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The Etiquette For a Wine Tasting

The following terms may seem fanciful at first, but with practice and the right tasting techniques, you should be able to start picking them out from the taste of the wines.

There is a proper etiquette to a wine tasting.
1. At a dinner party women and older guests should be served first, then men, then the host.
2. Invite only the number of tasters that can fit comfortably in your home (or other venue). A crowd around the tasting table can be intimidating and guests should not feel rushed when pouring a glass of wine.

3. For those guests that get thirsty have bottled water on hand; also good for those who want to rinse their mouths between wines. Keep a pitcher of water for rinsing glasses between tastings is recommended and remember to have something into which your guest can discard their rinse water.
4. Unsalted water crackers or unflavored French bread should be provided for palate cleansing during the tasting. If you want to provide something more substantial, the rules of etiquette for wine drinking say that nothing stronger than a lightly salted mozzarella is appropriate. Save the stronger foods for after the wine tasting.
5. The proper way to hold any style of wine glass is by the stem. This keeps fingerprints off the bowl and keeps your hand from heating the wine.
6. Avoid wearing scent to a wine tasting affair. This includes perfumes, colognes, after-shaves, and scented hair spray or gel.
7. Smoking at or just before a wine tasting will affect the taste of your wines. The smoke and odor of cigarettes or cigars not only interferes with the enjoyment of the taste and smell of the wines, it can be irritating to other guests, both smokers and non-smokers.
8. Bubble gum, chewing gum and breath mints will alter the taste of wine. Be sure to rinse your mouth well with water before beginning a tasting.
9. If you have negative comments about a wine, keep them to yourself, particularly when at a vineyard tasting room.

The temperature at which a wine is served has an immense impact on its taste. Serving wine cool will mask some imperfectionsgood for young or cheap winewhile a warmer wine temperature allows expression of the wine's characteristicsbest with an older or more expensive wine.

Remember that a bottle of wine will cool 2 C (4 F) for every ten minutes in the refrigerator, and will warm at about this same rate when removed from the refrigerator and left at room temperaturethe temperature of the room will affect the speed with which

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