If you’ve just planned your first trip to a winery, you’re in for a royal treat!
Sipping your favorite Cabernet Sauvignon in an intricate setting is very different from doing the same in your living room. There’s great company, an atmosphere, and lots of wine-related knowledge to share. However, wine-tasting tours also come with a set of unspoken rules.
Here are some to help you be a part of the crowd:
Swirl like a pro.
Almost everyone at a fancy wine bar and restaurant swirls their wine glass before taking a sip. It’s easy and makes you look like a connoisseur. But there’s a lot more to swirling wine than just fancy action. It aromatizes the ester which makes the fragrance more prominent and helps you enjoy it. Swirling enables evaporation and makes the volatile compounds in your wine like sulfides and sulfites dissipate.
Before the wine tasting tour approaches, get practicing at home. Get a wine glass and some water to get a hang of it. Place the glass on a countertop. Pitch the base using your forefinger and thumb and start swirling slowly. The next step is to go over the kitchen sink and swirl a little harder. Don’t go too wild—just a wobbly. Work on getting a smooth rhythm that makes you enjoy the process.
Go easy on the cologne.
Wearing your favorite cologne is one of the biggest faux pas in a wine-tasting tour. Dress to impress but drop your Miss Dior Eau de Parfum, Yves Saint Laurent, or Chanel for the day.
You need to make sure that the aroma of the wine should fills up the room. You don’t want anyone to get distracted by the sweet smell of the floral that you’re wearing. Let the wine be the star of the night!
Ask smart questions.
Real wine tasters know that grapes make wine. While you’re at the tour, don’t go around asking the person next to you whether the wine tastes like blueberries. Well, if the winemaker put blueberries—it’ll taste like blueberries. Don’t ask what’s obvious.
Before you head to the tour, do some research about where the wine comes from. Learn about all the core ingredients. Cover the basics. This way, when the tour guide tells you anything about the wine at the tour, you can nod with confidence.
If you’re planning a visit to Santa Ynez Valley, we will take you on a wine-tasting tour to some of the most renowned wine brewery tour Solvang! At Artisan Excursion Wine Tours, taste and experience go hand in hand.
Contact us for more details.