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An Idiot's Guide To Wine Tasting |
by:
Sharon Jacobsen |
Have you ever seen those stiff upper-lipped types doingspot ofold wine tasting malarkey? You knowform – sip, swill, spit. Yuck! Well this information has been written to help you understandform should you ever find yourself insituation where you need to know what to do. And do not go thinking "I'll never have to do any wine-tasting" because you just do not know that for sure andlast thing you want is to be caught unaware.
So, on withtasting...
Study The Wine
Pick up your glass as elegantly as possible. There are two ways this can be done.
a) For chilled wines – holdglass bystem and do not even touchbowl.
b) For wine served at room temperature – pick upglass bybowl and hold it cupped in your palm,stem between your middle two fingers.
Now that you haveglass comfortably in your hand, hold it atslight angle against something white. If your hostess is worth her salt, she'll have coveredtable in white linen specifically for this purpose (although it does look nice, too).
Be careful not to tipglass too far – unless you're willing to replaceexpensive linen tablecloth, that is. You may also need to adjustdistance from your eyes thatglass is held at. Most find that holding it at almost arm's length isgood starting point althoughvery short sighted who are also absent minded enough to have left their eye glasses at home may find themselves having to holdglass almost in front of their noses.
Once you've foundcorrect position, studycolour and clarity ofwine. Now you may well believe that wine's either red, pink, or white but I am afraid, if that'scase, you're very much mistaken. Wines can be green, yellow, gold, pink, purple, or even black. Evidently,colour ofwine will indicatetype of grape it was made from – like me, you, and Jack onstreet are likely to know that!
Clarity indicates age. Young wines are more see through and cloudiness can mean there's something wrong. If that'scase, I'd suggest putting it back ontable and giving your hostess once of those 'down your nose' type looks.
The reason why you're studyingcolour and clarity looks has absolutely no bearing on howwine will taste butproper connoisseur enjoysbeauty of wine as well as its taste and ...
The Bouquet
No, we're not talking aboutbunch of flowersbride carries with her downaisle, we're talkingsmell of wine. Sometimes, ifpeople atwine tasting are really posh, they might call it 'The Nose'.
Still holding your glass incorrect manner, lower your hand somewhat whilst bring your glass tolevel position and rotate your wrist so thatwine swirls gently withinbowl. You might want to leave these instructions at this point to go tokitchen and practise this step withwineglass half filled with water. After all, it's just as well to know for sure that you aren't going to spill expensive red wine over your hostess's spanking new Axminster.
To swill wine properly, very little wrist movement is actually needed. Just very slight circular movements combined withright-left movement should dotrick.
The idea behind all this swilling is to bringwine's aroma out ofwine itself and intoempty part ofbowl thus allowing it to be smelled and savoured. This is why wine glasses are bulbous. The wide bowl has ample room for swilling whilenarrow edge 'captures'bouquet. Clever, eh?
Move your glass to your nose as elegantly as you're able and bring it in slightly beneathtip. Inhale deeply. Savour forfew moments and then inhale again. It'sgood idea to exhale between those two inhalations or you might find yourself going dizzy. Do it too often and you'll faint.
You may now move your glass away from your nose.
At this point, it's appropriate to make some kind of comment. Don't imagine you'll fool anybody into believing you'reexpert but at least you can make it sound as if you've actually drunkglass of decent wine before. Why shouldother guests need to know that most of your wine costs Łthree.ninenine atCo-Op?
Something like "mmmm, rich and fruity" or "oooh, lovely and light" will probably dotrick. When talking about red wine, 'rich' is usuallygood word to use - ifwine's white, go for 'light'.
The Actual Tasting
You've probably been looking forward to this bit but whatever you do, remember that wine tasting is about taking small sips and not guzzle it down like there's no tomorrow.
This bit's actually trickier than you'd expect so you might want to do some more practising.
Bring your glass to your lips, open them slightly and takesmall sip. Now close you mouth and rollwine around on your tongue forfew seconds before allowing it to slide slowly down your throat AND AT THE SAME TIME EXHALE!
The trouble with exhaling whilst swallowing is that some ofliquid might come shooting through your nostrils. Notpretty sight and, again, think ofAxminster!
If you fancy, you can always takesecond sip at this point but neverthird. No matter how good that one particular wine is, it's time to move on tonext.
Other Stuff Worth Knowing
Apart from bottles and glasses,table will probably hold plates of cheese or, occasionally, sherbet. They're not there to snack on; they're used between wines to clean outtaste oflast wine you tasted. Justlittle attime is all that's needed. Do likemouse and nibble!
Wear something comfortable and preferably something that doesn't carrydesigner label. After all, if you spill red wine downfront of your best frock, you're not going to be happy, are you?
That's it. You are now clued up enough to pop along to your very first wine tasting party without makingcomplete idiot of yourself.
Enjoy!
Aboutauthor:
Sharon Jacobsen isfreelance writing living in South Cheshire, England. She's knocked backgood few bottles of wine in her time as well as participated inodd wine tasting party. To contact Sharon, please visit her website at www.sharon-jacobsen.co.uk
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