How to Fake Your Way through a Wine Tasting Party

You have just gotten a call from a friend to attend a wine tasting party. You hesitantly say yes knowing you don’t know the first thing about wine. Relax. This simple guide will give you just enough information to fake your way through an intelligent conversation about the wines you will taste.

There are many varieties or varietals of wine. Varietal simply means the kind of grape a wine is made from. A wine must have at least 75% of that grape variety to be named for that varietal. All you need to know is that wines are usually categorized as either whites or reds. You have a 50/50 shot to get this right when asked which you prefer.

During the tasting you will be sampling five or six wines. You may be given a note card to make notes about them. Remember, after every wine, clean your glass with water and clean your palette by sampling the cheese or crackers on hand. They are there for this reason and not to snack on while you’re waiting for the tasting to start.

Be sure to hold your glass by the stem. A wine glass is designed so that the heat from your hand will not transfer to the wine if held by the stem. The host should fill your glass between 1/3 and ½ full. This gives the wine plenty of room to swish around inside the glass. Pick the glass up, hold it up toward the light, and tilt it ever so slightly. Now swish the wine around by making a circular motion with the glass. Look at the color of the wine as well as the opacity (how transparent the wine is). If asked about the color simply say “slightly garnet” for a red or “slightly straw” for a white and move on.

Now it’s time to show your stuff. Swirl the wine around in the glass and bring the glass to the tip of your nose while you take a deep whiff. Then stick your nose in the glass without getting your nose wet. Take a deep whiff again. If anyone asks what smell or bouquet you sense, you can simply say “plums.” Red wines usually smell of berries or woods and whites smell of flowers or citrus fruits. Either way “plums” sums it up.

Next, hold the glass up again while swirling it and comment on the wine having “good legs.” This simply means that when you quit swirling, the wine climbs down the side of the glass and forms teardrops as it flows. Whether it does or not makes no difference at this point. Now we will move on to the good stuff, the tasting.

Now it’s time to taste the wine. Dip your nose in once again, take a big whiff, and then take a “swill.” A swill is simply taking wine into your mouth without swallowing and sucking air through your lips at the same time. It’s much like sipping hot coffee. Swirl the wine all over your mouth. This is where you should take a moment and think about all the different tastes. Again think berries and woods for reds and flowers and citrus fruits for whites. If anyone asks and you don’t know, just say “plums”.

Once you are through swilling you can swallow. If the wine moves down your throat like water then say “light bodied” and if it moves like milk say “full bodied”. Make your notes, eat your cheese, clean your glass, and move on to the next wine. Hang around after the tasting and eat something. Make sure you are fine to drive before getting behind the wheel.

The joy wine tasting is learning and having fun. Following this simple tutorial will at least give you more of a comfort level while you are learning. Talk to people, ask what they think about the wines, and practice your wine tasting at home. Before long you will be wine tasting like a pro. Cheers!

If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.