Delight in sensory experience

FESTIVAL FUN: Now is a good time to refresh your wine-tasting etiquette

Tasting wine is something quite different from drinking wine. “Tasting” implies a complete sensory evaluation of a wine that involves not just taste, but sight and smell as well. “Drinking” wine involves gathering a group of friends and/or family and pouring a round of glasses, ideally over conversation and a good meal. Both have their place, but with the annual Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival taking place next week it seems timely for a primer on wine-tasting etiquette. Even if you won’t be attending this year’s festival, consider these tips for the next wine tasting you host.

No strong scents

This is advice to heed long before the first wine trickles into your glass. At a formal wine tasting, the only thing you want to smell are aromas and bouquets coming from the wine, not the person standing next to you. Ditch the cologne and perfume out of consideration for your fellow tasters — and the wine in your glass. Hold your wine glass by the stem

We don’t want grubby fingerprints marring a good look at the wine, in order to properly observe its colour and evaluate age and the winemaking process. Holding your wine glass by its stem also avoids heat transfer, unless you want to warm up the wine in your glass. But of course, if you’re served wine in one of those stemless glasses popular these days, you’ll just have to come to grips. Ask questions

Many winery principals from around the world make the trip to the Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival to personally share their wines. This offers an amazing opportunity to learn more about a wine directly from the winemaker, grape grower, owner or other informative contact. Even at a private wine tasting, openly discussing the wines with fellow tasters facilitates great learning and wine enjoyment.

But don’t crowd the table

There is, however, a corollary point, particularly pertinent at major wine tastings that get crowded: If there’s a line of patient tasters waiting behind you, receive your sample and step aside, then return with your questions at a more quiet time. Spitting is never impolite

Those new to tasting wine often admit to a concern about spitting. When is it right to spit, they ask, and what is the best way to spit wine? In fact it’s quite simple. It is never inappropriate to spit wine at a tasting, nor is there a particularly flattering approach to spitting. It will always look a bit funny, but it will never be considered impolite. Just find the closest spittoon and have at it. Take notes

You may be certain you’ll remember all the wines and their unique merits and detriments, but I promise the picture will be clearer the next day if you take notes. How to take notes is personal. Use your own notation system or Google “sample wine tasting notes” for inspiration.

With these tips top-of-mind, you’re well on your way to looking the part of a proper wine taster. The only advice left is to make sure you have a safe way home after an evening of wine tasting.