Great Wine Made Simple - Andrea Immer [9]
Professional tasters use a spittoon, but any opaque cup will do. (I use a big plastic Yankee Stadium souvenir cup.) I do most of my professional tasting during the business day, so I really have to spit. Spitting doesn’t mean you don’t like the wine; it simply allows you to taste more wines, or to go back and forth comparing several. I always find that tasters who are new to the idea of spitting find it a bit awkward at first—it took me a while to get used to it, too. But I do not spit when I’m tasting or drinking for pleasure: so, as long as you’re not driving, don’t feel pressured to spit.
Tasting Set-Up: The Steps
Step 1. Buy your wines.
Choose one from each of the grape lists below. Decide on a price range, and stick with it for each wine choice so that you don’t have major quality differences among the wines. This makes it easier to focus on the varietal styles. Chill the white wines in the refrigerator, or an ice-and-water-filled bin or bucket.
Step 2: Set up your glasses.
Number the glasses from one to six (or one to three if you’re using Option 2) with small pieces of paper or a napkin underneath. To keep track of which wine is which, I use placemats with numbered circles and put the glasses on the circles, then pour the wines accordingly (my printable placemats are available on my Complete Wine Course DVD). It is also handy to label each circle with the grape name (e.g., Riesling on circle #1) for quick reference.
Step 3: Open the wines and pour them in number order in the numbered glasses.
1 Riesling
2 Sauvignon Blanc
3 Chardonnay
4 Pinot Noir
5 Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon
6 Syrah/Shiraz
As previously mentioned, a good tasting portion is about one ounce. After you have sampled them all, you can always go back for more of your favorite.
Step 4: Taste the wines in number order.
The White Grapes
Glass #1, Riesling First, ditch your snobbery about Riesling. A lot of people hear Riesling and they think “sweet” and “no thanks.” My theory is that as soon as people spot the traditional long, thin bottle, they have flashbacks to Liebfraumilch. But about the only thing great Riesling has in common with Liebfraumilch is its traditional home base—Germany. Other great Rieslings come from Alsace in France, New York, California, Australia, New Zealand, Oregon, Washington, and Austria.
Take a look. The color is pale yellow-green. Swirl and smell—take it in. Your mouth is watering now, because that is Riesling. Tasting it is just a confirmation of what you smell—this is mouthwatering, refreshing white wine. It is light-bodied but loaded with tangy, fruity flavor. Remember, it’s REES-ling (although RIES-ling is a common mistake, so don’t sweat it). If you’re pronouncing it correctly, you have to smile when you say it. And in case you couldn’t tell, I love Riesling.
Any of the wines I have recommended will give you a great Riesling experience, yet they are all a little different from one another. You wouldn’t expect the tomato sauces of eight different chefs to taste identical. In the same way, the various growing regions and winemakers put their own “stamp” on the wine, but you still get excellent Riesling character. Here, in a nutshell, is how they differ:
Germany: the lightest-bodied of all
Austria and Alsace, France: the tangiest flavor
California and Washington: the strongest flavor
Glass #2, Sauvignon Blanc Sauvignon Blanc is one of my favorite everyday wines. Great ones are still available for under ten dollars, which is something you can’t say about too many wine styles. It is delicious and versatile enough to go with many of the foods people eat regularly—vegetarian, Mexican, salads, sushi, and the like. The general style of Sauvignon Blanc is medium-bodied.