Good Morning…
I was wondering if you could help me…
I live in Kingsville, and enjoy dry white wine.. but have recently discovered that I have an allergy to Oaked wines and ones that contain Sulphate..
I tend to enjoy, Pelee wines, Erie Shores, and Mastonardi wines..
Do you have any suggestions on which dry white wines do not contain either oak or sulphate..
Thanks
Sincerely
R. K.
So, you have been invited to your very first wine tasting party. You know that this is fun and it is a great way to show off your palate. But, what if you don’t know anything about wine tasting? What if you don’t know the proper way to taste wine? Surely you wouldn’t want to be embarrassed in front of your friends as well as the host of the party tasting the wine the wrong way, would you?
So, here are some simple guides on how to taste wine.
You need to remember that wine tasting is a great experience. Most people do it in their own way but most people don’t really know how to taste wine. Tasting wine is not just about having something other than water in your mouth, but tasting wine is about knowing the wine.
You have to remember that wine has a unique taste. It has a very complex and very rich taste that you need to fully taste. Wine tasting is not just about putting the wine in your mouth and swirling it around inside your mouth, but it takes some time in order for you to identify the wine and get its true flavor. That’s the essence of wine tasting, which is getting the true flavor of the wine you taste.
Each wine isn’t the same when it comes to flavor. The age of the wine will have an effect on the taste, which is why the older it is, the more expensive the wine is.
You also need to remember that the taste and quality of the wine will also depend on the quality of the raw products, which are grapes. The soil in each region is different with different amounts of minerals, and the amount of rainfall is also different on each region. This will also contribute to the taste of the wine.
Unlike other foods, the simplest difference in the taste of a grape will have a lot of difference in the taste of the final product which is wine.
Also, because each process of making wine is different in each region of the world, it will also contribute on the taste of the wine.
The point of all this is that you should take some time in tasting and smelling the wine. Don’t just swirl it in your mouth and spit it out but you need to truly capture the flavor by seeing it first, then smelling it, and lastly, tasting it.
Try tasting as much wine as you can and washing your mouth off with room temperature water or unsalted biscuits to get the previous wine flavor off your mouth.
By tasting as much wine as you can, then you will be able to improve your palate and be able to know which type of wine suits your taste buds. Also, you will be able to gain experience in wine tasting so that the next time you get invited to another wine tasting party or you go on a wine tasting holiday in some of the most prominent vineyards in the world, you will be able to know and impress people on how knowledgeable you are with wines.
These are some of the things that you have to know about wine tasting. As you can see, it’s not just about having something other than water in your mouth, but it’s about truly capturing and identifying the complex flavor of wine.
Gary
If you plan on hosting a wine tasting party but you don’t have any idea on where to start, then you have to remember that there are quite a lot of ways on how you can start the party. There are 6 wine tasting party themes that you could try which is guaranteed to give success to a wine tasting party.
Wine tasting parties are a lot of fun and it is relatively easy for people to plan and host. If you are starting to plan on hosting a wine tasting party, then you need to keep in mind that you should first choose a theme for your party.
So, here are six theme ideas that you can use for your wine tasting party.
The first is called the Horizontal Wine Tasting. In this kind of theme, you will only focus on one wine variety from a single year. However, each wine will come from multiple vineyards and different producers. For example, you can focus on a 2000 Chenin Blanc from five or seven different wine producers or wineries.
In here, you will consider whether you like to taste wines from the same region or you want to mix it up by tasting the same type of wine that comes from different wineries, such as from Ontario, California, Australia or Italy.
The second is called Vertical Wine Tasting. Here, the wine tastings are conducted by tasting just one variety of wine. For example, you will only concentrate on tasting the Chenin Blanc from the same producer. However, the wines will be in different vintages or years. For example, you can taste the Chenin Blanc from one winery from years 2000, 2002, and 2004.
This will show the tasters, which are your guests, on how dramatic or subtle a wine can change from year to year.
Priceless Wine Tasting is another great theme for your wine tasting party. You have to remember that people normally assume that wines that are more expensive taste better than cheaper ones. Although this may be true, you can try testing their palate by withholding the price of the variety of wine you have available for tasting. By just tasting, your guests should determine which wine is worth 120 dollars and which one is worth 10 dollars.
Price Point Wine Tasting is another great wine tasting party theme that you may want to try. Here, the wines featured will be in a similar price. The goal here is to keep the wines comparable in a baseline price which is quite flexible for you to organize when it comes to buying the wine.
