Simple: It's my view that wine appreciation is just as much a hobby as, well, bird watching. And if a noted ornithologist like Mr. Peterson (who is to birds as Robert M. Parker Jr. is to wines) can derive pleasure from keeping a detailed "life list" of the birds he sees and where he saw them, then why shouldn't oenophiles -- pardon me, wine lovers -- do the same with the wines we taste?

I always bring an extra sense of anticipation to my first bottle of wine from a country or region I haven't experienced before, or when I take my taste of a wine made from a grape I hadn't previously encountered. That Japanese Cabernet that I picked up in Kyoto or the nondescript Peruvian red that my brother sent from Lima stand out in my palate's memory, not because they were great wines but because they were different. They illustrate the near-infinite diversity that makes wine more interesting than any other beverage. It's the same with grape varieties: For all our love of Cabernet, Pinot, Merlot or Chardonnay, it's a treat to switch now and then to a wine made from something like the Italian Refosco dal Pedunculo Rosso or the Spanish Xarel-lo or this week's pick, Teroldego.

Do you keep a "life list"? If you'd like to guesstimate your country, region or grape-variety totals or have a good story to tell about a very unusual wine, I'd love to hear from you by E-mail. Drop me a line at wine@wine-lovers-page.com, and I'll summarize the best reports in a later edition.

Foradori 1997 Teroldego Rotaliano ($15.99)
Inky dark reddish-purple. Deep black-fruit aroma, prunes and plums and hints of licorice. Soft and juicy fruit flavor, tar and smoke; somehow manages to find structure in its abundant fruit despite relatively limited acidity that would render a less fruit-filled wine "flabby." Good quaffing wine and a delight at the table. U.S. importer: Vias Imports Ltd., NYC. (Feb. 12, 1999)

FOOD MATCH: Roast chicken.

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