Still, you can’t help but wonder: what’s all the fuss about?
There are pleasures to be found in every glass of wine, from the simplest house white to the most refined first-growth Bordeaux. You needn’t have a wine cellar or subscribe to arcane wine magazines to know how to make the most of a glass of wine.
2. Take a look at it. This doesn’t mean you have to take notes or hold it up to a piece of white paper and split hairs about whether it’s actually pale straw or light yellow, cherry red or brick. Just take a second to notice—does it look inviting? Refreshing? thin? thick? Fizzy? Intense? Just as a large part of enjoying food is seeing how it appears on the plate when it arrives, so it is with wine. What’s a happier sight than a glass that’s yet to be sipped?
3. Give it a whirl, and smell. Really stick your nose in the glass. Is it pretty? Pleasant? flowery? Weird? fruity? spicy?
4. Now drink. You know how to DO that part. You don’t have to swish it around or gargle with it at the table. Just enjoy it.
5. Then ask yourself: how does it taste with the food? Does it add anything to the dish? Does the food add anything to the wine?
6. 6. What’s it like after you’ve swallowed it? Is there a wonderful lingering taste? Does it make you want to take a bite of your food, or go back and sip again?
7. Finally, how does the wine make you feel? Skip the intellectual considerations and just be with it. DO you feel refreshed? Intrigued? Celebratory? Soothed? Uplifted? Heart-warmed? Satisfied?
Wasn’t that fun? By just slowing down a little, taking a moment to enjoy the wine, the entire meal is elevated. Now repeat steps 1 through 7. Tonight and every night.
Courtesy of wine Market Council. For more information, visit www.wineanswers.com.
Photo courtesy of wine Market Council.
There are pleasures to be found in every glass of wine, from the simplest house white to the most refined first-growth Bordeaux. You needn’t have a wine cellar or subscribe to arcane wine magazines to know how to make the most of a glass of wine.
Here’s how you can squeeze as much enjoyment as possible out of every glass.
1. When you pour, don’t pour too much—just fill the glass about a third full. You don’t want to be so worried about spilling it that you can’t give it a nice swirl in the glass.2. Take a look at it. This doesn’t mean you have to take notes or hold it up to a piece of white paper and split hairs about whether it’s actually pale straw or light yellow, cherry red or brick. Just take a second to notice—does it look inviting? Refreshing? thin? thick? Fizzy? Intense? Just as a large part of enjoying food is seeing how it appears on the plate when it arrives, so it is with wine. What’s a happier sight than a glass that’s yet to be sipped?
3. Give it a whirl, and smell. Really stick your nose in the glass. Is it pretty? Pleasant? flowery? Weird? fruity? spicy?
4. Now drink. You know how to DO that part. You don’t have to swish it around or gargle with it at the table. Just enjoy it.
5. Then ask yourself: how does it taste with the food? Does it add anything to the dish? Does the food add anything to the wine?
6. 6. What’s it like after you’ve swallowed it? Is there a wonderful lingering taste? Does it make you want to take a bite of your food, or go back and sip again?
7. Finally, how does the wine make you feel? Skip the intellectual considerations and just be with it. DO you feel refreshed? Intrigued? Celebratory? Soothed? Uplifted? Heart-warmed? Satisfied?
Wasn’t that fun? By just slowing down a little, taking a moment to enjoy the wine, the entire meal is elevated. Now repeat steps 1 through 7. Tonight and every night.
Courtesy of wine Market Council. For more information, visit www.wineanswers.com.
Photo courtesy of wine Market Council.