Wine Etiquette - Become a Wine Snob!

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Posted by: admin, on 3/6/2009, in category "The Sommeliers - Know what they know!"
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Location: Montreal, Qc, Canada

Abstract: Do you want to learn how to use your senses to distinguish great wines from poor ones? Click the title to read our Wine Etiquette article.

Wine Etiquette  

The idea of becoming a wine connoisseur has never been so popular. In order to become a wine connoisseur it might help to become familiar with the various steps one must take when tasting his or hers wine. As many attributes of wine must be examined in order to taste a wine properly, we will outline the steps needed to take so that next time you’re tasting a wine in a restaurant you can accurately tell whether or not the wine is proper.

Using Your Eyes 

            Fill your wine glass about one-third full and pick it up by its stem. Holding the wine glass by its bowl hides the liquid from view, it creates fingerprints and therefore blurs its color, and the temperature of the wine will alter due to the heat present from your hand. Once the glass is held by the stem, tilt the glass and look at the wine through the rim in order to see the variation from the deepest part of the liquid up to its edges. The intensity of any wine is looked at through looking straight down from above. Next comes the fun part, twirling or as we like to call it, the olfactory examination. The simplest way and cleanest way to do this is by placing the base of the wine glass on the table and placing your thumb and forefinger on the stem as you gently rotate your wrist. Wait until the wine almost reaches the rim and then stop. As the wine climbs back down, you’ll notice many legs falling down the inside of the glass. These legs defines the amount of alcohol present in the wine. The more legs in turn means more alcohol content.

Using Your Nose 

            Once you’re done agitating your wine, you’re ready to smell its aromas. From using your eyes you have intensified your wines aromas. How? From twirling. The legs have evaporated on the inside of your wine glass, this is where the aroma comes from. Next step is to place your nose directly inside your wine glass and inhale. You may take two or three quick sniffs or one deep one. In time, you will decide what is best for you. You’ll notice that your wine smells of more that just grapes, it will provide you with hints of other very familiar scents that will help you judge if it will meet your expectations.

Using Your TasteBuds

            Finally, you may taste the wine! With the scent and aroma of the wine still in your system, proceed to take a sip from your glass. An appropriate sip is judged to be about one-third to one-half of an ounce. The important aspect of sipping your wine is not to swallow it. You want keep the wine in your mouth for about 10 to 15 seconds. The reason for this is to maximize its flavor to its top potential. During this time, you should roll the wine all around your mouth while pursing your lips and inhaling gently through them. The bubbling noise will gurantee that you’re doing this correctly. Also, chew the wine and slosh it around your mouth in order to get everything you can out of your wine. Last but definetly not least, swallow your wine. Once you swallow, exhale gently and slowly through both your nose and mouth. A great wine will create a wonderful feeling after you’ve exhaled for close to a minute. The trick here is that the longer that feeling stays with you, the better the wine is.

Last Drop

            When tasting wine, try to avoid wearing any perfume or cologne as their scents will clash along with those being held by your wine. Also, cigarettes and cigars give off odours that interfere with those given off by your wine and will only affect your wine negatively. Make sure you rinse your mouth properly before tasting any wine. This includes avoiding the use breathmints and gum.

Finishing Note

Last but probably the most important etiquette rule of all, if you have a negative comment towards any of your friends wine, please make sure to keep them to yourself, he or she has worked really hard and is extremely proud of their accomplishments. Remember, practice makes perfect.