375: Why is Your Taste in Wine as Individual as Your Fingerprint? Jordan Salcito Shares the Story

Why did this author start the book with tasting, rather than history, regions or grapes? Was that because you wanted to get right into the sensory experience, rather than maybe some of the drier knowledge? Why is your experience of what tastes good as personal as a fingerprint? When it comes to wine, what do you mean by structure? Why are these important, these structural components? Do you think they matter more than identifying that, that wine's from Burgundy, that wine's from Bordeaux? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Jordan Salcito, author of Smart Mouth: Wine Essentials for You, Me, & Everyone We Know . You can find the wines we discussed at . Giveaway Three of you are going to win a copy of Jordan Salcito's terrific new book, Smart Mouth: Wine Essentials for You, Me, and Everyone We Know . To qualify, all you have to do is email me at natalie@nataliemaclean.com and let me know that you've posted a review of the podcast. I'll choose three people randomly from those who contact me. Good luck! Highlights Why does our first impression of a wine's aroma matter more than we realize Why did Jordan ultimately walk away from the Master Sommelier service exam? How did the title Smart Mouth come together and capture the spirit Jordan wanted for the book? Why did Jordan choose to begin Smart Mouth with tasting instead of regions, grapes, or wine history? Why does Jordan see point scores and rigid wine hierarchies as a form of ego rather than a useful guide for drinkers? How do different people visualize or conceptualize wine while tasting? How does Jordan's concept of wine personas differ from traditional tasting language? What does the TALL framework explain about wine structure? How can simple sensory exercises help drinkers identify tannin, alcohol, acidity, and earth-driven flavors with confidence? About Jordan Salcito Jordan Salcito is an award-winning sommelier, author, and entrepreneur. A wine industry veteran, she has over a decade of experience as a sommelier at restaurants including Momofuku, Restaurant Daniel, and Eleven Madison Park (where she was part of the team to win the award for Outstanding Wine Service from the James Beard Foundation). Her wine programs at Momofuku were regularly recognized in The New York Times, Eater, and Food & Wine, and were named "Most Creative Wine List in the World" by the World of Fine Wine magazine. A pioneer of the ready-to-drink beverage category with her organic Italian spritz company, Drink RAMONA, Salcito will also published her first book, Smart Mouth: Wine Essentials for You, Me, & Everyone We Know, with Penguin Random House's Ten Speed Press. To learn more, visit .

You can listen to 375: Why is Your Taste in Wine as Individual as Your Fingerprint? Jordan Salcito Shares the Story online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

375: Why is Your Taste in Wine as Individual as Your Fingerprint? Jordan Salcito Shares the Story is an episode from Unreserved Wine Talk by Natalie MacLean.

This episode is 01:00:17 long.

This episode was published on Feb 4, 2026.

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