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Wine Tasting Ritual De-Mythed: How to Test Wine in a Restaurant
You?re at a restaurant and somehow the job of ordering wine has landed on your plate -
literally. You realize that, much to your dismay, not only will you have to order the wine; you?ll also be expected to make sure it?s okay for your table to drink.
You?ve just encountered one of the most intimidating public wine drinking experiences; and, naturally, you?re wondering how to pull it off without looking like a bozo.
First step, relax! This is a simple ? and way overrated -- ritual that has been around for years. And, luckily it?s the same ritual in every restaurant. So learn it once and you?re all set.
This is a three-step process. There really are no time limits; although you could annoy your server to no end if you drag it out too long. And annoying your server needlessly is rarely a good idea.
Step 1: The presentation of the wine bottle
The server is slowly walking up to your table and you swear you hear the theme song from Rocky playing in the background. Take a deep breath and make eye contact.
He or she will execute the presentation-of-the-bottle portion of the ritual. This is simply so you can verify that it?s what you ordered. Hopefully, you can remember.
Take a good look at the label. Is it the correct wine and vintage (year)? If it is, nicely tell the server you are accepting the bottle for the table and to be opened. If it isn?t, nicely point out the mistake to the server. (Hey, no one?s perfect).
As the server is opening the bottle, this is a good time to smile and say something witty to your guests who have been staring at you the entire time. Although not necessary, it makes things a little lighter.
Step 2: ? The opening of the wine bottle
The server opens the bottle and gently places the cork next to your hand. No matter what, fight the urge to smell it! Smelling the cork accomplishes nothing, and will make you look like a dork. Especially if it?s a plastic cork or screw top.
Just feel the cork to make sure the bottom is moistened with wine and that it?s intact. It?s okay if the cork is dry, but it shouldn?t be cracked or falling apart. There?s not much you can learn by feeling a plastic cork or, worse, a screw top.
While you were feeling the cork, the server has poured a small amount of wine into your glass. Simply swirl the wine a tad. No need to go crazy and create a whirlpool in your glass. Just a little, calm swirl. This helps ?open up your wine? or oxygenate it so you can smell and taste the true flavor.
Now, with nose in the glass, take a nice long whiff. Without getting into the complexity of the specific aromas of the grapes, you are simply making sure the wine is not bad. Believe me you will know if it?s bad as the essence of vinegar or mold will be present.
Now taste it. Odds are it will be great. Every now and then a wine will be either ?corked? (the cork has contaminated the wine) or it was damaged by improper storage. If either of those has happened, you will probably taste something like moldy bread or fruit, a wet basement, cork, cardboard, or vinegar. It will be pretty obvious that it should be sent back.
Step 3: Serving the table
If your wine passes steps 1 & 2, then let the server know that the drinking can begin. He or she will pour to your guests first, beginning with the ladies. Your glass will be the last one to be filled. Chances are good you?ll get the bill at the end of the night, too.
Congratulations! You?ve now mastered the ritual that intimidates and scares many people and you didn?t look like an idiot! In fact you undoubtedly looked fabulous.
?2006, Let?s Talk About Wine
Lynne Thomas knows a good glass of wine when she drinks one. She is a founding partner of Let?s Talk About Wine, a wine information resource created to connect people who want to learn about wine the fun, easy way. Visit
http://www.letstalkaboutwine.com/ for a few laughs and a lot of info.
Napa Valley Current EventsFeatured Napa Valley Event: Hands-on Cooking Class Hosted at CasaLana Bed and Breakfast in Calistoga with Terri Pischoff-Wuerthner this class is limited to 8 participants. The Topic is Classic Cajun". Includes recipe handouts, hands-on instruction, meals prepared and wine/beverage served with the meal. All equipment, tools and aprons are provided.
Unfiltered: Monet's taste for wine revealed - Wine Spectator (subscription)Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:37:08 GMT
Unfiltered: Monet's taste for wine revealedWine Spectator (subscription), CA - 3 hours agoThe Champagne house's latest big idea, called Globalight, is a sleek metal bottle-holder, cooler and lamp that emits a warm pink hue, thanks to LED ... |
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An Introduction To Wine Gifts
Wine is a perfect gift for all kinds of holidays and special occasions. It has long been known as a symbol of joy, festivity and abundance.
In ancient Egypt, wine was used in ceremonies and religious rituals. Wine was often offered to the pharaohs when they died as one of their provisions for the afterlife. In the Christian bible, wine symbolized joy or God-caused intoxication in many stories.
Vintage wines are among the best wines you can give as gifts to wine lovers. This type of wine is made from grapes harvested on the year indicated on the label. Vintage wines are generally better than other wines that are a blend of wines made from several years. As they get older, their taste gets finer ? and that?s why they are more expensive than other wines.
Red wines are also excellent gifts. They are proven to be good for the health. Researches show that red wines have antioxidants that help prevent diseases, especially cancers and heart ailments.
To make your gift more unique, you can personalize the label of the wine. There are wine stores that offer these services for a fee. You can also buy gift sets that include a bottle of wine and wine glasses to go with it ? making it very special.
