Tuesday February 10, 2009 - Wine Search
Alcohol Hierarchy: The Order of Wine
As you embark on a wine tasting, you may require a variety of things: bottles of wine, a cork screw, wine glasses, a wine tasting kit, perhaps even an English accent. While this stuff may be essential, unless you know the hierarchy of the wines, they become useless.
When it comes to order of wine, it?s easy to get ahead of yourself. As bottles line the shelves, the labels coiled around their bodies like curled fingers calling you over, it takes some self discipline to not dive in too quickly, no matter how much you are drooling. Patience, when it comes to tasting wine, is more than a virtue: it?s the law.
Proper wine tasting demands that wine be consumed in a specific order. Drinking incorrectly won?t only change the way wine tastes, but it will change your perception of it: if consumed in the wrong order, you may unfairly judge a wine, spitting out your drink and cursing the bottle because its taste is altered. When a wine is tasted in the wrong order, it doesn?t stand a chance; its taste and reputation become inferior: it practically becomes light beer.
Wines that are heavy and full bodied can overpower the lighter wines, leaving the lighter wines to taste differently than they really do. For this reason, lighter wines should be tasted first. However, this can be tricky when you don?t know what a wine tastes like. It?s hard to know which ones are light and which ones are heavy: a scale is of no help and if you simply ask the wines about their mass, they will probably just lie about their weight. This is when the other senses must step in.
Using the senses of sight, smell, and - if you?re lucky enough to have it - ESP, you can usually gauge whether a wine is light or heavy. Lighter wines are dense and tend to leave thick streaks inside the glass when swirled. Heavy wines are deeper in color and their odor is more intense.
After you have predicted whether a wine is light or heavy to the best of your ability, put the wines in an order where you will consume the lighter wines first and the heavier wines second. On occasion a defective wine may find its way into your tasting. These wines may smell of rotten egg or cork and should be tasted last, if at all.
Once the lighter wines are separated from the heavier wines, the order of the wine gets a little more complex. Sparkling wines, such as champagne, have the honor of being in the front: they are the wines that have called shotgun. Next, light whites wines, such as Albari?o, should be consumed. These are followed by heavier whites. A full bodied Chardonnay fits into this category.
After whites have all been tasted, it?s time to switch colors. The change is gradual at first as rose wine comes to the table. These wines are pink in color and may be known as ?blush,? ?Rosado?, or ?Rosata.? Light reds , such as a Bardolino, and heavy reds, such as a Cabernet Sauvignon, respectively follow.
Once you?ve got the order of your wines down, the rest of the wine tasting process is simple. You just need to get a few bottles of wine, a cork screw, wine glasses, and a wine tasting kit. Some wine tasting kits may even include all the aforementioned supplies. But, even for these kits, English accents are sold separately.
Jennifer Jordan is the senior editor at http://www.savoreachglass.com With a vast knowledge of wine etiquette, she writes articles on everything from how to hold a glass of wine to how to hold your hair back after too many glasses. Ultimately, she writes her articles with the intention that readers will remember wine is fun and each glass of anything fun should always be savored. |
Thoughts about Wine Search
Alcohol Hierarchy: The Order of Wine
As you embark on a wine tasting, you may require a variety of things: bottles of wine, a cork screw, wine glasses, a wine tasting kit, perhaps even an...
Click Here to Read More About Wine ...
Wine Search Items For Viewing
La Jota Cabernet Sauvignon
"We have so much to celebrate with our 20th Anniversary Release, we took the opportunity to give our label a new look. The celebration continues in the glass - the nose is stunning, laden with raspberry jam, toasted hazelnut and gobs of vanilla. The Howell Mountain muscle has not so much been tamed as it has been integrated, achieving a balance between power and finesse. Ripe, round and rich in the mouth, the dense berry flavors finish with velvety smooth tannins. Save a bottle for a celebration of your own, this wine's evolution in the bottle is always fascinating (and rewarding!)." - From the La Jota Winery.. (Subject to Availability) LJCH01 LJCH01
Price: 173.99 USD
News about Wine Search
Top 10 Wines For Thanksgiving
Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:16:45 -0800
So you don't look like an idiot when you show up at inlaws/cultured friends/boss' house for turkey day.
G20 World Economy Summit Menu: Not Serving Bulk Ramen
Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:42:25 -0800
Dear Dollar Menu Fans:I thought you might like to know what the White House served for the G20 Summit On Financial Markets and The World Economy. Mmmm! They even thought about the right wines. (read more...)
Republicans win in Tennessee
Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:59:29 -0800
Republicans took a beating all across the nation, loosing the Presidency and both houses of Congress. But in Tennessee, Republicans won big, taking control of both houses of the State Legislature. While this is positive for Tennessee, it leaves one problem: what about our wine rights?
World Leaders dine with $500 wine, discuss financial crisis
Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:15:06 -0800
According to the White House, tonight's dinner to kick off the G-20 summit includes such dishes as "Fruitwood-smoked Quail," "Thyme-roasted Rack of Lamb," and "Tomato, Fennel and Eggplant Fondue Chanterelle Jus."To wash it all down, world leaders will be served Shafer Cabernet “Hillside Select” 2003, a wine that sells at $499 on Wine.com.
Wine Accessories
Dry Wine
Vintage Wine | White Wine
Labels: Wine Caddy | Wine Cassis
