Alcohol Abuse Advice

How an Amateur Can Share the Same Wine Tasting Etiquette As a Wine Connoisseur

The purpose of a Wine Tasting Event is to taste the wine and to enjoy a great social atmosphere with like-minded individuals. With that in mind, one must determine if he will drink each wine he has tasted or if he will spit it out. A few people do drink the wine they taste; however, it is recommended not to swallow the wine but to spit it out into a special spittoon that you will find at the event.

There are several reasons that one should not swallow the tasted wine. One, as the evening progresses and the tasting continue, if the taster has been swallowing the earlier tastings, his judgment in assessing the later wines will be hazed. The individual may be unable to thoroughly evaluate and appreciate the latter tastings. Two, holding the wine in ones mouth for 8 to 10 seconds gives the individual the ability to taste the wine completely without actually swallowing it. One is receiving the full taste without having the effects of the alcohol. Especially if the taster drove himself or others to the tasting, the alcohol effects could be dangerous.

Spitting receptacles are provided at the tasting events. The receptacle is generally one large plastic cup per individual or an ice bucket may be provided for several tasters to share. To some, spitting may seem to be an unacceptable behavior but the more experienced one becomes in tasting events he will see that spitting the wine is a typical occurrence.

Another point of etiquette that comes into play during a wine tasting event is the introduction of other smells. Certain smells will take away the tasters’ capacity to smell the wine. Smelling is a very important part of wine tasting. Foreign scents must not be introduced at a wine tasting; such as, smoking, perfumes, hair spray, after-shave lotion, or any scent that will hinder ones smell of the wine.

Wine tasters do not voice their opinion of the wines that they have tasted while others are still tasting their wine. Tasters want to make up their own minds on a wine without someone else’s interjection.

A behavior that may seem to be against good manners is the practice of loud gurgling or slurping when tasting wine. Pulling air into ones mouth, while tasting, does add to ones capacity to fully taste the wine. However, one may do this without being loud and annoying to others.