We all taste things differently. I don't know how that is possible, but it is true. We can all pretty much agree on what red or blue or magenta look like and most of us would go along with the notion that "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" sounds more soulful when played on a harp with Cher reciting "Leaves of Grass" in the background than when the same song is played by the tuba section of the OSU marching band. But when it comes to ones palate, you might enjoy canned sardines with a pickled ginger and pineapple confit accompanied by a Moldavian Cabernet Sauvignon. To me, this would be inappropriate.

We are not talking about dislikes here. All of us have things that we just won't eat or drink. No, we are talking about flavors we can all abide, but respond to in many different ways. Sometimes, we aren't even sure we taste the same thing. There probably are objective "flavor" truths out there somewhere, but ultimately our individual subjectivities get added into the mix. Perhaps the best way to define a "palate" (a persons taste in wine) is to talk about it in terms of simple experience and the quality of attention that a person pays to the things he or she tastes.

How to exercise your palate:

• Go to the store and buy 3 different brands of creamed corn
• Go home
• Go into your kitchen (assuming you have one - but if you live in your car you can use your glove box as a table)
• Pour each example of creamed corn into a separate bowl and heat
• Taste each one. Note which ones you like and don't like. Note why you do or don't like each one. Experiment with different types of creamed corn. Do you like the shoepeg or the white? Frozen or canned? Genetically engineered or organic? Corn from California? Iowa? New Jersey? Gresham? How are they the same? How are they different? Note textural differences as well as flavors. What about sweetness? Is creamed corn some sort of "red state" food conspiracy designed to make us willing to watch TV programs staring Jeff Foxworthy and Celine Dion?

Congratulations - you have just exercised your palate! (Do that for 25 years and you will be an expert on creamed corn. Note, though, that there are limited job opportunities in the field and it involves wearing a hairnet.)

Now, start doing the same thing with wine. Try to remember not just what wine you tasted - but what you tasted in the wine.

The way to understand wine is to taste it, taste it often, and taste a lot of different types of wine. By starting to define your palate you can begin to refine it.

And, of course, we at Guy du Vin would be happy to provide you with all of the "equipment" necessary for proper wine palate development....