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Wine Club 101: Learn the basics |
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Written by Holly Bea
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Thursday, 15 February 2007 |
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If you’re tired of hibernating and are looking for a great excuse to get together with friends, maybe it’s time to start a wine tasting club.
Think you don’t know enough about wine to start your own club? That’s exactly the reason you should go for it.
To learn the basics of wine, The Cupboard is sponsoring wine tasting classes on Feb. 28 and March 5 with area aficionado Phil Pringle, owner of Pringle’s Wine and Spirits. Pringle will guide participants of the sold-out classes through a tasting of 15 classic varietals from around the world. The classes will be at the Stonehouse Grille, 125 S. College Ave., Fort Collins, and are limited to 24 students.
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TO GO
Wine Tasting Class with Phil Pringle, 6:30-9 p.m. Feb. 28 and March 5
at Stonehouse Grille, 125 S. College Ave., Fort Collins $59.
• Sold out. Call 493.8585 for details.
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8 wine party rules
1. Make it fun. Invite friends over who have the same knowledge level of wine that you do. Wine aficionados can be bored with beginners, and beginners can be overwhelmed by “experts” who prefer only rarefied bottles.
2. Pick a number. A party with 8-10 members is a good size. Inevitably, 2-3 folks can’t make it each month, because of work, travel or lack of baby sitters. You’ll want enough people in attendance to make it fun and offer a variety.
3. Keep it affordable. Set an upper end price for bottles. There are great bottles to be experienced for $10-$20 each or less. Get acquainted with a monthly wine magazine.
4. Bring your own glass. Have your members bring their own glass to each club meeting. It’ll be easy to tell them apart, and no one has to do all those dishes!
5. Meet monthly. More than that is too much. Trust me.
6. Involve everyone. Each month, a different member should host the meeting. They get to pick the venue (home, restaurant or wine store), the varietal to be explored, and provide the essentials: spit buckets, water, bread or mild crackers and appropriate snacks, which DO NOT need to be fancy or difficult.
7. Theme is everything. Each member should bring a bottle of wine that fits the theme for the tasting — and it is just tasting.
8. Take a field trip
Visit a winery as a group, or attend a wine tasting at an area restaurant or wine store. Invite an “expert” to come and talk to your group. This is especially helpful if you’re all rookies.
Holly Bea
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Ready, Set, Taste
Here’s how to properly taste wines:
1. Pour 2 ounces of one wine into each taster’s glass
2. Swirl wine in the glass to see the “legs” of the wine — these are the channels of liquid that run down the sides of the glass. This also allows the wine to breathe (mix with air), which opens up its flavor.
3. Put your nose inside the glass and inhale to sense the aroma of the wine.
4. Taste the wine. Take a sip of it into your mouth, but don’t swallow it immediately. Lightly swish the wine, then swallow.
5. Write down your impressions of the wine.
6. Repeat the process. See if your impression changes with the second taste.
7. Discuss the wine with club members to see how your impressions match up, or don’t!
8. Empty the remains of your glass in the wine bucket and eat a bit of bread or mild crackers and a little water to get your mouth ready for the next wine.
9. Taste the next wine in the same manner.
10. Pick your top three favorite wines. Tally the votes and talk about the results.
11. Select the host for the next event. Within one week, the host must inform the group of the next theme and venue.
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What’s in a name?
White Varietals
Riesling: Historically from the German riesling grape. A light, dry wine.
Sauvignon Blanc: Comes from the sauvignon blanc grape. Offers fruity flavors, can be dry or semi-sweet.
Pinot Grigio: Comes from the pinot grape. A fruity wine.
Chardonnay: From chardonnay grapes. Rich hearty white wine, known for oaky flavors (from the oak casks they are aged in). Usually a drier wine.
Red Varietals
Pinot Noir: From the pinot noir grape (sensing a pattern here?) Berry flavors, lighter red color.
Merlot: From the merlot grape. Earthy tasting red.
Cabernet Sauvignon: From the cabernet sauvignon grape. Fruity flavor with high tannic levels, which make your tongue feel dry.
Beaujolais: From the Beaujolais district of France. Made with Gamay grapes. Fruity flavors.
Bordeaux: From the Bordeaux region of France. Usually a blended wine, made with several varietals. Fruity, spicy flavors, leaves a dry feeling in your mouth.
Burgundy: From the Burgundy region of France. Made with pinot noir grapes.
Zinfandel: From the Zinfandel grape (it’s RED, folks!) You’ll taste the fruit, but it’s often peppery, too. Deep red color.
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PLAY IT OFF LIKE A PRO
White Zinfandel is for weenies. It’s like the Shirley Temple of wine. It’s a “starter” wine that should be abandoned quickly once you’ve had some tasting experience. White Zinfandel is a blush wine created with red zinfandel grapes, but the grape skins are removed from the fermentation process before they can impart color or the true essence of the grape into the wine.
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