Wine Tasting

Last night we had a wine tasting. Our first (in name anyway). It turned out to be rather a fun thing to do with friends on a Friday night.

Our restaurant friend had given us a couple of Cabernet Sauvignon's for our opinion. (Why us? We're usually the "this tastes good" types, but anything for a friend, right?!) As usual the internet proved to be a great source of info so I followed instructions on one site (blue cheese and bread for hors d'oeuvres; spicy beef, a stew in my case, for the entree) and printed off a score card. I also covered up the labels (did you know that not all wine bottles are straight up and down? Two or our three bottles were slightly broader at the shoulder than at the bottom. Add that to your trivia collection!)

We also learned the meanings of words such as opaque (are you sure you know?); how to swirl & whiff (after getting a "nose" full, one of our party also learned the importance of not getting your nose too close to the wine); and swirling (keeping a small amount of wine in your mouth, then breathing through your mouth to, theoretically, to "taste the flavors more fully" - you try it without dribbling!).

The result? Most of us thought the 2003 Long Point was the best (it's a NYS wine made from west coast grapes) except it was a bit too light for the stew. For that the 2003 Estancia (Calif.) would be a better choice. (Don't we now sound like we know what we're talking about? - and after only one night of instruction too! Perhaps there is something to the recent findings on the benefits of red wine.)