Boost your understanding of wine and food pairings. It is Laurie Forster's mission to demystify wine, one glass at a time. She does this in her award-winning book, The Sipping Point, as a guest expert on radio and TV, and at her live events. It's a party for your palate.

 

Tip #1:

Slow Down & Smell Your Wine!

To kick things off I wanted to focus on TASTING wine as it is the essential skill for any wine lover.

When I am conducting wine tastings or corporate teambuilding I’ll poll the audience to see what they think is the most important step in tasting wine. Most people think it’s the sip but, in fact, smelling is 80% of the wine tasting process.
 
This exercise shows you first-hand why your nose rules supreme when tasting wine.

Try this exercise to really focus in on smellingGourmet Jelly BeansGet a gourmet jelly bean or other assorted-flavor candy. Pinch your nose with one hand so your nose is completely blocked off. Now with the other hand put the candy in your mouth and start chewing-don't let go of your nose. Try to guess what flavor your candy is and then let go of your nose. Did you get the burst of flavor right as you let go?

Here's the skinny on the 2nd step in tasting wine—smelling: Swirl the wine in your glass.  This isn't done to look pretentious; it actually stirs up the alcohol vapors and intensifies the aromas of the wine.  Take your time with this step.  Try to connect the smell to familiar things or memories.  One's sense of smell accounts for most of what we "taste" in the wine.  Our tongues only detect the following senses: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami.  We often describe what we taste by what we actually smell.

 

Tip #2:

Wine--Too Hot or Cold?Wine Temperature

This exercise illustrates how the temperature at which you drink a wine can have a huge effect on its taste.

Whites are best at 45-50° and if served at lower temperatures won't have much flavor. Guess what? Your kitchen fridge is about 39 degrees! So if you grab a bottle from there it's too cold.

On the other hand, Reds are to be served around 65-68°which is usually not room temperature unless you live in a medieval castle in France. Serving a red too warm will make it hard to enjoy the flavors and too cold can make a red wine taste bitter.

Try these tasting exercises to see how your wine tastes differently based on the temperature:

Chill a bottle of your favorite White Wine in the fridge for a few days. Take it out and pour a small taste for yourself right away. Take note of the aromas and flavors on the palate. Now wait 5 minutes and do this again. Do you notice how the wine has so much more flavor as it warms up a bit?

Take a bottle of your favorite bold red like a Cabernet Sauvignon and leave it out at room temperature for a few days. Now open the bottle and take a small sip making note of its taste as well as any bitterness on the palate. Now pop that wine in the fridge for 5 minutes and then taste again. Repeat until the wine is thoroughly chilled and note its bitterness.

 

Tip #3:

Need Glasses?

I've finally given in to the fact that I need reading glasses from time to time but even more importantly we all need a good set of quality wine glasses.

This topic reminds me of the scene at the end of the movie Sideways where the main character Miles drinks his treasured Cheval Blanc from a Styrofoam cup-Yikes!

Try this exercise by drinking your favorite wine out of these 3 glasses:Glasses
  1. A high quality crystal wine glass from a producer like Riedel, Speiglau or Schott Zweisel.
  2. An inexpensive wine glass like one you get in a winery tasting room or if you don't have one, use a juice glass.
  3. A red solo cup or as some call it a redneck wine glass.

You'll TASTE why your glass is so important.  Take notes as you taste the same wine from each of these and think about how the tasting experience is different. You'll never look at a wine glass the same way again!

Tips on picking a great wine glass:

Choosing a wine glass these days can seem like a monumental decision. There are so many types, shapes and sizes to choose from that it can be quite confusing. At a very minimum, your wine glass should be tulip shaped with a bowl that tapers as you get to the top to keep the aromas in the glass.

The bowl should be broad enough to allow for adequate swirling. Swirling your wine kicks up the wine's aromas and makes them more accessible for smelling. Try to find a glass that is at least 8-10 inches tall and made of clear glass with no etching or designs to distract from the wine.

I do suggest real crystal but more for functional reasons than the beauty of it. Crystal has a rough surface that helps agitate the wine as we swirl- allowing us to better smell and enjoy the wine. The thinner the glass, the better the wine will taste-less glass, more wine-it just makes sense.

 

Tip #4:

The Wine Sandwich™

The Wine SandwichI want to bring it all together by getting you to focus on food and wine pairing. It's my personal opinion that wine is best when paired with a delicious meal and people who make you smile. Think of wine as part of the recipe of your meal.

Try these combinations using my Wine Sandwich technique: Take a sip of wine, then a bite of your food and after you've savored it, take a second sip of your wine. Wine, food, wine-that's the sandwich! The second sip of your wine will show how the food alters the wine, ideally for the better.

Focusing on tasting the wine before and after will enhance your ability to choose wine pairings without charts and books. Much like a chef learns to cook by taste. Think of it as on the job training-I do!

Sauvignon Blanc with a Raw Tomato or Chevre Goat Cheese 
Pay close attention to the acidity or pucker factor of the wine before and then after you taste the food.

Riesling with Spicy Asian Food or Pepper Jack Cheese
Choose a Riesling with a little sweetness and notice how "sweet" it tastes before as well as after you taste the food.

Cabernet Sauvignon with a piece of Steak or Parmesan Reggiano cheese
Ideally you'll have a Cabernet Sauvignon with some grip of tannins-perceived in your mouth as an astringency-that you'll want to pay attention to before as well as after you taste the food.

 

Visit My You Tube Channel for videos on the steps in tasting wine.

 

Keep on Sipping!

Cheers,

Laurie Forster, The Wine Coach

Laurie Forster, The Wine Coach® & Certified Sommelier
www.thewinecoach.com

P.S.: I'd love to hear your thoughts on these exercises so feel free to post any comments or questions on my Facebook Page or email me at laurie@thewinecoach.com