How To ...

How to look like a pro in a Tasting Room.

LOOK

Although your first inclination is to taste your sample, resist for a moment and look at the wine. Tilt the glass and look at it against a white background. A shirtsleeve will do in a pinch. What do you see?  Red wines vary greatly in colour. As they age, you will see hints of reddish-brown around the edges.  White wines become more golden as they age.  Generally speaking, the darker the wine, the more full-bodied the taste.  

SWIRL & SMELL

Swirl the wine around the glass. If you're a beginner at swirling, do this with the wine glass on a flat surface.  It's less risky.  Swirling allows the wine to release its aromas and vapourizes the alcohol.  Smell deeply and try to identify what you sense.  The nose can detect thousands of flavours and the tongue only four, so much of wine is on the nose. 

TASTE

Finally. Take a small amount in your mouth, swirl it around and keep it there for a brief period. Sweetness comes from the tip of your tongue, bitterness on the back.  Acidity on the side. Is the wine sweet, acidic, crisp?  Is it light or full-bodied?  How does it finish?  Are you still tasting it five, ten or more seconds afterward?  Did the taste change as the wine finished?

FEEL

When tasting wines, the feel is the touch of the wine on your tongue.  Is it rich and full?  Lean and light? Are there bubbles? Does it tingle at the edges of your tongue?  Tannins, for example, will feel dry on your tongue, like biting into a grape seed or drinking very strong tea.

SPIT

It's ok to spit. In fact, you'll be better able to taste more wines that way.  Wineries will provide a bucket (usually located on the tasting counter) for just that purpose.  Just do it.  It's the one place outside of the baseball diamond where it's perfectly acceptable.

ASK

Don't know what you're tasting?  Ask the tasting room staff to describe the wine for you and see if you can match their description to what is floating around in your head.  Sometimes it will. Sometimes it won't.  Wine tasting is a very personal experience.

DUMP

It's not necessary or considered polite to finish your entire sample.  When you've tasted enough, it's perfectly ok to pour it out into the spit bucket.  It's not a sign you didn't enjoy what you were poured.  It's a sign you're ready to move on to your next sample.

CLEANSE

Eat crackers or plain white bread between tastings.  They'll clear your palate and allow you to taste your next wine with more clarity.  Too many samples without a cleanse will overwhelm your palate.

EAT

Some wineries have restaurants.  Take advantage of one to break up your tour and more importantly, to enjoy a spectacular meal.  If you're more of a do-it-yourself type, bring along a picnic lunch. Some wineries have picnic areas   buy a bottle of wine and enjoy the view, or find a spot along the way to throw down a blanket and enjoy a meal with a view of the vineyards.

BUY

Many of the wines you'll taste at our wineries won't be available anywhere else, so if you like one, buy it!  NOTE: On hot summer days, don't let that case stay in your trunk too long. Your wines will spoil in the heat.

How to speak like a pro in a Tasting Room.

Body:The texture and weight of a wine. The component in wine that gives it body is glycerin.

Bouquet: All the aromas in a wine collectively make up its bouquet.

Brix: A measure of sugar in grapes: one degree Brix equals 10 grams of sugar per litre. Mature grapes are typically 21 to 25 Brix, equating to 11 to 13 percent alcohol after fermentation.

Fermentation:  The process of adding yeast to crushed grapes to turn their sugar into alcohol. Fermentation processes and times vary.

Finish:  The final impression a wine leaves in your mouth. A finish which lingers (long) is good, and one that barely exists (short) is not so good.

Full-Bodied: A wine which fills the mouth with flavors and alcohol. A full-bodied wine is also considered "thick".

Legs:  These noticeable traces of oil left running down the inside of your wine glass after it's been tipped indicate the amounts of alcohol, glycerin and sugar. The longer the "legs", the more of alcohol, glycerin and sugar present.

Nose:  One of the more frequently used wine definitions.  The nose is simply the smell of wine, as in having a "good nose".

Sediment:  The non-liquid material at the bottom of a bottle of wine. Sediment is not detrimental and simply part of the wine.

Sommelier:  The restaurant specialist who has considerable wine knowledge and assists guests with their wine selection.

Tannin:  An ingredient found naturally in the skins, seeds and stems of grapes. Tannins are usually found in red wines and give that dry, lip puckering sensation. Tannins are an important component in red wine and soften with age.

Varietal:  Wine that is made from one dominant grape variety, as stated on the label.

Veraison: A stage in the ripening process of grapes when the grape begins to soften and starts to accumulate colour, flavour and tannin.

Vinifera: A species of grape Vitis Vinifera that produces the classic wine grapes that have spread from the vineyards of Europe.

Vintage:  The year the grapes in the bottle were harvested

VQA:   Ontario: Vintner's Quality Alliance Ontario - wines bearing the VQA Ontario symbol must be made from 100% Ontario grown grapes. The wines are screened by a professional tasting panel and wines found faulty cannot be sold as VQA wines.

VQA Prince Edward County: wines bearing the VQA Prince Edward County symbol must be made from 100% County grown grapes and meet all other criteria for a VQA wine.