Santa Rita Reserve Chardonnay. This wine shattered any illusions that I might have had about having acquired any wine-tasting skills whatsoever. First of all, it didn't taste like Chardonnay to me, it tasted like a slightly acidic Sauv. Blanc. I could not taste any oak, but the label described it as oaky. I guess this is because I'm not sure what oak tastes like - in my mind I associate the taste of oak (and the taste of Chardonnay) with Henry of Pelham Chardonnay, but I don't know if this is actually a legitimate comparison. There was a certain quality to this wine that I would describe as bright, fruity, acidic, and a bit of a "tangy zip". I don't know if this is acidity, or if it's some weird fruitiness like pineapple, or what. I didn't quite like this quality, but pairing the wine with a certain food might eliminate it. Unfortunately I have no idea what food to pair it with. Being vegetarian makes it hard to explore food/wine pairing because most recommended pairings are meat, and if I want to master such a subjective skill (as I'm doing with wine tasting and, to a lesser extent, literature appreciation) I have to start with what is generally accepted as "good".

So from this experience, I've come up with two Things They Should Invent:

1. Wine-tasting Training Shots: A liqueur-like drink (possibly non-alcoholic so as not to interfere with the art of tasting) that tastes like one, and only one, of the standard aspects of wine. Perhaps it should taste like a red or white wine with that aspect. For example "Tannic Cab. Sauv." or "Oaky Chardonnay". Aspiring tasters can drink a shot of just one flavour and master that taste. This would make it much easier than trying to glean the individual tastes from a wine that has seven different aspects. (I don't even know the correct word for what I'm refering to as "aspects").

2. Vegetarian food and wine pairing system. Or a junk food food and wine pairing system, just for fun. Or a website where you type in the wine you have and it recommends foods (or vice versa), and you can set restrictions to the type of food.