Wine tasting is an interactive endeavor.\u00a0 Unless you\u2019re opening a lot of bottles at home, by yourself, the very least you need is someone to pour the wine for you.\u00a0 (And sitting home alone opening bottles isn\u2019t healthy for mind or body.)\u00a0 For most of us, it\u2019s a social activity.\u00a0 We go wine tasting together and it\u2019s rare that we have a tasting room to ourselves.<\/p>\n
A significant amount of time is spent talking about what we\u2019re tasting:\u00a0 \u201cWhat did you think of the nose\/mouthfeel\/acidity\/finish?\u00a0 Wasn\u2019t that yummy?\u00a0 I don\u2019t like this one.\u00a0 You like big, heavy wines more than I do\u201d.\u00a0 The conversation is always amongst ourselves and often with strangers who happen to be at the bar or the table at the same time as we are.<\/p>\n
The common element is always the server, who generally selects the order in which you taste wines and the amount that you receive.\u00a0 They are trained to act like hosts at a party, to be convivial, provide information and while not actively hawking the winery\u2019s wares, to encourage you to buy some or join the wine club.\u00a0 It therefore follows that to maximize the pleasure of your visit, you should interact in a friendly manner with your server.<\/p>\n
Now, much of that is just the manners your mother taught you.\u00a0 If somebody gives you something, you smile and say thank you.\u00a0 But the objective here is something more.\u00a0 If you engage your server in conversation and ask fairly meaningful questions, you will get a lot more in return.\u00a0 What are some reasonable questions?\u00a0 You can ask how the wine you just sipped differs from previous vintages.\u00a0 If the wine is estate-grown, where are the winery\u2019s vineyards?\u00a0 And if they are sourced, who do they buy grapes from?\u00a0 Does their winemaker control the farming practices or is it strictly up to the vineyard owner?\u00a0 You could ask the server\u2019s opinion on how long to cellar a wine that seems to need it.\u00a0 We almost always ask what the blend of grapes and the level of alcohol are.\u00a0 If we think we might be interested in buying some of a wine, we ask to see the bottle; there\u2019s often a lot of information to be gleaned from the labels.<\/p>\n
There are two types of servers: plain pourers and wine educators.\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to get much from the former.\u00a0 We\u2019ve found that better wineries make a point of training their people so that you don\u2019t get someone who is simply capable of filling a glass and no more.\u00a0 Ah, but when you meet an educator, showing interest brings rewards.\u00a0 If you wanted a comparison with previous vintages, he or she might have some and will open them so that you can compare. \u00a0We have had some rather in-depth verticals (multiple years of the same wine) on occasion.\u00a0 And if you ask about cellaring, the educator might just remember that there\u2019s a bottle of a ten-year old (or older) that they served to visiting dignitaries just this morning. \u201cWould you like some?\u201d\u00a0 Oh, yes, indeed.<\/p>\n
Even if you don\u2019t get little extras, you will almost always benefit from the information you receive.\u00a0 Since one of the objectives of wine tasting is to increase your knowledge of wine in general and specific producers in particular, you get the pleasure of just adding to your understanding of fine wine.<\/p>\n
When a tasting room is really crowded, on a weekend or when a tour bus arrives, you may not be able to show your interest to your server.\u00a0 He or she is overworked and underappreciated on those days.\u00a0 But when you hit the right person on the right day, the effect is wonderful.\u00a0 It is another reason to have a quiet, seated tasting on the busiest days.\u00a0 The staff know you\u2019re serious and treat you accordingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wine tasting is an interactive endeavor.\u00a0 Unless you\u2019re opening a lot of bottles at home, by yourself, the very least you need is someone to pour the wine for you.\u00a0 (And sitting home alone opening bottles isn\u2019t healthy for mind or body.)\u00a0 For most of us, it\u2019s a social activity.\u00a0 We go wine tasting together … Continue reading Wine, with Interest<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions\/242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}