For a wine enthusiast, anything about wine can be very interesting and can definitely be a source of sheer joy. If extraordinary wines are too expensive for you, give wine-related gifts such as books about wines. Whatever your choice, remember that it?s the thought that counts the most. Whether your gift is an expensive vintage wine or a simple wine accessory, it will surely be appreciated.
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Quality Wine
The Bordeaux Wine Experience specializes in luxury wine and culinary tours in the Bordeaux region and is generally considered as the leading Bordeaux wine tour company.
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Sweet Sherries
Many people who were not raised in a wine drinking family decide they want to start drinking wine in their adult years, both because it adds a lovely flavor to meals and because of the health benefits. How do you get started with healthy wine drinking? First off, it would be impossible for me (or any other 3rd party) to tell you what type of wine YOU are likely to enjoy, flavor wise. We all have different taste buds! Maybe you have a sweet tooth and would love the light, White Zinfandel variety. Maybe you are a tea drinker and would enjoy a red with a bit of tannin in it. Maybe you're a coffee-with-cream drinker and would love a smooth, buttery Chardonnay. Your best bet here is to order random wines in restaurants, by the glass. Most restaurants serve very "middle of the road" wines that appeal to the widest range of palates. Each time you go out, try a different wine and keep a notebook of which you like, which you don't like and why. There's no right or wrong here. You are free to hate any wine! But soon you'll see a pattern of what types YOU enjoy, and those are the ones to then try different brands of and learn more about.
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Grape Varieties
White wines come in all denominations from light and sweet, to light, floral and bone dry, to rich, buttery, and powerful. The easy recommendation is to serve light wines with light foods, heavy wines with full-bodied foods.
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Some degree of aging for finished wines is beneficial, allowing the full complexity and intensity of aromas and flavours to come through.
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Sonoma County Current EventsFeatured Sonoma County Event: Rodney Strong Winemaker Dinner. The Inn at the Tides, Bay View Restaurant in Bodega Bay proudly hosts Winemaker Michael Eddy of Rodney Strong Winery for a spectacular 5-course dinner including a specially selected wine with each course. Reservations are a must!
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Life is full of questions; so this article was written with the intention of solving the question on Tasting Notes. Sure do hope that your questions have been answered.
Don't Just Throw You Wine Rack On The Counter!
A counter top wine rack is a perfect solution for wine enthusiasts (or wine enthusiasts at heart) looking for a short term storage solution for smaller quantities of wine. Not only are they stylish, but they are also available in so many varieties of styles, materials and capacities that there is a counter top wine rack to fit the personal tastes of almost anyone. What most people don?t understand, however is that using a counter top wine rack is not as simple as placing it on a counter and filling it with bottles of wine. If your wine is going to be consumed quickly this might be ok, but if you are looking to store a bottle of wine for even more than a couple of weeks there are a few things which should be kept in mind to help keep your wine tasting it?s best when you pop the cork.
- Temperature: A wine rack should never be placed where it is going to be in close contact with extreme heat, whether it is a counter top wine rack, floor standing or wall mounted. Never place a wine rack near a heater, stove, oven or other appliance that generates heat. Wine that becomes too hot can ?cook? and degrades the wine. On the contrary, some wines should never be store in extreme cold either. For example, a wine rack storing red wine should never be stored near cold drafts.
- Sunlight: can also affect the aging process. It is important to keep wines out of direct sunlight, which is one reason many wines, especially reds, are distributed in tinted bottles. As such, white wines are usually the most susceptible to sunlight. Even though UV rays can still affect and if left long enough ruin, a bottle of wine, if your are using a counter top wine rack for short term storage of wine just keeping the bottles out of direct sunlight will be sufficient.
- Vibration: If storing wines for any length of time it is best to put it in a place where large heavy vibrations will not be occurring. For example in my kitchen I have an under counter washing machine/dryer which tends to vibrate and shake quite a bit when in the spin cycle. It would be unwise of me to put a counter top wine rack on that counter because the vibration from the washing machine would cause the wine to become shaken up and disturb the sediment.
Keeping these three simple factors in mind might initially make it a little more difficult to find the perfect place to put your counter top wine rack, but you will thank yourself for it when you open your first bottle of wine and it tastes perfect!
Sweet Sherries
Many people who were not raised in a wine drinking family decide they want to start drinking wine in their adult years, both because it adds a lovely flavor to meals and because of the health benefits. How do you get started with healthy wine drinking? First off, it would be impossible for me (or any other 3rd party) to tell you what type of wine YOU are likely to enjoy, flavor wise. We all have different taste buds! Maybe you have a sweet tooth and would love the light, White Zinfandel variety. Maybe you are a tea drinker and would enjoy a red with a bit of tannin in it. Maybe you're a coffee-with-cream drinker and would love a smooth, buttery Chardonnay. Your best bet here is to order random wines in restaurants, by the glass. Most restaurants serve very "middle of the road" wines that appeal to the widest range of palates. Each time you go out, try a different wine and keep a notebook of which you like, which you don't like and why. There's no right or wrong here. You are free to hate any wine! But soon you'll see a pattern of what types YOU enjoy, and those are the ones to then try different brands of and learn more about.
