Some wine (ask each person to bring a bottle)

A corkpull

Some appropriate wine glasses (see Tips)

Some water in a pitcher (room temperature)

Some unsalted crackers, or French bread

A container for people to spit wine into (see Tips)

A clean, lint-free cloth for drying rinsed glasses

Optional:

A pencil and paper for each person to write down their impressions.

A wine preserver (see Step 5).

Some candles.

An evening.

2torial #0691: Learn2 Hold a Wine Tasting A glass of wine to gladden the heart If you find yourself enjoying more wine, you'll begin to develop a taste for certain styles and form opinions about wine in general. After speaking with some of your friends, you'll probably discover that they've developed their own tastes and opinions as well. What could be better than inviting them over and tasting a bunch of wines together? People have been holding wine tastings for centuries, and a good time will be had by all. It's easy, as this 2torial shows. If you're enthusiastic about having a tasting, but feeling a little inexperienced about wine--don't worry, this 2torial is also for you. Included here is a review of how to enjoy wine, along with suggestions for hosting an informal tasting. Many of us consider it sinful not to swallow any good wine that has passed our lips. However, a traditional wine tasting allows the wine to be tasted in all three ways, yet leaves us sober enough to drive home... The event itself can be as informal or orchestrated as you like. A neat but basic setting is inviting without making anyone feel stiff or on ceremony. Candlelight (along with other lighting) and soft music may complete the scene for some folks. Some wine is bound to be splashed or dripped, so a pristine white table linen may not be practical. Set the scene   Ask each guest to bring a bottle of wine that they find interesting. If you need help choosing a wine, see 2torial #0584 Learn2 Choose Wine. One of the basic differences between wines is tannin levels. Tannins are acids that give wine an astringent quality. They can nicely balance a fruity taste, or overwhelm the mouth with acidity. A more tannic style is often an acquired taste, but one worth developing .   Set out a single glass for each guest on a table. Along with the crackers or bread, have some room-temperature water for rinsing mouth and glass (cold water numbs the tastebuds). Put the clean cloth where it's easily accessible.   Collect the bottles from your guests, and open them up (see 2torial #0587: Learn2 Open and Serve Wine). Since it's difficult to decant several bottles at once, pour off a half-glass from each bottle of red, so that there's more surface area exposed in each bottle. This will help the wine breathe a bit (see next point). White and blush wines should be chilled slightly before opening.   If you are decanting your red wines, try the wine again periodically, say, every 10 or 15 minutes. As the wine is exposed to air, it will change a bit--it breathes. If you make a note of your timing preference, you'll know how to serve that wine in the future.   When tasting many wines, it's a good idea to start with lighter, simpler wines, and move on to drier, heavier ones. White wine's charms can be obliterated in a mouth that has been puckered by tannic reds. By the same token, swirl some water around the glass after emptying it of wine. Take the clean cloth and dry it out, so that the next wine is not diluted with water. Taste the wine with your eyes There's a common expression we'll paraphrase here: first you taste the wine with your eyes, then with your nose and finally with your mouth. In other words, a wine may be judged on its color, its aroma and its taste. That's what most tasting boils down to, and those are the characteristics of a wine that you most want to understand.   Take a clean, dry glass and pour a small amount of wine into it, perhaps a third of a glass.   Hold the wine up to the light, and note the color. Is it a deep purple, or a lighter ruby color? Is it tinged with green, or is it yellowish brown? Does it appear clear or cloudy? As you gain experience, you'll come to expect the wine to taste a certain way when it looks a certain way.   If it's a red wine, tip the glass gently back and forth, then hold it still and look at it closely. The wine will flow back down the sides of the glass, and some wine will form little rivulets, or "legs." Legs are considered desirable, as they indicate a higher glycerin presence, which indicates an ability to retain flavor and aroma. Taste the wine with your nose   Take the glass and swirl the wine around a bit while holding it a little away from your nose. This helps to increase the amount of scent that is available for your nose to smell.   Move the glass under your nose and inhale deeply through your nose, then move it away from your face while you think about it. This will allow you to judge the "nose" of the wine, without being overwhelmed by the most dominant of the available aromas. At this point, you may be able to smell fruit or yeast, grass or earth in the wine. You may be able to smell quite a lot, or not very much at all. Again, experience will lead you to expect certain things from the wine by what you smell in it. Taste the wine with your mouth Rest with the aroma of the wine for a few moments, then take some of the wine into your mouth. Push it up to the front of your mouth, and inhale through your teeth. Slosh it around in your mouth, and cover your tongue. Even chew it if you like.   As the wine enters your mouth, you'll gather a first impression of it, and a predominant taste may become apparent. If it's a more complex wine, other tastes may appear, secondary notes that accompany the initial impression. Perhaps you can taste the wood from the barrels that the wine was stored in. Is that wood-taste complimentary or overwhelming? Different varieties of grapes are grown in various soils and in varying weather, then stored in various ways for varying periods of time. The wine in your mouth will reflect all of these factors.   Now spit out the wine into the provided container. You'll notice that you can still taste the wine, even though it's gone. Aftertaste, or finish is an important feature of some wines, so consider--is there much of it? Does it linger? What does it remind you of? Did you spill any on your blouse or shirt?   Take a minute or two between wines to rinse your mouth with a little water (not chilled, you don't want to numb your tastebuds). Take a bite of an unsalted cracker or bread if you'd like. That will clear the taste of the previous wine from your mouth, before you taste the next one. While you're at it, rinse your glass with water and dry it with the clean cloth. Add a wine to your list of favorites As if an evening of tasting good wine weren't rewarding enough, you have also performed valuable research into your own wine preferences. The next time you buy a bottle or order in a restaurant, youÜll be prepared to make a well-informed choice.   Sometimes, you'll find a wine that you like very much. Buy as much as you dare! Go so far as to try to buy bottles from the same case, or cases that arrived at the store at the same time. Wine can change from case to case, especially if it's been mishandled, and there's a good chance that a popular wine will sell out quickly.   There are several products on the market to preserve wine once the bottle has been opened. The two most effective seem to be the cans of inert gases that settle over the surface of the wine in the bottle, and the vacuum pumps that expel most of the air from a bottle and seal it with a rubber stop. Both of them work on the principle that wine changes character as it is exposed to air, and minimizing exposure will slow that process.   On storage: Certain wines improve with age. Others do not. The amount of tannin in the wine is one indicator of whether or not it will age well. Tannic qualities often become less apparent with age, and a bottle that you would like to keep for some years should have enough of them to start with, otherwise it won't develop much more character, and will "die" rather quickly. -end- Learn More!