If you are a wine fanatic, you have many options to satisfy your thirst. But before you choose an option, you should know how to taste wine.
In order to do a proper wine tasting, you need to swish the wine around your mouth. This helps get the most out of your taste buds. Here are more tips in order to taste wine.
Look at the wine color. The more color a white wine has, the more flavor it has and the older it is. You can approximate the age of a red wine by titling the glass and looking at the edge of the wine. The browner it is, the older it is.
Smell the wine by taking one deep whiff. After you do this you want to think about the aroma.
When you taste the wine, you want to consider the first impression, the actual taste once you swish it in your mouth, and the after taste.
Now for the wine tasting options:
You could join a wine club. Wine clubs allow members to pay a monthly fee in order to have a selection or two of wine delivered to their home monthly.
The International Wine of the Month Club offers members selections from two separate boutique vineyards along with a newsletter. You have a choice in the type of membership you select. You can receive two red wine selections, two white wine selections, or one of each. Membership to the wine club starts at 27.95 per month plus shipping and handling. The most expensive membership option costs 63.95 per month plus shipping and handling. The International Wine of the Month Club also offers gift memberships.
The Cellars Wine Club is similar to the International Wine of the Month Club in that you can receive two red wine selections, two white wine selections, or one of each. However, The Cellars Wine Club offers five different membership options. The premium wine club, the west coast wine club, the all about reds wine club, the platinum wine club and 90 plus points wine club. The wine club memberships start at 36.95 with the most expensive being 79.95
Perhaps a wine club isnt up your alley. Maybe a wine cellar is. The idea wine cellar has a temperature of 50 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The cellar should be moderately damp because this helps keep the corks from drying out. Ultraviolet light destroys wine so your wine cellar should be dark. Avoid putting your wine cellar sheds or garages because you run the risk of freezing the wine. Similarly, avoid the attic because the heat could get too extreme. The best place for a wine cellar would be an under stairs cupboard.
Maybe you just have a few bottles of wine you want to store and display. A wine rack would be your best option. Wine racks come in large sizes to place in your cellar but there are also smaller wine racks that can sit on your kitchen or dining room table. If you really want to get creative, there are wine racks that are also bookends
Next you might decide that you need a technique for comparing wines. The Exploratorium describes a technique of comparing wine aromas that is similar to the following
First you will need these ingredients:
A tiny piece of bell pepper, one drop of butter, half teaspoon of fresh citrus, linalool, a teaspoon of peach juice, a teaspoon of pineapple juice and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. You take these 7 ingredients and put each in its own wine glass with the base wine. You cover the glass and label it with the standard. Smell the first three wine separately. Then smell the standards to see which terms describe which wines.
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The idea of quality wines coming out of South America would have been laughable a mere 40 years ago. That is no longer the case. The continent has two countries that produce both top quality varietal wines and excellent wines unique to their history.
Argentina and Chile are the two wine producing regions in South America that are worth a visit. In truth, they would be worth a visit even if there wasn’t any wine! Buenos Aires is one of the great cities in the world. Chile is much more laid back, but has countryside and mountainous regions that are simply stunning. Still, the wine production is excellent and reason enough to visit either country.
Argentina has been in the wine production business for a nearly 200 years. The primary wine, however, was a Criolla white grape wine that was very heavy. 100 years ago, the French introduced the Malbec grape found in the Bordeaux region of France. The grape is actually not a great match for Bordeaux as the humidity leads to mold problems. The arid, fertile slopes of Argentina at the base of the Andes present a perfect climate for the grape vines and the quality of wine produced is world class. At the risk of being shouted down, I would suggest it is better than what is produced in France.
If you enjoy wines from California, you’ll enjoy wines from Chile. The country is known for producing quality, low price reds. Wine production in California has become costly to the point where $10 to $15 bottles are hard to find. Chile is filling this gap using vines from France. The wine region is located about an hour to the south of the city of Santiago. Chilean wine is excellent for the price, but finding a very high quality, expensive bottle is difficult.
South America is a great travel destination for a wide variety of reasons. Argentina and Chili certainly have plenty to offer the world traveler, not the least of which are the quality wines they produce.
Thomas Ajava writes about wine for – your source for wine tasting journals that make great for friends and family.
Champagne is without question the finest sparkling wine made in the world. Champagne is the name of the wine region located about 90 miles northeast of Paris.
