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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nPhoto courtesy of Schramsberg Vineyards.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nBut tasting sparkling wine is somewhat different. There is more to it, in some ways, and less in others. So if you\u2019re visiting a sparkling wine producer, anywhere from Champagne to Calistoga, here are some tips to add to your enjoyment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Notice the glass.<\/strong> In the past, at least in the United States, the glasses for sparklers were coupes. Wide and shallow, they would enable the bubbles to tickle your nose. Of course, the wine rapidly became flat. For some reason, they\u2019re still popular at weddings. Flutes then came into fashion. These tall, thin glasses kept the bubbles in and away from your nose, exposing as little of the surface of the wine in the glass to the air. Now, in many wineries that specialize in bubbly, the glasses are tulip-shaped, with a bit of a bulge at the bottom and narrowing at the top.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Enjoy the aroma.<\/strong> The reason the glass matters is that the shape affects what and how you smell it. Coupes are all about bubbles, so you\u2019d better sip in a hurry without worrying about smelling the wine. Flutes retain the carbonation, but give less space for the aromas to expand in the glass. The tulip is kind of a compromise, allowing the smells to circulate a bit before you sip. So hold a flute as horizontally as you can and breathe in the delicate aromas of citrus and warm toast, often found in some sparkling wines. With a tulip, stick your nose into the glass right away, before even thinking of sipping.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Don\u2019t swirl.<\/strong> With tasting of table wines, swirling it before sniffing and tasting adds to the enjoyment of the contents of the glass. Not so with sparkling wines. All swirling does is release some of the gas and thus the bubbles. So it detracts from your enjoyment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Take a look at the bubbles.<\/strong> You should see a steady upward stream of them that should continue unabated for a while. If you don\u2019t, the bottle has been open too long and has gone flat. Give it back to the server and ask for a new bottle to be opened. (If you\u2019re doing this at someone\u2019s home, smile and enjoy your glass of white wine.) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How long should the bubbles last? <\/strong>Scientists will tell us that some<\/em> bubbles will be present for hours after being served. But the whole point of sparkling wine is to have a lot<\/em> of fizz. Once it goes flat \u2013 practically if not scientifically \u2013 there\u2019s no point in drinking it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- A bit more about bubbles.<\/strong> Cheaper, less well-made sparkling wine has big, fat bubbles. Because each one has more gas in it, it takes less time for more to get out of the wine, i.e., go flat. Smaller bubbles are more elegant and longer lasting and are found in premium sparkling wines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Don\u2019t over-intellectualize it.<\/strong> Despite all the above it\u2019s still just wine, albeit fizzy wine. Savor it as you would any other fine wine and take in the scents and tastes emanating from the glass, without trying to make it a sacred experience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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Wine tasting is a very simple process. Someone pours some wine into a glass. You pick it up and take a sip. Repeat. Of course there are many subtleties beyond that: smelling the wine, noting the color, swirling it around your mouth, etc. This process applies at wineries (and bars and homes) around the world. … Continue reading How to Taste Sparkling Wine<\/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\/2960"}],"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=2960"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2962,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2960\/revisions\/2962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}