8 Tips to Drink Wine Like a Pro

       Unlike a trained sommelier or someone who has gain knowledge about wine and wine drinking, going to fancy events where wines are served can be a bit of an awkward situation. There you are with a glass in your hand, taking swings of divine wine while the Sir over there is swirling his wine and sticking his nose in the glass. Wait, what?

    Learning the right way to drink wine can change the experience completely as wine is delicate, aromatic and has its own character.  Gain your wine confidence and drink like a pro with these top tips from our sommelier, David.

1. Hold the wine glass by the stem, not by the bowl. In my years of serving wines, I’ve probably seen hundreds of people holding a wine glass by the bowl. It’s not wrong per se but doing this exposes the wine to your fingers’ temperature. It’s best is to hold a wine glass by its stem as it reduces the exposure of your wine to heat and it ups your wine appearance.  Classy and elegant.
2. Swirl the wine in your glass but be careful not to spill. Swirling allows the wine to release aromas so just give your glass a gentle swirl. After you’ve done this a few times, you’ll get the hang of wine glass swirling and you will be able to enjoy your wine better.
3. Sniff the wine. Learning to appreciate wine aromas is learning how to appreciate the character of the wine. So don’t be afraid to put your nose in the glass and take a sniff. If you’re with friends, don’t worry if they smell something you don’t. Wine aromas can be completely subjective allowing one person gto get the scent of flowers and another, fruits. The important thing here is whether you like the aromas or not.
4. Look at the color of the wine. The color of your wine can tell you a lot of things about what you’re drinking or tasting. Some white wines might be lighter than others and some red wines can be very dark while types like Pinot Noir might have lighter red color than Merlot and Shiraz.  The color of your wine can tell you a lot about what you’re tasting and smelling.
5. Sip the wine. Take note: SIP not gulp. Sipping gives you a better chance to appreciate the taste. If you are willing to expand your tasting skills, you can explore inhaling air through your mouth while the wine is inside. This can be tricky but perfecting this skill can give you a significant difference in appreciating wine.
6. Take note of the aftertaste. This is where you’ll notice if a wine has strong or light tannins. Tannins are most commonly present in red wine and are the textural element that makes wine taste dry. Observe your tongue when you taste red wine and take note of the ‘dry’ feeling or taste when you swallow wine. Some grapes have higher tannins while some have lower.
7. Swirl, sniff then sip again. This will allow you to rediscover the aromas and the taste for another time.
8. Be familiar with basic wine terms. Looking and sounding like pro needs a bit of research.Some people might talk to you about nose, legs, fermentation, vintage, corked wine, acidity and other terms. Take a few minutes to read about some wine terms before you attend a gathering where wine will be served. If you’re armed with some wine knowledge, you’ll relate to what people are talking about and maybe even add some comments that will help your wine rep and help you understand wine better.

                              

      The best way to learn more about wines is to keep trying different types, varietals and brands. Wine Talk has a special service where wine enthusiasts can discover more wines that will be personally handpicked by our sommelier. All you would need to do is join the Wine Club which has no membership or joining fees and receive 6 or 12 bottles of wines every month or bi-monthly at a flat rate. It’s a convenient way to enjoy wines and you don’t have to worry about picking the wines because our in-house sommelier, David will handpick them based on your personal preference. Our Wine Club guarantees best price and customer satisfaction, so if you’re not happy with the wine you've received, let us know and we’ll change it for you. Cool, eh? To know more and subscribe to our Wine Club, click here.