Champagne can contain up to three different grapes: Chardonnay, and the red grapes Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Vintage Champagnes are only produced in the very best years; they are always more expensive than non-vintage Champagnes, but they are not always better tasting. Most Champagnes are the supreme expression of the Champagne blender’s art, assembled from numerous vintages, multiple grape types and various selected vineyards within the Champagne district, then carefully hand made and fermented in the bottle. By making these blends, the Champagne winemakers are able to create a consistent ”house” style and, indeed, each Champagne producer has its own distinct style.
Finally, there are several important terms you will encounter on a Champagne label that tell you much about the contents. From dry to sweet, Champagnes are labeled Brut Absolut, Brut, Extra-Dry, Sec, Demi-Sec and Doux. Blanc de Blanc Champagne bottlings are made entirely from Chardonnay grapes and tend to be lighter and more delicate in style. Blanc de Noirs Champagnes are made from red grapes and tend to be fuller bodied and richer tasting; Rose Champagnes are dark pink in color and frequently intensely flavored.
In Champagne, the name and reputation of the producer tells you more about the wine than any other single factor. Champagnes combine the complexities of fine grapes grown in some of the best vineyards in France with the intricate subtleties of yeast and sometimes even oak elements plus the experience of tongue-tickling delight from pinpoint bubbles and effervescence to create one of the most sensual taste experiences in the world!
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Wine tasting is considered to be a sophisticated past time for many people. Before you begin wine tasting there are many things you should know about wine. To some people wine tasting is considered to be a skill.
Learning about wine is easy. There are many types of wine and it is produced all over the world in many different regions. Wine tasting requires knowledge of the types of wine. It is important to know which types of glasses to choose for different wines and how to wash them. It is also important to know how to properly pour and serve wine. Wine tasting consists of many things. The purpose of this e-book is to introduce you to everything you need to know about wine so you can begin wine tasting with your friends.
About Wine
Wine is a beverage fermented from grape juice containing alcohol. Grapes have a natural chemical balance which allows them to ferment without the need to add any sugars, acid, enzymes, or any other types of nutrients to the ingredients.
When wine is produced, grapes are crushed using different types of yeast. The yeast consumes the natural sugars found in grapes. This consumption converts the grapes into alcohol. Depending on the types of wine produced, many different grape varieties are used to produce wine.
Evidence shows that the earliest productions of wine took place as early as 6000 BC in places like Georgia, Iran, and Israel. Some archaeologists say that as early as 7000 BC grapes were mixed with rice to produce other types of fermented beverages in China. This is considered to be the precursors of what we call today, rice wine.
In Europe, wine dates back to as early as 4500 BC in some of the archaeological sites located in Greece. These same sites contain the earliest evidence in the world of grapes being crushed. Ancient Egypt has a recorded history of wine being used ceremonially. Places like the Roman Catholic Church found wine necessary to celebrate Mass. In France, the monks made wine for years and stored it in caves underground for aging.
During the Islamic Golden Age, wine was forbidden until the pioneering of the distilling methods, which led it to be approved and legalized for medical and cosmetic uses only. There were many recipes made with wine during this time.
Scott Wells writes for where you can learn to just in time for the holiday season.
The vintage wines are wines specifically grown in a certain year. These wines are labeled by the year they were grown rather than by the different region or grape used to make the wine. These grapes are usually all grown in the same year also. Every year the same wine may have a different variation in color and slightly in taste.
Many other characteristic differences noted with vintages include the nose, palate, body, and the development. They are considered to improve in flavor with age when they are stored properly. It is very common for wine collectors to hold onto a vintage bottle of wine for a special occasion to consume.
Non-Vintage
Non-vintage wines are wines produced from grapes and wines not from the same vintage. They do maintain the consistency with the taste of the wine and the other characteristics. These wines often sell better because they maintain the same flavor. Even in a bad year these wines can be blended and produced because the grapes come from different vintages.
Next time you here someone use the term “vintage” you will know exactly what they mean. This will help you to appear ‘in the know’ and you will be able to impress others with your knowledge. Quality wine is something that socially elite people understand. You can join their ranks and have a great time in the process.
Wouldn’t it be cool to get to the point where you can tell what region the wine was created in? And if you have really great capabilities you might even be able to pinpoint the decade. That would involve tasting a lot of wines and you might not be ‘that into it’. It’s nice to speculate about the possibilities though, isn’t it?
