The in's and out's of Wine Tour Tastings

December 12, 2007

Wine Tastings at Our Tar Heel Wineries? With the holidays just around the corner – now is the time to plan for a Holly Jolly Wine Tour.

There is a real gaggle of wineries located across Our Great State. From the Great Smoky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean and to the Piedmont area in the middle, interesting wineries and vineyards really abound and cordially welcome you for a tasting and touring. Now is the time!

There are now more than 8,000 wines on the market, which makes it harder to choose a wine that you may really like – that's why visiting and tasting wines at a winery can really introduce a wine or wines that you can truly enjoy.

Now, just a little information to help you plan your wine tour. There is something undeniably romantic about visiting and tasting wine at it's source. Just think about being able to view the long, straight rows of wine grapes growing almost side by side with the winemaker's unique tasting room stocked with wines made from both the American native and varietal grown grapes. Sometimes you may even fall in love with a small-batch vintage you would never have found at your local shop.

Today people are looking to connect the wine in their wine glasses to the vineyard or barrel room the wine came from. Now are you ready for tasting the many excellent wines that will be offered you on your Wine Tour?

Everyone is born with a natural taste for sweetness (remember as a kid how you like candy); however you have to develop a taste for a dry wine (think about how your taste bids change). Now think today about your taste buds and remember how the Old Cajun Cooker Justin Wilson said, "If you have to grit you teeth to swallow the wine, you are drinking the wrong wine." Drinking wine should be a pleasant experience.

Tasting wine is an art and it takes practice. You learn by seeing, smelling and tasting wine. Begin by pouring the wine into a wine glass, swirl the glass and take a short sniff, then step away and let the information filter through your mind. The aroma should be the residual yeast from the fermentation. Good wine should "smell and taste like the grape" it is made from! Now look at the side of the wine glass as you swirl the wine – do you see a bar line? This will be the alcohol clinging to the side of the glass. It is called "leggs" and it tells you that there is good alcohol content in the wine.

Now, take a sip and feel the wine in your mouth as you swirl it around. Does it feel rich? Light? Thin? Now swallow the wine check the after-taste!

Most vintners will strive to make a wine that will "smell and taste like grapes!" Wine is also made from other fruits such as plums, peaches, pears, blue berries or anything that can ferment. Wine can be made even be made from watermelons and strawberries.Just remember on your Tasting Tour that drinking wine should be a pleasant experience and if wine doesn't taste good to you – don't drink it. It's just that simple!

Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards