Week 16: In Vino Veritas

What do I know about wine? Not much, I drink it! I come from one of the regions in Italy that produces the most wine, Veneto. But I have to admit I did not like it until a couple of years ago, when I started to appreciate Prosecco first, then a good, dry and light white wine. Nowadays I like all type of wines, as long as they are good.

The new thing for this week it is not drinking wine for the first time, it is learning how to taste it. It is learning what qualities to look for in a wine while tasting it. Essentially I got an insight in what a sommelier does. And it was fun.

I do not want to cut you off the fun! So grab some wine, follow me and I will try and guide you through some simple and fun steps.

-         Take a deep breath and imagine yourself as one of the biggest wine conosseuire. It is irrelevant if you have never tasted wine before. Just BE the sommelier.

-         Pour yourself a glass of wine. Hey, hold on you! Not a full one! Top it up just until the wine gets to the part of the glass that becomes rounded.

-         Now lift the glass and tilt if at a 45 degrees angle and note the color. If you are examining a red wine, put one of your fingers on the other side of the glass and note how clearly you can see it. The clearer you see it, the lighter the body of the wine is.

-         With small, delicate circular movement stir the wine, breaking it up so that all its qualities   can be appreciated fully. (Do not stir the wine if it is sparkling).

-         Smell the wine. What perfumes does it bring to mind? Is it fruity? If so what fruit would you associate to that smell: pear, apple, grapes, and mango? Is it spicy? Can you smell the oak of the barrel? Is it corked?

-         Now take a sip of the wine, and treat it as if it was mouthwash. Before spiting it out try and breathe in some air through the wine. Do so three times and then spit the wine into the spittoon. If you do not feel like a complete idiot while mouth washing with wine you are doing it wrong. And yes….the word spittoons is hilarious.

-         Now you can feel the taste of the wine. See if all the perfumes you had noticed before are still there. Is there anything new? And how long does the taste remain in your mouth after you’ve tasted it?

 

There you go:  now you too can pretend, like I often do, to know about wine. My suggestion is getting together with your friends, get a couple or more bottles of wine, and do a wine tasting (and drinking) session. Maybe cook dinner too. I am sure it will be fun.