Next time you are at a party, your new knowledge of vintage vs non-vintage may be a nice way to provide value to your social group. Enjoy your next wine tasting.
Scott Wells writes for where you can learn to just in time for the holiday season.
Chardonnay is a white wine made from a green skinned variety of grapes. The flavors associated with a Chardonnay are terroir and oak. It is considered to be a neutral wine, light in flavor. Many of the places around the world known for producing Chardonnay include France, Burgundy, Champagne, North America, California, Australia, Italy, and the New World Wine Regions.
There are many types of Chardonnay from dry still wines and sweet late harvest wines. If a Chardonnay has not gone through a malolactic fermentation the wine will have an apple flavor. The harder the malic acid is when it is converted through fermentation it will have a more buttery flavor.
The oak is also charred to a certain degree which introduces a toastiness flavor. Many wine tasters mistake this flavor to the grapes but it is from the charring of the oak. Some of the flavors that Chardonnay can taste like due to the charring of the oak include coconut, cinnamon, cloves, spice, smoke, cream, caramel, and vanilla.
When Chardonnay is fermented it also affects the flavor of the wine. For instance, the colder the fermentation process is the more fruity the wine tastes. These flavors include mango and pineapple. Some wineries also use yeast that is specially cultivated which gives the wines an aromatic quality.
Chardonnay is the most difficult wine to recognize in a blind tasting because there is not a distinct universal trait or style that is directly applied to the wine. There are many different flavors, blends, and more. Not all Chardonnays have a smoky note to them either.
Merlot
Merlot is made primarily from the Vitis vinifera species. The many wines associated with a merlot include the Bouchet, Bouche, Petit-Bouchet, Petit-Cabernet, Petit-Vidure, Vidure and Sauvignon Rouge. The origin of the wine is from the Bordeaux grape. It is also thought to be produced from a mutated grape from Biturica. Merlot is a red wine. The word is French and means many kinds of thrushes.
Merlot is produced in France, Italy, California, Romania, Australia, Argentina, Canada, Chile, South Africa, Croatia, Hungary, and more. The role of Merlot is to add body and softness. Some blends have a sweet taste and it is most commonly noted for the balanced acid levels.
Scott Wells writes for where you can learn to just in time for the holiday season.
If you’re a fan of wine and live in Austin, Texas there is a lot for you to be happy about. The area is home to two excellent wine bars/restaurants, a unique wine store that offers tasting lessons and a yearly festival that lets locals experience all that wine country has to offer.
First on the list is the Uncorked Tasting room & Wine Bar. It’s located at 900 East 7th Street and is open 3 p.m. to midnight on week days and 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturdays. It is closed on Sundays. They offer a selection of 127 wines from 13 different countries, with something to suit all budgets. If you’re in the mood for sampling several different wines at once try the wine flights, which have a separate menu. These orders come with a sample of three different wines all with a card to help you identify which is which. This is a terrific way to become exposed to something new. They offer a full dinner menu with reasonably priced meals.
Vino Vino is another local spot that is passionate about wine. It offers a store, a wine bar and a restaurant. It’s located at 4119 Guadalupe Street just north of campus. The retail store is open on Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. and on Sunday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. The bar serves guests on Monday through Saturday from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. and on Sunday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The restaurant is open on Sunday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. It’s a small venue but perfect for getting a glass of your favorite wine and a nice meal. When you shop at the retail store you should know that you can get 15% off two bottles or more so it’s a great time to stock up your at home wine cabinet.
For an education in wine, look no further than the Grapevine Market. Located at 7938 Great Northern Boulevard it features Grapevine University, weekend classes on wine tasting of all types. The folks at Grapevine Market love to share their passion for wine and for $10 per class, you’ll be able to become passionate about it too. The hour long wine tasting seminars are held on Saturdays and upcoming classes include Central Italy, Burgundy and Champagne and Sparkling Wine.
If traveling from winery to winery is more your speed, don’t miss out on the Texas Wine Trails. These special events are self guided tours through Texas Hill Country and includes 24 different wineries. The Texas Wine Month trail lasts all of October. Your ticket to the event entitles you to one to three free tastes of wine. Tickets are $35 per person and $60 per couple. You’ll also receive a recipe collection of the top dishes from the wineries once you visit 14 wineries, and you’re entered in a Texas Wine Month raffle.
As you can see, when it comes to wine, Austin is the place to be!
Joe Cline writes articles for . Other articles written by the author related to and can be found on the net.
