Hello my fellow wine traveler!
Before we visit our first stop in our wine adventure I wanted to go over some tasting tips. At a quick glance its 5 words: observe. smell. swirl. smell. taste. ponder. Observe the color, legs sheeting the glass. This can tell the type of climate the grapes grew in and age of the wine. There are MANY different varietals of grapes out there in the world, each having its own character and color. Smell briefly to make sure its okay to drink, not spoil. You'll know what corked wine smells like (ewww). Swirl to unleash the beast. My good friend Elizabeth always told me this is how you get to know the wine, like shaking hands. Give it a good swirl, it will unlock the aromas and flavors of the wine, its potential. Smell again, but this time stick your nose right in that glass and take a deep inhalation. I like to close my eyes at this part, focus on ALL the aromas in that wine. Start naming off smells your familiar with, theres no right or wrong answers. Taste (the best part). I don't need to explain to you how to drink wine, I'm sure y'all know. This is like smelling the wine, really think about it. The aromas and flavors is the art of the wine. Sometimes the wine taste nothing like it smells. Try thinking about foods you'd like to pair with this wine. Once again, theres no right or wrong answer, your the judge. Get descriptive. Ponder the environment the grapes grew in is effected by soil, climate, season, water, sunlight, pruning methods, when it was harvested, how the winemaker fermented the grapes to create that wine your drinking, etc etc. Think about how fun this is, you just visited that region of the world in a glass of wine. Give a toast to the winemaker and the vineyard. This is their passion.
*Homework, yes I think you should do some homework, this is a learning experience right? :) Try smelling everything! Build up that aroma library so different smells will become familiar to you. AND, observe wine bottle labels. Wheres it from? What year? Which vineyard? Is there a interesting story? Maybe the winemaker explained how he/she created this masterpiece. Note if it says how it was fermented. Maybe someday you'll be able to tell the difference in how it was fermented just by smelling and tasting the wine. That's my goal...
Finally, the fun part. To start off our journey I decided to go up the coast a bit, to Paso Robles. I just love this area. Tried a wine called Purple Cowboy 2009 Paso Robles 'night rider merlot' which I got at Target believe it or not (when did Target start selling alcohol?) This label has a neat little story. The color of the wine was bright, almost like a strawberry hue. Medium body (I'll explain this another time) legs where cruisin down the glass. Smelt like cooked berries and baking spices, baking fun in a glass. Taste nothing like it smells, slightly tart, fruit forward (like cherry) nutmeg and fig. Super dry, aka tannins. Balanced flavors. This is a great wine to pair with food.
Now your turn. Go out and try this wine. Don't just take my word for it, you have to experience it. Let me know your notes. We're together in this adventure.
~Cheers!
Want to learn more about wine from a master sommelier?? Take a wine tasting class with Elizabeth Schweitzer. Your gonna like it! http://www.winewisdomandwit.com/
