Wine Tasting Tips

Have you ever considered hosting a wine tasting party? Ask a few friends over and have them all bring a bottle of the same style of wine (Pinot Party?). Here are some great wine tasting tips I learned from Wines.com; share them with your fellow wine lovers and have fun with it!

Start with a clear wine glass. The rim of the glass should bend inwards to help funnel aromas to the nose & allow you to swirl without spilling. Pour a little wine into your glass, an inch or less is best. If you are tasting several wines, begin with the lightest (sparkling wines, roses, then light whites followed by full-bodied whites) & progress to the heaviest (light reds to more full-bodied reds followed by dessert wines). This will help keep your taste buds more sensitive so you can better appreciate each wine in the series. A sip of water between wines can also help preserve your palate.

Notice the color of the wine...hold the glass up to light or hold it against a white background (a white napkin will do the trick.) The color can give you a clue as to the age of the wine...white wines generally gain color as they age, red wines tend to lose color (young red wines are more red/burgundy, while older reds tend to show a hint of tawny brown around the rim.)

Swirl the wine by moving the glass in a circular motion, holding the glass by its stem. Swirling is done to aerate the wine & release vapors for you to smell, evaporating from the sides of the glass. Put your nose over the rim of the wine glass & breathe in, taking note of the wine's aromas & bouquet.

Take a sip, letting the wine spread across the tongue from front to back & from side to side before swallowing. Notice the flavors and acidity of the wine. Swallow a small amount if you wish to note any lingering finish. If you are tasting a number of wines, your host will usually provide a large container for you to spit out the wine instead of swallowing.

Don't forget to compare how a wine tastes with or without food! Cheeses and other savories can make a huge difference in the way a wine tastes, so serve a variety of foods for your guests to experience.

Louisiana Star hosts wine tastings every 1st & 3rd Thursday of the month...please join us and share your wine stories!

Wine Goes Fine with Lobster

When one thinks of Cape Cod, the "arm" that juts out from eastern Massachusetts, visions of lobster and sandy beaches often come to mind. What you may not have considered is that there are grapes growing in that sandy soil on the outermost tip of Cape Cod...and there's a wonderful family making wine (and catching lobsters, but that's another story.)

My summer vacation was spent sipping some of their products, at Truro Vineyards of Cape Cod. Owned and operated by the Roberts family, Truro Vineyards produces award-winning wines and offers daily tastings and tours of the vineyard. Summer guests sample wines under a tent, yards from the grapevines, with fresh sea air drifting by.

Open from April - December, the vineyard is a unique place to visit on Cape Cod. If you can make it to their annual "Grape Stomp", you'll never forget it...visitors are encouraged to take off their shoes, jump into a giant wooden barrel and stomp grapes like they used to do it "in the old country." You can also take home a bottle of wine to drink with your lobster dinner.

Check them out online: http://www.trurovineyardsofcapecod.com/