It was 2:30 in the morning at the Wine Library Lounge and the last guests have bid their farewells. Sam sat down on a small corner table to fill out the sales report. With him was a half-empty bottle of 1979 Chateau Fonplegade, a lovely Grand Cru Classe from St. Emilion. This one was from a collector’s series featuring Van Gogh’s “Route aux Cypress” on the label. Earlier in one of the private rooms of the Wine Library Lounge a party of three had polished off three delicious Burgundy 1er Crus from vintages in the 70s. Prudently, they decided to quit after finishing half of the fourth and last for the night. The host was a compellingly elegant woman in a slender red business suit. In a stylish gesture of generosity, she said to Sam. “Please remove the bottle at once before I force my guests to help me finish it.”
Life as a sommelier is full of perks when the guests you serve have the style and the finesse. Sam gets a kick out of serving guests who know how enjoy the game. They get to enjoy the evening so much more than the others.
The Ch. Fonplegade was exactly the kind of company Sam needed after a hard-working evening. Wine guys – sommeliers to students of the old school – are frequently regarded as necessary evils. It is unfortunate but often true that a sommelier is perceived by customers as an obstacle to overcome because they can get what they want.
C’mon, tell me one, please?” She asked with the desperate charm of a whinchat.
Sam’s good side completely dominated the man tonight. “There was this gentleman the other evening. He came in very late with a lovely lady as his date. He opened doors for her, removed her coat and pulled her chair – the works. It’s the game – one of those things that make it fun to be a woman. He did it so well and she was soaking it up. You can see it in her eyes trying to hide her adoration of the man. Then I presented him with the wine menu.” Sam paused for a sip.
“What?” She exploded grabbing his hands with a fierce squeeze. Sam went on to explain.
There aren’t any logical explanations to why some customers feel intimidated about wine. Dining out is a game. Wine makes it more fun to play the game. As a paying customer, you want to get the most out of your money. That should include the full treatment which we don’t get if we don’t learn how to play the game.
Selecting the playground
Ordering the wine
Inspecting a bottle
Giving serving instructions
Tasting and approving the wine
Drinking and conversing
Corkage, tipping and BYO etiquettes
Let’s look into these components one at a time.
The Ch. Fonplegade was exactly the kind of company Sam needed after a hard-working evening. Wine guys – sommeliers to students of the old school – are frequently regarded as necessary evils. It is unfortunate but often true that a sommelier is perceived by customers as an obstacle to overcome because they can get what they want.
An eager young waitress sat down timidly in front of Sam. Ordinarily she and her little dimple on her left cheek would have been woofed away. Tonight, she even got a small glass of the wine. She took that as a cue for permission to speak.
“Sam, you’ve been a wine guy for a number of years. I’m sure you have some stories cellared in that wisdom chest inside your head. C’mon, tell me one, please?” She asked with the desperate charm of a whinchat.
Sam’s good side completely dominated the man tonight. “There was this gentleman the other evening. He came in very late with a lovely lady as his date. He opened doors for her, removed her coat and pulled her chair – the works. It’s the game – one of those things that make it fun to be a woman. He did it so well and she was soaking it up. You can see it in her eyes trying to hide her adoration of the man. Then I presented him with the wine menu.” Sam paused for a sip.
“Our suave Cary Grant froze into a bronze statue. He just sat there forever staring at the menu without so much as a word or a hint that he was still breathing. Now what could cause someone like that to stop dead on his tracks?” Sam paused and looked into those big young shinny eyes.
“What?” She exploded grabbing his hands with a fierce squeeze. Sam went on to explain.
There aren’t any logical explanations to why some customers feel intimidated about wine. Dining out is a game. Wine makes it more fun to play the game. As a paying customer, you want to get the most out of your money. That should include the full treatment which we don’t get if we don’t learn how to play the game.
Learning the game is a lot simpler than most beginners might think. But let’s get one hang-up out of the way right now. You don’t need to learn French. Whew! And this game is definitely easier than singing or dancing. Every component of a little game is an opportunity for the player to have fun. Once you know the game, they won’t be obstacles anymore.
Selecting the playground
Ordering the wine
Inspecting a bottle
Giving serving instructions
Tasting and approving the wine
Drinking and conversing
Corkage, tipping and BYO etiquettes
Let’s look into these components one at a time.
Selecting the playground
Divers and skiers are just as zealous when it comes to choosing a venue to satisfy their thirst for thrills and discoveries.