Another theme is called the Big Eight Wine Tasting. Here, you will get your guests work their way through eight different kinds of wines and determine which one they prefer. This will also give your guests, particular the ones that are not very “in” to wines a new appreciation for the different kinds of wine.
The big eight wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, and Pinot Noir for red wines, and Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Grigio for white wines.
Lastly, the Blind Wine Tasting theme can also work for your party. Just take any of the themes mentioned before, remove the labels from the bottles or put the bottles in wine bags and you have a blind wine tasting party that will surely be a lot of fun for your guests. The fact that your guests will not have any ideas on what wine they taste, it will definitely be interesting to know which kind of wine they prefer without looking at the label or at the price of the wine.
These are the six wine tasting themes that will surely make your wine tasting part a success.
2009 marks the 15th annual Festival Epicure: A Celebration Of Food, Wine and Music. Every year the bar gets raised higher and this year is no exception. With it’s eclectic, high caliber approach to every facet of the festival, Festival Epicure continues to kick off the Windsor-Detroit region’s summer festival season with a bang.
Last year’s visitors enjoyed both scrumptious taster portions and fantastic full meal offerings from the Festival Epicure food vendors. Wine vendors also offered sampler servings or wine by the glass. Wiser’s Canadian Whiskey and Polar Ice Vodka will be this years spirits vendors with a full array of spirits in their Summer Refreshment Tent! Of course, your Epicurean experience wouldn’t be complete without entertainment! Festival Epicure 2009 will deliver toe tappin’ tunes featuring the area’s top R&B, pop, jazz, swing and Latin artists.
2009 WILL BE EVEN BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER!!
With 28 vendors and a musical lineup that will prove to be the summer’s best, EPICURE 2009 will definitely be Windsor’s greatest summer event!
Wineries at Festival Epicure
Aleksander Estate Winery
Colchester Ridge Estate Winery
Colio Estate Wines
D’Angelo Vineyard Estate Winery
Mastronardi Estate Winery
Pelee Island Winery
Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery
Have you watched wine tasters before? Take note of their ‘rituals’ in tasting various kinds of wines. First, they tilt the wine glass and then swirl the wine. After that, wine tasters sniff the wine and gargle it before they finally spit the wine out. This ‘ritual’ is very important in determining the wine’s quality; so don’t be surprised to see if wine tasters do those things.
Tasters tilt the wine glass so that they can determine a wine’s age. Tasting the wine’s color is very important as it determines its clarity. Once the glass is tilt, you will see that a young wine has a dark colored edge and a faintly lighter color at the edge indicates an old wine. This is used for testing red wines. For the white wines, you need to look down straight at the wine. Greater clarity will be indicated by more sparkles in the wine, like that of diamonds.
By swirling the wine in the glass, you can test the wine’s body. If the wine adheres to the wine glass’ sides, it has greater body. There are also times when the wine doesn’t adhere to the glass’ body.
The aroma of wines is tested by swirling it on the glass and then sniffing its vapors deeply. Younger red wines smell like berries and there is also a slight smell of chocolate, liquorice, spice, and mint. Older red wines smell more like prunes or raisons; wines that are of no good or too old smell like that of vinegar. The same pattern is followed by white wines.
Try sipping a bit of wine and roll it over your tongue. Place the wine at the center of your tongue and gargle it to release its flavor. If the tip of your tongue is tingling, it indicates a sweet wine. Acid wines will give you needles and pin-like sensations at the sides of your tongue. If you feel dryness all throughout your mouth, indicates a wine with high tannin. Tannin is considered as natural preservatives and you often find them in younger red wines.
Before swallowing the wine, try to observe if there is concentration of deep fruit in the wine. In tasting wines, it is advised that you swallow the wine little by little. The best of wines should display a pleasant and lingering finish.
Connoisseurs are the expert wine tasters. Not everyone can assess the wine’s quality even if they follow the so-called rituals because it takes time and experience to identify the best wines in the world. But if you want to indulge yourself in wine tastings, you may do so and make sure that you learn from the experts.
If you have the makings of a connoisseur, join wine tastings now. There are a lot wines sold all over the world and if you’re a wine lover, wine tastings will do you good. There are also wine tasting tours that you might want to try out.
Before you succeed as a connoisseur in wine tastings, make sure that you master the ‘rituals’. It takes time and patience; even if you encounter some difficulties, don’t give up and try to learn from your past mistakes. Always keep in mind that experts started out just like the other beginners.
Wine tasting is a good way to know the best wines in the market.
Gary