Holy
Spit! Wine Tastings Are Fun
Many folks go to wine tastings not to learn
but to enjoy the warmth and conviviality
found in any bottle of wine. And, of course,
there’s nothing wrong with that. Grand
tasting events, like The Decatur Wine Festival
held this past Saturday, do offer attendees
lots of fun and frivolity.
But
whether it’s a few vendors showing
a couple dozen wines or dozens of vendors
showing hundreds of wines, wine tastings
offer unique opportunities to explore the
infinite corners of the wine universe. If
you’ve ever said the following: “Ah,
all wines taste like wine,” then you’ve
never taken a moment to see and taste the
vast number of colors, flavors and smells
of wine, all of which are on full display
at any wine festival.
So if you want to make the most of a wine
festival, instead of just tying one on,
here are some hints to make you a happier
(and savvier) wine camper.
WELCOME
TO CHÂTEAU PLAN AHEAD. Any festival
that boasts more than a couple tables of
bottles to sample will have a list of wines
and perhaps a map of what is where. Before
diving in glass first, take a moment. “It
is advantageous to review the program,”
says Angie Macon, executive director of
the Decatur Arts Alliance, which sponsors
the Decatur Wine Festival.
“A
lot of people head right to the food table
or to their favorite wine, but this is an
opportunity to taste wines that you might
not know a lot about,” says Macon,
who has put together detailed eight-page
program for the 350 wines featured at Decatur’s
festival. “If you take just a moment
before you start, you can see where all
the tables are and the wines at the tables.
You can figure out—say if you have
an interest in Chilean wines—where
the Chilean producers are and you can more
easily focus in on Chilean wines.”
The
same tactic can be taken with a region,
a style of wine or a grape type. And as
you make your way from table to table, try
white wines first, then reds and then dessert
wines. The tannins of the reds and the sweetness
and/or the high alcohol levels of the dessert
wines will make the white wines taste like
they’re invisible.
WHEN
SPIT HITS THE CAN. Spitting out wine is
the hardest thing to get folks who attend
wine classes or wine festivals to do. But
unless you are tasting three wines or fewer,
you will soon succumb to the friendly spirits
inside the glass. When you become tipsy,
your ability to discern aromas and tastes
diminishes. And, after a few more tastes
without spitting, your ability to care about
a wine’s aroma and taste also shrinks.
No
doubt about it, unless you’re a big
league baseball player, spitting into a
bucket is gross. I prefer not to spit out
wine, but it comes down to a matter of priority.
You want to enjoy the inhibitions brought
about by a couple glasses of wine or do
you want to learn about that wine? You can’t
have both. I often enjoy a full glass of
wine sans spitting after a tasting. I view
it as a reward for concentrating and learning
about the wines I’ve tasted and for
the discipline required to spit out perfectly
delicious wines.
[By
the way, I enjoyed a four-ounce pour of
a wonderful 2003 Banfi Brunello without
spitting after the tasting was over at the
Decatur Festival. Yum.]
CAN
I BORROW A PEN? Those complimentary mini-golf
pencils given out at some festivals don’t
work, especially when you try to write on
the glossy paper of the show guides. Bring
a real pad and a real pen and take some
real notes. This way when you go to your
wine retailer, you will have more than light
gray hieroglyphics to find the wines you
liked.
YOUR
LABEL AND VINTAGE INFORMATION, PLEASE. Vintage,
name of the wine, grape variety (if necessary)
and region—these are all important
bits of info to help your wine retailer
find “that wine you loved soooo much.”
If you are really getting into wine, I highly
suggest transferring your notes into a computer.
I have three large boxes of tasting notes…somewhere
at the bottom of my office closet. I used
to use these notes a whole lot more when
I relied on nothing else. It is so much
easier to categorize and search my notes
now that they are inside the ol’ Fujitsu
Lifebook.
Not
so very much into wine? Just keep a simple
notebook.
DON’T
BE A WINE GOOBER. If you bring your own
glass to a wine tasting event, you are a
Wine Goober. Nuff said.
HERE’S
TO THE BAD STUFF. We eternally search for
the greatest wine ever—kinda the foundation
for having wine tastings. But don’t
overlook the other blessing of a wine tasting:
bad wine. These are not wines that have
gone bad, but wines you find distasteful.
This can be a particular winery’s
product or, perhaps, a wine style or a grape
type. Write this stuff down! The next time
you’re trolling the wine aisle, you’ll
know what to give a wide berth to. If anything,
knowing what you don’t like is time-saving
device. At its best, awareness of yucky
wines reduces the number of disappointments
at the dinner table.
BOLDLY
GO WHERE YOU HAVE NEVER GONE BEFORE. When
asked what the biggest mistake she sees
festival attendees make, Macon, who has
overseen seven Decatur Wine Festivals, said:
“Some people only go to the tables
with the most people around them.”
These popular tables usually have known
wines that attendees have tried dozens of
times.
“This
is an opportunity to branch out,”
Macon said. “And don’t be afraid
to ask questions.” Representatives
for the wines usually have a fountain of
information that they are waiting to spill
on attendees with outstretched empty glasses,
but they only offer enlightenment to those
who show interest. Don’t be afraid
to pick up a brochure or two. These often
have key bits of information to help you
find your new favorite wine.
Discovery is half the fun at any wine festival
as these two wine explorers demonstrate
at the 2008 Decatur Wine Festival.
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