Wine enthusiasts shouldn’t settle for anything less either. The fun and thrill of dining out is to experience something that we don’t get at home. If the wines served in a restaurant are stuff that you find in the neighborhood wine store, you have probably picked the wrong restaurant. Good food can take you half way there at best.
A good restaurant always offers wines that are not readily available on retail. They do so by investing in and maintaining a cellar to collect and age many bottles of the wine.
Reading the restaurant’s wine menu may not be as engaging as reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but it shouldn’t feel like re-reading The Goblet of Fire (book 4 for those who is one generation behind) for the 18th time. A great restaurant is obliged to offer a wine selection so wide and deep that it will keep you intrigued for endless return visits.
Word of Advice
Make an extra effort when choosing a dining venue. Not all are tuned in to the wine culture. Call up ahead to ask. If you stumble into a wrong one, don’t be shy to walk out. There are better places for you to spend your money.
Ordering your wine
Reading, for many of us is a pleasure best savored in privacy. Reading a wine menu is a pleasure to wine lovers. Poorly trained wine staff tends to crowd the scene with unwanted attention and worse, importunate suggestions.
Feel free to firmly fend off the “Would you like red or white?” and the “We have wine by the glass also.” A simple “Please check back in 10 minutes” would do nicely. Occasionally, that doesn’t work. Then it calls for a “Please bring me some water chilled to 15 degrees. Then add a twist of lime without the peel.” This will buy you 10 minutes of private reading pleasure, I hope.
Many restaurants are pressured by wine merchants to sell their wine. That’s why we often get these lines from even the bus boys: “We highly recommend this great Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile” or “This Napa Valley Zinfandel is the most popular wine in town today.”
It is perfectly acceptable to ask questions about any wine on the menu, as long as your line of questioning leads to the deliverance of a verdict in the foreseeable future.
Advice to the prudent
Spend 5 minutes to browse the wine menu and get a general feel for what kinds of wines the venue has to offer. Then turn to the food menu and decide what you will eat. After that, let the sommelier return to discuss wine and food pairing before ordering your wine.
Inspecting a Bottle
The process of inspecting a bottle of wine serves an indispensable purpose – to allow the customer one last chance to change his mind before the restaurant puts the wine on the bill.
The procedure is simple and quite standard.
Wine waiter: presents you with a bottle of the wine that you ordered, showing you the label with a few words, not of praises, but of the pertinent details of the wine. The words are to assert that the wine is indeed the one that you ordered.
Guest: examines the details of the wine mainly for purpose of authentication. Things to look for are (1) name of the wine, (2) name of the producer/shipper in the case of wines from Burgundy and Rhone for example, and (3) vintage year. You only have to nod your head to signify your approval, not of the wine but of the bottle only.
Wine waiter: thanks you for your acceptance and asks you for permission to uncork the wine.
There. No pain at all. More to follow so please read on.
Advice to the novice
Giving Serving Instructions
This paragraph is optional. Those readers taking the beginners’ course are welcome to jump to the next section.
Are you still here? Welcome.
Selecting a wine is just half of the ordering process. Most people give up their basic rights of ordering the way they prefer their wine to be prepared and served. Leaving it up to the sommelier is acceptable if you know them well. Otherwise, go the extra yard and give specific instructions.
Here are the fundamental parameters to wine preparation and services on which you can base your instructions.
Temperature at which you want the wine to be served
Do you wish the wine to be kept in an ice bucket or a wine cooler?
Decant, double decant or serve straight from the bottle
Types of wine glasses you prefer
Sequence of services when you order more than one bottle
Help yourself or let the waiter do the pouring
How much wine (e.g. less than half full) to pour into your glass
Any decent restaurant will be wiling and able to accommodate requests within those parameters. If you are unlucky meet with stiff resistance on this front, it will only be poetic justice for you to walk out or at least, reject the wine. Why should you pay for inadequate facilities and a complacent service attitude?
Advice to the discerning wine lover
Do not assume that your instructions are followed. More often than not they are not. Don’t be shy to complain or even threaten to reject the wine if your instructions are not followed.
Selecting the playground
Golfers travel around the world just to play courses that catch their fancy. Divers and skiers are just as zealous when it comes to choosing a venue to satisfy their thirst for thrills and discoveries.
