In wine as in food, variety is everything. Just as "A Taste of Scotland" could easily be rephrased as "Tastes of Scotland", so "The Taste of Wine" - now an obligatory chapter in any self-respecting wine book - could, and indeed should read "The Tastes of Wine".

For a start, there are many different grape varieties grown throughout the world, although only a relative few - Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc will be familiar to other than hardened wine drinkers. (Strange to relate, very few wines actually taste of grapes, the exception being those made from the aromatic Muscat variety). Then there are differences in soil, climate, topography and winemaking techniques which explain why the Chardonnay grown in Burgundy tastes more than a little different from Chardonnay grown in South Australia

That said, each grape has characteristics that tend to resurface wherever it is grown. Sauvignon Blanc, for example, is almost always distinctive, ranging from rich gooseberry fruitiness to the nettley/grassy character that someone once famously described as "cat's pee on (appropriately enough) a gooseberry bush". Cabernet Sauvignon is another easily recognisable variety, with its pungent blackcurrant taste and aroma, whilst the surprisingly neutral Chardonnay is usually treated to oak to give it that familiar 'vanilla butter' character. Other grapes, such as Pinot Noir, are less readily identifiable without considerable tasting experience. They have a chameleon side to them that makes, say, Pinot Noir from Burgundy, taste quite different to Pinot Noir from California. Small wonder that the fickle Pinot is often referred to as the non-French winemaker's Holy Grail.

With such variety of grapes and wine styles available - from cool crisp white to big bold red and all the shades of pink and sparkling in between, there really is no excuse for not giving the many tastes of Scottish cooking an added fillip with a well chosen bottle or two. The whole will definitely be greater than the sum of its parts.

Jane Meek
Alexander Wines.