June 15, 2003
How To Conduct a Wine Tasting
Part TwoIf you are a novice-a supplicant, who wants to learn about wine, don't do your initial tasting parties blind. Blind tastings are most successfully done by "professionals" where there is an assumed level of competence. For example at the Santa Barbara County Fair commercial competition where I was one of the 20 judges, we tasted and evaluated the wines in the flights blind. Blind tasting is the methodology for commercial and professional tastings and competititons.
Doing blind tastings, especially where the taster's experience varies, scoring can go all over the place and total points can be meaningless.
Important tips to make the tasting successful:
I was talking to my editor, Dana Gran, last week about these columns. She said "don't spit, don't waste." And my rejoinder was "don't drive."
- All the glasses should be the same. The glass is a real variable, believe it or not. Taste a single wine in different glasses and the wine will taste different! Try doing it. Therefore, the type of glass can be a variable you want to control. The Austrian crystal producer, Riedel, produces glasses of different shapes for almost every type of wine there is (even glasses for tequila)! And they are very successful marketing these glasses. Most better premium wine stores sell Riedel crystal or can order it for you. The point to remember-all the glasses should be the same.
- Wine glasses should be tulip shaped. The delicate esters and other organics in the wine are captured in the bowl and they are important in defining the aroma and bouquet of the wine. By the way, aroma refers to the fruit character of the grape and bouquet refers to the complete wine in the glass-the complex of "smells" that include the aroma, the character of the barrel, and the age of the wine.
Tasting glasses should be a minimum of eight ounces. I think larger glasses (10-14 ounces) are preferable because the larger size lets you swirl the wine in the glass. This is important because you want to get oxygen into the wine while you are tasting it. Swirling the wine in the glass makes the glass function like a carburetor.- Never fill the glass more that one third or half way. This makes "swirling" the wine easier.
- Make sure you have pitchers or carafes of water available-both for rinsing and drinking.Provide containers for dumping wine or spitting wine. Remember, the purpose is the evaluate the wine and not get a "buzz."
- Having food is always a good idea. Wine tastes different with food than it does by itself. Bread, crackers, meats and cheeses are always appropriate. Avoid strong food like raw garlic or anchovies.
- Use a white tablecloth so you have a neutral background for looking at the wine's clarity and color.
- Provide note paper and pencils for your guests.
- The room should be well-lighted. Natural or incandescent is the best-never fluorescent because fluorescent gives a ghastly color to red wine.
- No smoking and no perfume!
If a guest gets impaired, as the host you should make arrangements for transportation or provide a guest room (or at least the floor). Nothing would ruin an evening of wine tasting more than a DUI!
- If you want to score the wines at your tasting event, I think it makes sense to discuss a scoring procedure at the offset so every taster is "on the same page." Next week I'll offer several suggestions on how to score.
Times wine columnist, Bob Senn, lives in the Los Alamos Valley and owns the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium.
