Questions Uncorked

Aug 11, 2008

Hi Doug, thanks so much for your question! I remember going to one of my very first tastings. I was so nervous! I took tons of notes (which I still have in my tasting file) and I must have looked so serious that the guy sitting next to me turned to me and said, “you know, you can actually drink it, too.” Wine tastings are funny things. You will find a lot of different types of wine drinkers – everyone from novices to experts and everyone will have an opinion. The nice thing to keep in mind is that everyone is there because they enjoy wine.

In terms of protocol, it is good to remember a few things. The most important thing to know is that at most tastings you are not given a whole glass of wine, but just a sip or two. This is important because a tasting is just that – a tasting; the opportunity to taste a lot of different wines. Just having a few tastes as opposed to a few glasses will mean that your palate will stay a bit fresher, longer (and you won’t regret it in the morning). At some tastings, you will also see people spitting out their wine into buckets. This isn’t mandatory, but I do recommend that you consider it. It is another way to keep your palate sensitive as you taste through a number of wines.

As you are tasting along, I recommend having a sip of water in between wines when you are changing type of wine (going from white to red, dry to sweet, sparkling to still). Now, if you are going to be going from sweet wine or a dessert wine to a dry wine, then I would recommend having a piece of bread or a cracker between tastes. Sometimes sweet wines or fortified (higher alcohol) wines will leave a stronger taste in your mouth and a cracker or a piece of bread can help with that. A cracker can also be good if you have been drinking a lot of tannic red wines and all of a sudden you see a white wine that you really want to taste. And remember, if you are going to be tasting for a long time, then having some bread or crackers can be a good break between groups of wines to keep you going (not just your palate).

I hope you enjoy your tasting, and don’t forget to come back and drop me a line to let me know how it goes! And I would love to hear if you taste something you really love.

Cheers!