THE 'S' OF WINETASTING

My first winetasting was a tad embarrassing. I have never told anyone this story but once the wine was served, I jumped right into sipping. I’m glad it was not a professional event but I still got embarrassed all the same. No one saw me sip the wine (I hope) but I looked round and saw people smelling and swirling and that’s when I decided to observe and learn.
This is my 100th  post in this blog and I decided to write a great post that will set the stage for the direction I want the blog to take.

 Winetasting is a fun experience. It is great because you have to indulge all your senses.  I have become very passionate about wine this year and I have developed my pallet so that I can know what wine goes with what food. Being a wine enthusiast, (I don’t want to use connoisseur or sommelier because having that title needs certification). I have learnt a lot. Let’s just say I am in the journey. Today, I will explain to you what a great wine tasting experience should be like. I will also show you what to look for and how to uses your senses to get the best in the wine. A friend of mine recently asked me that I should do a post that sheds some light on the issue. Wine tasting is a process of many ‘S’.

Set the Stage

Winetasting can take place in different places. If it is an event, the organizers should make sure that they set the stage and the area is free of noise and interruption. The area should be clean with no smells or strong perfumes from people. The presence of strong smells and noise will inhibit the senses and hinder concentration respectively.

Serve

The organizers should make sure that they have a container where people can pour their leftover wine and the wine that they don’t like. One of the best winetasting plans is where there are tables with groups of people. This makes it easier to serve. The correct way of serving wine is serving it halfway in the glass to let it breathe. I will do a post on the glass ware. Whites, reds, sparklings and rosĕs are served indifferent glasses.

Swirl

Swirling is shaking the wine n a circular motion. Another reason why people serve wine halfway is to make sure that people don’t pour wine at the swirling stage. I wrote about legs and tears on a recent post.. Wines that have good legs are wines with more alcohol and glycerin content, which generally indicates that they are bigger, riper, more mouth-filling and dense than those that lack the legs.

See

There are many ways to use sight when winetasting. I did a post here. But just to recap, one should look at into the glass then hold the glass to the light, and finally, give it a tilt, so the wine rolls toward its edges. This will help one to see the wine color range. This also gives a clue on the depth and density. One method that I learnt was to try and read through the wine. Less dense wines will let you see through while denser ones won’t let you see through. It also helps you know the grape variety. Purple-black color comes from Syrah or Zinfandel, while a lighter, pale brick shade comes from Pinot noir or Sangiovese grapes. Another way to view wine is to view it against a white tile/white background. Wine should be clear and devoid of sediments and particles. If it has there were problems in fermentation, aging or the cork would be infected. Here is a cheat sheet on how to describe wine colour.

Smell

After swirling put your nose at the mouth of the glass and smell. Don’t merely stick your nose into the wine but hover around the top and decipher different smells. Let your brain process the smells and write down the different things you register. Get the aroma of the wine. Wine aromas range from fruits, herbs, wood and other scents. Smelling can help you identify if wine is bad. If it smells like an attic, damp clothes or damp newspapers (You know that smell) then the wine is bad.

Sip

 It’s about time you tasted that wine.  Take a modest sip and aerate the wine with your tongue. This initial taste is very important.

Savour

Next take a ‘generous’ sip and let the wine sit on your tongue. Register the taste as the wine is on the tongue, to the sides of the mouth and to the back of the tongue. Register the aftertastes if any. Apart from simply identifying flavors use your taste buds to determine if the wine is balanced, harmonious, complex, evolved, and complete. Keep it here for more tips and explanations of wine jargon like these. This information is great because it helps you know about food & wine pairings. It helps you get your favorite wines too.

 Now that you have these tips, do not embarrass yourself in case you decide to go for a tasting. 

CHILEAN WINE DOWN DINNER AT FAIRMONT THE NORFOLK

I had a very busy day on 27th May. Two events on one day. After coming from the Whisky tasting at Galileo, I took a cab to Fairmont, the Norfolk on Harry Thuku Road. I was attending a very exclusive event, Chilean Wine Down And Dinner.

 This was a 5 Course Dinner that was carefully put together by the experts. Picking a wine and food list for a dinner needs a lot of caution and precision. One has to make sure that all the tastes of the food and wine blend in together. This specific menu was picked by Priyan P.K Who is the Director of Operations at Fairmont the Norfolk and Somellier Martin Duran.

I got to the event at about 7.15pm where I was ushered in to the reception at the Cin Cin . They had a state of the art champagne bar that had an array of luxury drinks like sparklings, champagnes, chardonnays and wines. The service was impeccable and I relaxed as I sipped a Casillero Del Diablo Champagne from Chile.

 Tonight we would be indulging our senses in Chilean wines. I had some nice tapas as we waited for the guests to trickle in. I tried the mushroom and asparagus tart as well as the chicken samosas which went well with the Casillero Del Diablo.

 One of the highlights of the evening was that I met a world renown Sommelier Martin Duran and he gave me great insights on his journey and I will document this in a different post.

 Dinner was served at Tatu at around 8pm.

Appetizer

The appetizer was citrus grilled Mombasa prawns, crispy fried Canadian Snow Crab, Pickled Pineapple and grape fruit reduction. This was paired with Marques De Casa Conch Sauvignon Blanc 2011. I love sea food but it was my first time to eat a Canadian Snow Crab. I loved the crispness of the crab and it is something I’m willing to order sometime. This Chilean wine has a very classical style and it has been ranked thrice in the Top 100 wines of the year by Wine Spectator.

Soup

Next on the menu was the soup. There was Atlantic Salmon Chowder, Pistachio Crumbs and the Crispy pancetta. This was paired with Marques De Casa Concha Chardonnay 2012. The chardonnay is the only vintage that has obtained 90 points in Wine Spectator. This Chilean wine comes from the Limari valley. It was a white wine that had pineapple and citrus taste that blended well with the pancetta and the soup. I’m a sucker for bacon so the pancetta was an absolute win for me.

The Main Course

The main courses blew my mind away. It was duo of slow cooked “sous Vide” Morendat Beef Tenderloin and grilled new York Striploin, Charcoal Roasted baby Eggplant, Chilli butter and Herb jus. This was paired with Marques de Casa Concha Syrah 2009. The food was great and the presentation was perfect. This was my favorite course of the dinner. I really indulged my taste buds and the wine was full-bodied. There was synchrony with the taste of the tenderloin and the wine.

Cheese from browns

I’m not a fan of cheese but as a blogger I have to. We had Guyere, Aged Valancy and Brown’s Blue Cheese with Trio of Homemade Chutneys paired with Marques De Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon 2009.

This was one of my first exclusive dinners that I have featured on my blog. I had fun, I networked, met amazing people and learnt a lot from the sommelier. Special thanks to Priyan P.K, Somellier Martin Duran, Fairmont The Norfolk and Viva Distributors For organizing the Chilean Wine Down Dinner.