Wine enthusiasts shouldn’t settle for anything less either. The fun and thrill of dining out is to experience something that we don’t get at home. If the wines served in a restaurant are stuff that you find in the neighborhood wine store, you have probably picked the wrong restaurant. Good food can take you half way there at best.
A good restaurant always offers wines that are not readily available on retail. They do so by investing in and maintaining a cellar to collect and age many bottles of the wine.
Reading the restaurant’s wine menu may not be as engaging as reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but it shouldn’t feel like re-reading The Goblet of Fire (book 4 for those who is one generation behind) for the 18th time. A great restaurant is obliged to offer a wine selection so wide and deep that it will keep you intrigued for endless return visits.
Word of Advice
Make an extra effort when choosing a dining venue. Not all are tuned in to the wine culture. Call up ahead to ask. If you stumble into a wrong one, don’t be shy to walk out. There are better places for you to spend your money.
Ordering your wine
Reading, for many of us is a pleasure best savored in privacy. Reading a wine menu is a pleasure to wine lovers. Poorly trained wine staff tends to crowd the scene with unwanted attention and worse, importunate suggestions.
Feel free to firmly fend off the “Would you like red or white?” and the “We have wine by the glass also.” A simple “Please check back in 10 minutes” would do nicely. Occasionally, that doesn’t work. Then it calls for a “Please bring me some water chilled to 15 degrees. Then add a twist of lime without the peel.” This will buy you 10 minutes of private reading pleasure, I hope.
Many restaurants are pressured by wine merchants to sell their wine. That’s why we often get these lines from even the bus boys: “We highly recommend this great Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile” or “This Napa Valley Zinfandel is the most popular wine in town today.”
It is perfectly acceptable to ask questions about any wine on the menu, as long as your line of questioning leads to the deliverance of a verdict in the foreseeable future.
Advice to the prudent
Spend 5 minutes to browse the wine menu and get a general feel for what kinds of wines the venue has to offer. Then turn to the food menu and decide what you will eat. After that, let the sommelier return to discuss wine and food pairing before ordering your wine.
Inspecting a Bottle
The process of inspecting a bottle of wine serves an indispensable purpose – to allow the customer one last chance to change his mind before the restaurant puts the wine on the bill.
The procedure is simple and quite standard.
Wine waiter: presents you with a bottle of the wine that you ordered, showing you the label with a few words, not of praises, but of the pertinent details of the wine. The words are to assert that the wine is indeed the one that you ordered.
Guest: examines the details of the wine mainly for purpose of authentication. Things to look for are (1) name of the wine, (2) name of the producer/shipper in the case of wines from Burgundy and Rhone for example, and (3) vintage year. You only have to nod your head to signify your approval, not of the wine but of the bottle only.
Wine waiter: thanks you for your acceptance and asks you for permission to uncork the wine.
There. No pain at all. More to follow so please read on.
Advice to the novice
More frequently than we might think, waiters fail to bring you exactly the wine you ordered. Ask for the wine list when the bottle is presented. Compare what you see on the label to the data on the wine list to make sure what you see is indeed what you have ordered.
Giving Serving Instructions
This paragraph is optional. Those readers taking the beginners’ course are welcome to jump to the next section.
Are you still here? Welcome.
Selecting a wine is just half of the ordering process. Most people give up their basic rights of ordering the way they prefer their wine to be prepared and served. Leaving it up to the sommelier is acceptable if you know them well. Otherwise, go the extra yard and give specific instructions.
Here are the fundamental parameters to wine preparation and services on which you can base your instructions.
Temperature at which you want the wine to be served
Do you wish the wine to be kept in an ice bucket or a wine cooler?
Decant, double decant or serve straight from the bottle
Types of wine glasses you prefer
Sequence of services when you order more than one bottle
Help yourself or let the waiter do the pouring
How much wine (e.g. less than half full) to pour into your glass
Any decent restaurant will be wiling and able to accommodate requests within those parameters. If you are unlucky meet with stiff resistance on this front, it will only be poetic justice for you to walk out or at least, reject the wine. Why should you pay for inadequate facilities and a complacent service attitude?
Advice to the discerning wine lover
Do not assume that your instructions are followed. More often than not they are not. Don’t be shy to complain or even threaten to reject the wine if your instructions are not followed.
Tasting and approving the wine
Armed with your permission, the sommelier will proceed to uncork your bottle of wine. This should be performed in your presence as a rule. It shows that the bottle you approved is the same one that is being opened.
