CornUcopia Place, Bridgeport Café, Ward 5 Councilwoman Phyllis Cleveland, Paul Sadler, and Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc., will be hosting a free wine tasting featuring wines from around the world. The event will take place March 22 5:30-9:00pm at CornUcopia Place located on 7201 Kinsman Road, Ste.103B Cleveland, OH 44104.
Not sure what to expect at your first wine tasting? Don’t fret. We’re here to help! We’re going to give you a few tips so you don’t feel overwhelmed. It’s always interesting to step out of our comfort zones. Right?
Appearance
Not sure what to wear? Take a look at some of the photos from the Black Vines Wine Tasting event on our Facebook page (Black Vines Wine Tasting). You don’t need to look like you’re going to meet the Queen of England but it helps to look nice. You never know who you will run into! Council Woman Phyllis Cleveland will be there!
Etiquette
Hold the glass correctly – When tasting, hold glasses by the stem rather than the bowl. Holding it by the bowl can disturb the temperature of the wine (ideally it’s been poured at just the right temperature).
Respect the wine – Take your time. Don’t chug it. Savor it.
Spit bucket – Many people spit because they have tasted many wines and don’t want to get too inebriated. Also, drinking too much can impair your ability to savor the wine. Some people swallow a sip or two of each wine but then dump the rest of their glass out.
Ask questions – The person pouring the wine is there not just to pour your wine but answer questions as well.
We suggest:
‘What food does this wine pair well with?’
‘This is sweet. Would you consider this a dessert wine?’
‘Wow! I really like this! Can I buy this at my local grocery store?’
Terms
You’re new to this and you’re not sure of the lingo. You want to know what everyone is talking about. Here are a few terms you might hear while at a wine tasting.
Acidity – Acidity is a term that refers to the amount of acid in a wine. Acid is the chemical compound that makes things taste tart, like vinegar or citrus foods. Acidity is part of the structure of wine, giving it lift and intensity.
Body – The body of a wine is the size or heft of it in your mouth. While a light bodied wine glides over your palate softly and without weight, a full-bodied wine feels heavy and big in your mouth.
Bouquet – The bouquet is another term for the aroma of a wine. It is usually used to describe the smell of a wine which is complex, offering many different types of aromas.
Dry – Dry describes a wine which has no residual sugar, the opposite of sweet. However, most people who are new to wine tasting use dry to describe their mouths feel after tasting a tannic wine.
Sweet – Sweet can mean that there is residual sugar in the wine which gives a sweet flavor like sugar. This is true mostly of dessert wines. Sweet is also used to describe a characteristic of the fruit in a wine. If a wine has ripe, fruity flavors, it can often be described as sweet.
So Many Options!
The order that wines are tasted in can have a big impact on flavor. When there are so many different kinds of wine, how do you choose which order to try them in?
We suggest:
– White before Red
– Dry before Sweet (The sweetness will cause the drier wine to become acidic)
– Light Body before Heavy Body
– Anything before Fortified (Fortified wines have high alcohol contents, and can burn out both the sense of smell and taste)
– Sparkling First but after White / Red, Dry / Sweet
– Young before Old
If you have never been to a wine tasting before this is a perfect chance to try something new while having fun. Did I mention that this event is free? We hope to see you at CornUcopia Place March 22 with your dancing does on and ready to taste wines from around the world!
