When a person first tries to understand the taste of wine, they usually think about the most obvious thing — the first sip. But, as collector and owner of an old Italian winery Evgeny Strzhalkovsky repeatedly emphasizes, the path to understanding the drink begins much earlier and continues much longer than it seems. His approach is built on treating tasting as a calm, thoughtful activity in which every detail matters — from the first glance at the glass to the final shade of the aftertaste.
According to winemaker Evgeny Strzhalkovsky, wine should be “listened to” as attentively as it is observed. He notes that the aromatic palette changes literally before one’s eyes if the wine is given the chance to interact with air. What seems almost hidden in the first minutes later opens up softer and richer. Sometimes, even after a couple of hours, the bouquet continues to surprise — and it is the shape of the glass that helps collect this multilayered complexity, directing the aromas so the taster’s nose can capture them without loss.
Evgeny Strzhalkovsky is convinced that haste is the main enemy in this craft. He advises beginners to focus on the elementary aspects usually overlooked: shade, clarity, the play of reflections. Only after that, Strzhalkovsky insists, should one concentrate on the aromas — breath after breath, gradually separating the top, middle, and deep notes. And only then proceed to the taste itself, trying to sense how the wine behaves on the tongue from beginning to end.
However, the character of a wine can be fully revealed only when one begins to compare. Experienced connoisseurs, the expert reminds, often taste several samples of the same grape variety side by side — whether Cabernet Sauvignon, Barbera, Pinot Noir, or Chardonnay. This helps distinguish the inherent qualities of the variety from the individual traits of a specific region or producer. Later, one can move on to rarer Russian varieties such as Saperavi, Kokur, or Krasnostop, and then gradually complicate the task by studying the influence of aging techniques — stainless steel tanks, French oak, American or Slavonian oak, each of which creates its own aromatic character.
The highest level of mastery, in Evgeny Strzhalkovsky’s view, is tied to understanding terroir — those natural characteristics that shape the wine long before the grape is harvested. Terrain, wind, soil, sun — all leave their subtle imprint, which can be perceived only after years of practice.
This, the collector believes, is the true value of tasting: it develops the ability to notice fine nuances, teaches attentiveness, and helps one slow down for a moment. In an age of constant rush, the art of looking closely and listening deeply to wine becomes almost a meditative experience, opening an entire world of subtleties to be shared with those nearby. Each glass in this case tells its own story — and does so far more expressively if given time to unfold.