You are then given the right to taste and then decide to approve or reject the wine. Here is the protocol.
Wine waiter: asks for permission to uncork the wine. He opens the bottle (see Giving Serving Instructions) and sets the cork down in front of you.
Guest: Examine the cork or simply wave the waiter to pour the wine. Some corks have a stamp of the wine’s name on it. This will make it easier to authenticate the wine. Most of us just skip this step but there are those who like to pick up the cork and smell it. Don’t.
Wine waiter: pours a little bit – about 1/10 of your glass – for your tasting.
Guest: examine the color, twirls the glass a bit and drinks the wine. Now come crunch time. You make the all important decision – to accept or to reject. Let’s say you accept. A nod would do.
Wine waiter: thanks you and asks you if he may be allowed to serve now or let the wine breathe for a while first.
Guest: if you want it to be served, indicate to whom the wine should be served first, usually the guest of honor – your date, not the hunk seated at the adjacent table!
Wine will then be served as per your serving instructions. In the absence of specific instructions, house rules prevail. That’s pot luck. It’s not too late to double back to the previous section on Giving Service Instructions now.
Under what circumstances can a guest reject a bottle of wine?
Bottom-line is you can say “take it away” if the wine is bad. This means one of the following conditions applies:
. Wine is in poor health – disgusting odor, color completely faded
. Wine tastes like vinegar – wine is oxidized
. Wine is a fake – not the kind you ordered.
You cannot reject a wine just because you don’t like it.
Drinking and Conversing
Drinking is a rather personal thing. Some like to drink in large gulps between long intervals. Others like to take tiny sips incessantly. I know many who get the best of both worlds – large gulps in hardly detectable intervals.
Myths surrounding drinking are plenty and free. Bash them. Smoking is one of those. Unless you are paid in high six figures for tasting wines as a profession, you puff away while consuming a simple New World merlot. Food and wine pairing, on the other hand is serious business and should not be brushed off quite so quickly. A wrong decision here can mean the difference between lust and disgust.
An integral part of wine appreciation is talking about the wine. Sharing opinions and impressions about the stuff you drink is more than acceptable. It is expected and notoriously fun.
Feel free to step into the shoes of a Robert Parker and plagiarize about body, concentration, extract, length and depth if you are in that mood. Be more illusive if you like and whip up a soufflé of obscurities with words like character, distinction and finesse. You can even stretch the imagination with phrases like “a gallantly pathetic effort”. But would you go so far as one woman did? “This wine attacks the palate like a gust of cold ocean breeze against a freshly shaven leg”.
It is perfectly acceptable and indeed a chic gesture to beckon the sommelier for an earful of your comments. I have served wine in more than one occasion and I tell you that nothing gave me more pleasure than to listen to the comments of the guests. The efforts made to articulate their ecstasies were most flattering. Of course, I am a much better listener when offered a glass of the wine that caused all that excitement in the first place.
I remember one time when I was confronted by an attractive lady with a direct question. “Denny, what are the qualities of a good wine?” I could have answered that in two dozen ways involving a balanced mixture of bad poetry and overused jargons. Instead, what came out of my mouth was a mere “Big and long”. So much for poetry but that answer was exactly what was pictured in my mind.
Advice to the timid
Don’t hold back. This is the time for the poet in you to surface. Nothing you say can possibly be wrong, as long as you don’t break the golden rule – don’t short change yourself with anything not original. You are the only connoisseur that matters.
Corkage, Tipping and BYO etiquettes
We’ve all been held hostage by a custom called “corkage” which of course means that restaurant has the right to charge you a fee for bringing in your own drinks (can also apply to food). Is it fair? Certainly, but only as long as it is a consistent policy and the restaurant has a wine collection robust enough to satisfy our appetites for discoveries. Otherwise, they should quietly put up with bottles marching through their doors.
But let’s look at it from another angle. If we dine out, why burden ourselves with unnecessary chores like bringing a bottle of wine? Isn’t it more rewarding to hold the hand of your date rather than the neck of a cold hard bottle of Vega Sicilia?
BYO (Bring Your Own) etiquettes start and end with one basic rule. If you have to bring wine into a restaurant, the bottle should be in one or two classes above those that the restaurant has to offer. Don’t even think about bringing something that is readily available in retail shops. Putting it in another way, your BYO wine should be something that would cause the sommelier to misbehave all evening long hoping to get a sip of your wine.
