Very quick one for this post. I was at a wine dinner last night in London and there were a few guys and girls there that were pretty new to drinking wine sat along side a lot of people who were a bit further down the road with it. The newbies were all trying to get the hang of swirling the wine in the glass and getting their nose in the glass. And wondering what on earth was going on in the process.
Swirling coats the glass, and gets air into the wine. So it starts to release the smells and wakes the thing up. When you first start swirling best thing to do is leave the glass on the table and move it round in circles to swirl the wine. Saves you covering yourself in wine.
As for smelling the wine, it’s a big part of enjoying it. It gets your taste buds going, and starts you thinking about the great taste to come. It’s also the first kicker for working out the flavours in the wine.
There are some smells you can’t taste, and some tastes you can’t really smell, so do both. You don’t need to go nuts and stick your nose deep in the glass for minutes on end, a few seconds will sort you out for most wines.
So next time you see someone doing the swirling and nosing, hopefully you won’t feel the need to look at them funny anymore. Have a go yourself.
Cheers
