tell whether the sommelier was angry, but there was a bite in his tone, that’s for sure.
Andrew accepted the glass, and a few more people asked for glasses as well. A small crowd had now gathered around me and the sommelier. As if we were about to have a boxing match.
‘Well, who’s going first?’ Yanilla asked, raising the glass to her mouth.
‘I think Pippa should go first,’ Andrew said.
I took a sip of the wine, trying, this time, to keep an open mind. Even though I believed it to be utter nonsense. A few others took sips, but no one said a word after we’d all swallowed.
‘Well?’ one of the Katies asked me.
I wasn’t sure when this had becomemywine-tasting event.
I looked up at the sommelier and shook my head. ‘Nope! None of that. No pineapple and liveliness, and how on earth can a liquid be supple?’
Everyone around me started laughing. It seemed like a nervous laugh at first, but grew.
‘I’m so glad you said that. I thought I was the only one who didn’t get it,’ Yanilla said.
‘It tastes great, but I also don’t get the pineapple,’ Palesa added.
‘I’ve always felt like such an idiot because I never got it either,’ Katie said, polishing off the entire glass.
The sommelier’s face dropped and I felt bad immediately.
‘But you’re doing an excellent job. You’re very knowledgeable,’ I quickly added, but then realized how patronizing that sounded. ‘It’s probably us – our palates are not sophisticated enough, our olfactory senses are clearly inferior to yours.’ He looked at me blankly. ‘It’s delicious. Really, very tasty and’ – I took another sip – ‘and maybe, now that I think about it, perhaps I can taste pineapple.’ I made eye contact with the sommelier. ‘Sorry, now I’m just lying. I cannot taste any fruit.’
‘I taste the pineapple,’ Andrew said, and the sommelier turned his attention to him. ‘And something else, like lychee?’
‘Yes! Exactly, there are hints of lychee in it,’ the man confirmed.
‘Well, there you go!’ I pointed at Andrew now, delighted for the sommelier’s sake that someone had tasted something. ‘He gets it!’
‘Did youreallytaste the lychee?’ I asked Andrew when we were alone.
‘No, but while everyone was distracted I googled the wine. I felt sorry for the guy.’ He smiled at me.
‘Was I mean to him? Should I go and apologize?’
