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Best Wine Festival/Event
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1. Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival
1007 W. King Edward
604-738-3198
2. Cornucopia (Whistler)
Various locations
3. Okanagan Fall Wine Festival
1782–6060 Minoru Blvd., Richmond
604-279-0177
1128–3779 Sexsmith Rd., Richmond
604-270-3939
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Wineries
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Andrew Peller Limited.
1000-1200 West 73rd Avenue
Vancouver, British Columbia V6P 6G5
Tel: (604) 267-9463
www.andrewpeller.com
The Mark Anthony Group
Suite #210 - 1750 West 75th Avenue
Vancouver, British Columbia V6P 6G2
Tel: (604) 263-9994
www.markanthony.com
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Tasting a Wine
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STEP ONE:
LOOK DEEP INTO THE GLASS
Fill your glass one-third with wine, then hold it on an angle against a white
backdrop. The white backdrop helps you to best examine the wine’s colour. You’re
looking for the wine to be clear and to reflect light well.
Wine shifts in colour as it ages. A good rule of thumb is this: red wines begin
life with a purple hue, moving along the spectrum to ruby, garnet and finally
brick red when they’re fully mature. White wines vary in colour over time as
well. They range from almost water white, to pale straw, and could be a deep
golden yellow. Warning! If you notice brown tinges in white wine, it has
oxidized (over-exposed to air). It may not be suitable for drinking.
STEP TWO:
FOLLOW YOUR NOSE
With your fingers on the stem of your glass, gently swirl the wine. As you do
this, the wine’s bouquet or aroma is released. Put your nose to the open area of
the glass and inhale deeply. You’re trying to identify the aroma of things in
the context of something you already know, like the scent of a type of fruit or
flower.
Smelling is the most important step in the wine tasting process. Your nose can
detect between as many as 5000 separate fragrances, odours and aromas. Your nose
is the sense most closely linked with memory. As you become more experienced
with tasting, you should be able to associate a wine with different scents you
already know.
You may notice these characteristics in some popular wines:
STEP THREE:
TEMPT YOUR PALATE
Draw your glass to your mouth and drink a little of the wine. As you do, breathe
in through your mouth, and swish the wine around to capture its flavour. Your
mouth confirms what your nose has already discovered.
While your nose has thousands of different ways to detect something, you only
have four taste sensations: sweet, sour, salt and bitter. By swirling and
swishing the wine around your mouth, you get the most of the wine’s flavour.
STEP FOUR:
BREATHE TO THE FINISH
Once you swallow the wine (some tasters choose to spit it out), breathe out
through your nose. This is the wine’s finish, or aftertaste. Here, the wine
comes together to create one last flourish of aroma and flavour.
Move through these steps each time you taste a wine, and be sure to take your
time. Wine is meant to be enjoyed. By isolating your senses, you’ll get the most
out of what you’re drinking. |
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