Tipping is a matter of style and character. It transcends the basic obligation of rewarding the serving staff. It touches on the realm of a self-expression of satisfaction, a sigh of relief that the best has just transpired.
When in doubt tip profusely. When you do that, don’t forget to let the establishment hear all your constructive complaints. Nothing beats two-way communications even in a one-night relationship like this.
Advice to the frequent diners
Dining out is a just another form of shopping. First rule of shopping – when in doubt, ask, ask and ask again. One thing you shouldn’t do is to take a chance on anything that might ruin your evening. The average person has less than 50 memorable evenings in a year. Sadly more than half of them will turn out to be false alarms. A few great evenings will make it into your hall of fame. This might be one of them.
So there you have it.
Wine appreciation is much, much more than satisfying our cravings for good fermented grape juice. The interactions with the wait staff, the painful struggle to decide what to order for the night, the stories of mistakes and the occasional rare finds to share with wine friends are all part of the wine lifestyle.
We make an effort to learn the game not because we play to win. There are no scores in this game and there are no winners or losers. But beware. Don’t get to be too good at it. You might just wake up one day and find yourself with a new hobby for life.
Sam finishes his 79 Ch. Fonplegade. Big eyed waitress with a tiny dimple gets the empty bottle with a Van Gogh label to decorate her apartment. Another day in the life of a sommelier fades away. In the background, the song echoes “There before the grace of you, go I.”
Comments and questions can be sent directly to the author at this email address Wine@Yats-International.com.
There is a vast array of wine bottle refrigerators available and you’ll find everything from tiny tabletop fridges to giant ones that practically create their own wine cellar. How do you choose which one works for you? Do you go for big, small or medium? This article will help you make a decision as to which wine fridge is best for you.
Space is a huge consideration when choosing your wine bottle refrigerator. Obviously, if you have nowhere to put a large fridge, there’s no point in buying one. While countertop and table top wine coolers are quite popular, these may not be right for you either, particularly if you have a minimal amount of table or counter space.
Once you have determined the size of the fridge you can move in, you’ll need to assess how much wine you actually drink. If your consumption is pretty low, say 1 bottle a month, you certainly don’t need a large fridge that holds 50 bottles . . . it would take you years to get through them all. However, a small six bottle fridge could be just right and will tide you over for half a year.
For anyone who enjoys throwing dinner parties or wine tastings, it’s vital to have plenty of room. You’ll want to make sure that you have more than enough bottles at the right temperature for serving at all times. This is also handy if you have unexpected guests, your wine will already be perfectly chilled.
A wine bottle refrigerator should also be selected for how it fits into your home. If you have a country style house, then a chrome and glass fridge isn’t going to fit in very well. However, you can get built in wine refrigerators with many different stylings, including wood. These will fit right into your existing décor and can be a good way to store your wine without making it too obvious. There are large versions, as well as under the counter types which tuck away quite nicely.
No matter which size of wine bottle refrigerator you choose, make sure that it is large enough to fit your collection and don’t forget to look at your options. There are so many different types of refrigerators that you are bound to find one that you like and which fits into your home nicely. Having your wine stored at the right temperature is really the only way to enjoy it, whether white or red.
Want to really get the most out of your wine? Then you’ll need to start looking at . They offer a number of options and can be the perfect addition to your home.
Wine has a rich history dating back to around 6000 BC. It is an alcoholic beverage that is typically produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Yeast consumes the sugars found in the grapes and converts them into alcohol.
Wine is considered a luxury by many. There are people who have wine collections at home, and who enjoy searching for great . Here are some tips that will help you navigate through the wine market without ending up with bad deals.
First, consider which sort of wine you like to drink. You can go to online wine retailers who have tasting notes posted on their sites to give you an idea of what any particular wine tastes like. However, by doing this, you can still never be too sure that you are getting the best possible wine deal. Many wine special websites also offer unique ways of trying out and selecting some of the world’s most remarkable wines. These sites give the option of trial packs, which generally contain six different types of wines from different countries of the world. Every bottle contains wine that tastes differently from each other. You can try out each one and then select the one which you find the best.
Remember to always be wary of those deals that sound too good to be true. Most online wine retailers have reputations to uphold and so they sell really good wines. But then again, they tend to use some fancy language in their marketing which can be confusing and can convince you to buy a wine that you actually don’t like.
In finding great wine deals online, look for those wherein you can truly say that a sip is worth a thousand words.