Buy a great bottle of
white wine right now!
Fruit Wine
Most wine drinkers drink a glass of wine with dinner each night, so you should drink a wine you enjoy! You don't want this to be a "chore" you have to do. So choose wines that you like the taste of that fall within yo
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COPIA - Al Stewart: Down in the CellarsAl Stewarts accessible guitar style and literary lyrics shone in his 1970s hits Year of the Cat and Time Passages. In his Napa debut, Stewart performs favorites plus songs derived from his love of wine: Down in the Cellars, Shiraz Shuffle and Night that the Band Got the Wine.
Temecula Wine EventsFeatured Temecula Event: Flamenco Fridays at Miramonte Winery. Only a $5 cover, and that includes your initial wine tasting. Come early if you want to get a table. $5 tapas plates provided by Volker Lutz, owner and head chef of European Cafe and Vineyard Gourmet Catering. Music provided by the incomparable Jeffrey Briggs and Michael Murphy, both renowned Classical and Latin guitarists. Come enjoy delicious gourmet tapas, beautiful sunsets, panoramic valley views, and some of the best live music around. No cover charge for wine club members.
Iron Wine
There is significant matter enclosed in this article about Napa Wine for you to understand Napa Wine better. Use it to it's best.
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Wine Racks Display...
Table wine racks are a great way to complete any entertaining event. Not only does the wine racks display what the wine selection is accompanying the meal, but many come with extras. Table wineracks can be made out of several materials....all depending on what your preference is. For example, one popular choice for table wineracks are steel ones, since this material can be heated and made into beautiful artistic pieces. They can also be made out of a variety of wood, usually cedar, pine or fir. Most wine table racks are shaped strikingly, so they not only hold your wine but evoke appreciation in their own right.
Table wine racks are usually can hold several bottles of wine yet take up very take up very little surface area on the table. They can easily be integrated into the centerpieces of any table on which you would like a flourish.
A great example of when to table wine racks is at a wedding or casual event -- or just to give your table a more sophisticated look on a daily basis. By purchasing several of these wine racks, (which are priced moderately and to fit any budget,) individual tables can service themselves instead of waiting for that caterer or server who never is around when the toast begins. Instead of detracting from the aura of the event, the table wineracks are beautifully surrounded by flowers, allow the thirsty to help themselves as often as they need during the festivities.
Wine racks display not only the wine that will be available for the evening or dinner, but can also display the menu, or other items. Some table wine racks come with built in ice holders, utensil hooks or corkscrews. Others have small shelves, or tops, on which your can place decoratives or other items of interest. All this can be shown in a relatively small space thanks to the table wine rack.
A table wine rack is a good buy for both occasional entertainer as well as the lively entertainer. Wine racks display not only the wine but also a sense of style to any table setting, from the casual to contemporary. Table wine racks come in several prices ranges, and styles sure to fit any wine connoisseurs needs.
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Visit our resource to learn about the best table wine racks we've found at: http://www.wine-racks-selection-guide.com
Wine Vintages
Banana flavors (isoamyl acetate) are the product of yeast metabolism, as are spoilage aromas such as sweaty, barnyard, band-aid (4-ethylphenol and 4-ethylguaiacol), and rotten egg (hydrogen sulfide). Some varietals can also have mineral flavor, due to the fact that some salts are soluble in water (as limestone), and thus absorbed by the wine.
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Wine Sales
Many new wine drinkers have a decidedly sweet tooth, having been raised on coke, candy and chocolate as their 'normal sweetness level'. On the other hand, red wines are known for their health benefits - and also for their tannic, non-sweet flavors. Many new wine drinkers therefore seek a red wine that is as sweet as possible.
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Strawberry Wine
Wines should be consumed responsibly. DO NOT taste and drive. Each winery will offer you several samples over the course of a tour, and it is easy to consume far too much wine to be able to drive. Plan ahead and choose a designated driver before you begin your tour.
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Wine Tours
When it comes to pairing food and wine, don�t try so hard. Pair the wine and the guests first. In other words, before flipping out over whether or not this or that wine goes with this or that food, relax and simply make certain that the wines you�re serving are wines your guests will like.
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Santa Barbara Current Events
Featured Santa BarabaraEvent: Santa Barbara County Vintners Festival. Wineries from across Santa Barbara County will showcase their latest releases, complemented by local cuisine, stunning scenery, live music and ample good cheer. Dont miss this fun and fabulous event. Event will be held at the Firestone estate.
Sonoma County Current Events
Featured Sonoma County Event: Rodney Strong Winemaker Dinner. The Inn at the Tides, Bay View Restaurant in Bodega Bay proudly hosts Winemaker Michael Eddy of Rodney Strong Winery for a spectacular 5-course dinner including a specially selected wine with each course. Reservations are a must!
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