The Subject Is Wine Tasting Part Two
By Dianne Boate and Robert Meyer
Published: September, 2004
Last month we had great fun gathering the answers to some simple questions about wine tasting: What rules you make for yourself, what you wear, and what do you learn? Part Two will bring some surprising answers!
Joe Diamond, Trade Management Group, Inc. San Francisco
RULES:
1. Drink a lot
2. Don’t drink bad stuff
CLOTHING:
Anything that doesn’t show wine stains
ALWAYS LEARN:
After 50 glasses of wine, it all tastes the same
Heather Heyd, Leukemia-Lymphoma Society, San Francisco
My aunt organized a tasting before my wedding so that Ted and I could figure out which wines we wanted to serve. It was so fun! She even copied the dinner menu we had planned for the wedding. While some find it taboo to eat while you taste, I thought it was perfect for matching wine with our special day and dinner.
Mark Steele, Wine Industry Advocate, San Francisco
1. Etiquette-get your wine, say thank you, talk to them about it, but if there are others that want to taste make room for them.
2. Don’t forget to eat the food and talk to the chefs. You can get some great recipes.
3. Always bring a pen to write down notes on the wines that you enjoy and where you can buy them other than the winery.
Loren Elliot, Restaurateur
I never wear white shirts.
Amy Bollinger, Academy of Art, San Francisco
Hmmmmmm....”rules” for wine tasting? I haven’t got any. We just go with totally open minds and really listen to what the vintner/pourer has to say about his wines.
Bea Pixa, Bay Area Journalist
I just drink the stuff without giving it a whole lot of thought.
Ron Hildebrand, Artist, Graphic Designer, San Francisco
Unless talked into it for other reasons than tasting wine, I only go to small, intimate tastings with a few wines and very few people. I like it to be with friends. I NEVER go to open-to-the-public tastings with many wineries or many kinds of wines, such as the tasting of Spanish wines, which has become an annual affair. I figure I can only taste five or six wines before my taste buds can’t tell the difference any more and I hate the “stampede” mentality of the public toward the food.
Clothing depends entirely on the location, time, and guest list of the event. If it’s an evening tasting in a hotel or nice restaurant and it’s for business folk or the press, I would usually wear a jacket and tie. If it’s in the Napa or Sonoma area during the day, I might wear shorts and Hawaiian shirt. I like tastings where wearing a tuxedo is appropriate. I always learn which of the wines served are to my liking and I usually learn whether they are in my price range. I rarely buy wines at a tasting. I must like the wine VERY much and it must appear to be a real value before I will buy a bottle or two (or a case).
Dr. Suzanne L. Dudeck, Orinda
Dress to fit the event. Who, what, and where will usually dictate the level of attire. Always dress to show respect for your host. I don’t have rules prior to attending a wine tasting. I bring a clean palate (no chewing gum or breath mints prior). I listen while being instructed as to what makes the particular wine what it is and why. I don’t like to taste whites and reds at the same tasting: It’s cross- purpose for me. (I’m a red wine girl.) I always learn something when I go wine tasting. Why? Because it is such an encompassing art form. The knowledge of biochemistry and the ability to achieve exactly the taste, color, and body that one imagines never ceases to amaze and educate me. Also, the whole wine tasting process keeps me titillated and coming back for more.
Michael McKenna, Real Estate
Entrepreneur, San Francisco
I always vow to spit more than I drink. I always wear clothing that matches most closely red wine. I learn that I always drink more than I intended to.
Anne Lawrence, Literary Publicist, San Francisco
I prefer to taste one grape, such as Zins, Pinot Grigios, Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, and definitely only red or white wine in one evening of comparison. The late Englishman David Pleydell-Bouverie led the way here with his suggestion, “One should never wear loud colors or prints to an art opening or showing, so as not to interfere with the main event.” I think the same is true of wine tastings. Let the grape flourish. I always learn from tastings. With so many new wine regions, wineries, varietals and methods one can always learn something about the industry. I thoroughly enjoy the experience.
Syndi Seid, Founder, Advanced Etiquette, San Francisco
If the wine tasting is one that is a large mixed-varietal event, I first choose to taste only white or red and then choose no more than two lesser-known varietals to taste during my first go-round. This helps me to hone my tastebuds for those two types of wines; helps me to learn something new; and helps me get through the entire event more quickly the first time around. By doing this first, it helps me first justify the time and money invested to attend and beyond this I will re-walk the entire event a second time or more to enjoy whatever I may see of interest. I always make it a point to learn something at every wine tasting. Otherwise, why else have you invested your time and resources to attend? Certainly it wasn’t to get drunk!?!
Bill Steele, former Chevron executive, East Bay
Be open minded. Don’t prejudge the wines. I always learn something—and that is that one finds out that you usually don’t know as much as you thought you did!!
Kathleen Denny, Oakland
A wine tasting is just that-tasting wine. Nothing more delightful, at the very least right up there with tasting chocolate and tasting cheeses. Compare and contrast various flavors and aromas in close proximity; that is the point. That way, more subtle distinctions come forward, ones that might get lost if the same wines were paired with different food and poured days apart.
Bob Orser, The Nonprofit Doctor, Napa
Never pay to taste wine. Paying defeats the whole purpose of the endeavor. Do not stand at the bar sipping your wine while others are waiting behind you to taste. If you want to monopolize the bar, go to a real bar (Cheers in Boston, Perry’s in San Francisco, Pancha’s in Yountville, etc.).
We want to tell you about a Picnic Wine Tasting that had the usual request for guests to bring something to barbeque, and the unusual request to bring wine that MUST NOT BE UNDER $20. What a novel idea! We think a lot of folks are tired of being on the receiving end of $2 Chuck that might have been bottled yesterday. Hey! This is when we live, so let us live with quality!
More details: Michael Denny, American Wine Distributors, San Francisco, coordinated the barbeque with friends. He recounts, “We three have been wining and dining together since 1976. Bob Prewitt was the first PR director for the Wine Institute; Bruce Cass was a founder of the Wine Educators Guild; and me, just a good eater and drinker who earned their respect over time more for my ability to consume and appreciate than my ability to articulate anything important.” Bob Prewitt adds, “I am the guy who comes in from New Jersey to be part of the event. The double magnum of Chablis was outrageous. The real star, however, was a 1987 (yes, ’87!) Sonoma Chardonnay–the Benziger, I think. It was unbelievably fruity. The two butterflied legs of lamb were special. We had salmon kabobs and a real variety of sausages from the old-fashioned Polish type, to seafood and feta cheese sausage. We fried and grilled shrimp. Someone brought a brined duck that we grilled on the Weber.”
Go on, try it!
Dianne Boate is a San Francisco-based writer and photographer. Her work can be seen at www.danielakart.com. Robert Meyer is a consultant to the wine and spirits industry. They have been libating together for 25 years.
