Wine tasting is a wonderful way to expand your palate and entertain yourself for an evening. However, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut and feel like you’re always tasting the same styles of wine, in the same way, again and again. Here are five tips to help you break out of that rut and experience wine tasting in a new, exciting way.
1. Slow Down and Taste Properly
You probably remember learning how to properly taste wine the first time you visited a tasting room or attended a tasting event. If you’re like many casual wine enthusiasts, however, you’ve probably grown a bit sloppy in your tasting routine as time has gone on.
Slow down, and start taking the time to taste wine properly again — you’ll experience the wine in a more profound way. Remember, proper tasting involves the following steps:
- Smell the wine before tasting it, taking the time to enjoy the aromas.
- Enjoy the first sip, but treat it as a palate cleanser. Base your opinions of the wine on the second sip.
- Pay attention to not only taste but also the texture of the wine and how it feels on the back, middle, and front of your tongue.
If you have never attended a formal tasting before, do so. You will learn a lot of specific tasting strategies that can make sipping wine more interesting and nuanced.
2. Don’t Be Afraid to Spit
As you grow a bit inebriated, your palate loses its specificity. So, as you taste wines, do not be afraid to spit some of the tastes out rather than swallowing. Some tasters only spit out the wines they do not particularly care for, and others spit every other taste.
Either way, if you keep your consumption down by spitting out some of your samples, you will be able to taste more wines before your palate fades.
3. Taste in a Nice Setting
If you feel relaxed and connected to the setting around you, then you will be more in tune with your senses and better able to enjoy the wine. So instead of doing all of your tastings in the same place, consider tasting in a different area for a different experience. During the spring, tasting wine in the backyard is lovely. You may also want to try wine tasting while lounging with friends in your living room.
4. Try Offbeat Wines
If you have been drinking wine for a while, then you probably have a pretty good idea of what wines you like. For example, you may know that you tend to like Pinot Noir but find Cabernet Franc too peppery. While it’s good to know what you like, this knowledge can also limit your exploration.
To make wine tasting more interesting, try including an offbeat wine in every tasting session. Some lesser-known varietals to try include the following:
- Furmint
- Muscat
- Cardigan
- Catawba
- Sauternes
You could even host an offbeat wine tasting night and award the guest who brings the most obscure, unknown variety with a prize.
5. Try Each Wine With a Variety of Foods
You probably have some preconceived notions of how a certain wine will pair with certain foods. For example, you may assume a Pinot Noir will pair well with mushrooms. However, to get a better sense of a wine, try pairing it with a wide array of foods. You may discover a wonderful pairing you never thought of before, or learn to appreciate a familiar wine in a whole new way.
With the tips above, your wine tasting experience will improve from ordinary to extraordinary. If you are searching for new wines to include in your tasting sessions, then visit Holiday Wine Cellar. In addition to our wine tasting nights, we will ship wine directly to you and we also offer in-store pickup in Escondido, California.
