Better Wine Tasting: The Winery Advisor Tasting Room Personality Profile

Want to know how to maximize your wine tasting experiences? Of course, you can read blogs about wine, but I’d rather go to the tasting room and enjoy my wine right at the winery.

This article is where I’m offering assistance on How to Enjoy Better Wine Tasting through the Winery Advisor Tasting Room Personality Profile.

As the Winery Advisor, I visit hundreds of California tasting rooms each year collecting information to prepare detailed winery profiles for the California Winery Advisor.com website (http://www.californiawineryadvisor.com). We document the wine tasting experience by cataloging the amenities, ambiances, tasting fees, pricing and wines. And, yes, we like our job.

With over 2000 wineries in the state, competition for the winery visitor is keen. Establishments now frequently outfit their tasting salons with five-star styling and lavish amenities. Even smaller operations may offer horse-drawn vineyard tours, custom bottle blending programs and high quality events and hospitality.

I have to admit I like tasting wine in tasting rooms. It’s largely about the wine of course, but the people, the setting, the stuff to do, perhaps the vibe in the room and being out in the countryside also play their part.

The tasting room staffs are generally delighted to see me, ready to answer my questions even though they have been answering them all day, and for five dollars will pour me wine in a glass that I sometimes get to keep. On top of it they usually invite me to join their special club or join them for a dinner (with a hundred other like friends). How can I not like this?

For those who don’t have the good fortune to visit all the tasting rooms, I submit The Advisor Tasting Room Personality Profile. It might even offer a virtual tasting room opportunity for you. After visiting almost 600, I have found they fall roughly within five categories. Each has its special advantages.

1. Family Run Wineries. The winemaker and family do 90% of the work, from growing grapes, making wine, selling, marketing, writing the newsletter and pouring in the tasting room. They stock shelves, wash glasses, lead tours and generally look a bit tired at the end of the day (and often well before).

These wine stops have the advantage of letting you talk directly to the players who have created the stuff we so desire. Tasting rooms are generally smaller, with fewer crowds and less pressure to join their club. They are good for individuals, couples and small groups. It is best to call for an appointment if your group is over six people.

At Milat Vineyards in Napa Valley the owners are two brothers, Bob and Mike. Their wives, Carolyn and Joyce, do the back room work and manage the tasting room, switching off every other week. At nearby Corison Winery, Cathy Corison makes the wine, while hubby William Martin, who designed the winery, keeps all the equipment humming, does the books and keeps the computers online. Husch Vineyards in Anderson Valley has been in the business for years with second and third generations still working the harvests and pouring in the tasting room.

2. The Big Personality winery is dominated by an owner whose name is frequently on the label but has a hired hand making the wine. The big personality is the big draw. They are generally self-made men and women who are leaders in the industry. They are often great company and provide a great tasting room experience.

Wine clubs at these wineries frequently have waiting lists or tiered club benefits where you wait months or years to move up to get the prized wines. Amenities usually include good picnic areas interesting gift shops, VIP tasting programs and unique tours and events. These wineries can usually handle larger groups, but it is always best to call ahead. The Paso Robles region’s Big Personalities include, Gary Eberle of Eberle Winery, Tobin James of Tobin James Cellars and Justin Baldwin of Justin Winery.

3. The Hip & Stylish wineries are set up like trendy restaurants or private nightclubs. Italian tile, exotic wall coverings, pendant lighting, couches, leather chairs, flat screen monitors, eclectic gift items and lots of cool vibes abound. They may have private dining rooms and special VIP tasting rooms.

Great customer service usually prevails along with good facilities for hanging out. They may have a bocce ball court, fireplace or lavish gardens. Some may have a private chef making gourmet treats from their pizza oven or hold evening wine tasting seminars and VIP events. For these wineries, bring friends you want to impress and keep the kids at home. Check out Tolosa Winery in San Luis Obispo, Melville Vineyards in Santa Barbara County, or Stryker Sonoma Winery near Geyserville.

4. The Destination Winery entertains its visitors and promotes its brand with summer music series, festivals, grand parties and regular weekend events. Come for the Show, Stay for the wine! They often have restaurants, park like settings, sculpture gardens, impressive art galleries, guest houses, children’s playgrounds, tram rides, shopping, and yes, even wine.

Rodney Strong Vineyards in Sonoma, Castoro Cellars in Paso Robles and Thorton Winery in Temecula have outdoor summer Jazz concerts. Wente Brothers in Livermore provides visitors a first class restaurant, wine caves, music and even a round of golf.

Some of the latest entrants to this group use their winery as their sole marketing tool, selling wine only at the winery and online. Examples include Roblar Winery in Santa Ynez, Black Stallion in Napa and Villa Toscano in the Sierra foothills.

5. The Something Special Winery offers a unique twist to its wines, winery or tasting room. Sonoma’s Ridge Lytton Springs Winery and San Luis Obispo’s Claiborne & Churchill Winery uses rice-straw bales, earthen plaster and recycled lumber for their facilities. Frog’s Leap uses solar and geothermal power and their tasting room is made from reclaimed lumber and low-toxin paint. Bonny Doon Vineyard, Benzinger Family Winery and Quivira Vineyard & Winery grow their grapes use Biodynamic farming practices. Clautiere Vineyard near Paso Robles has one of the most outrageous tasting rooms described as an artistic cross of “Edward Scissorhands meets the Mad Hatter at the Moulin Rouge.”

Other wineries specialize by producing just one wine. For instance, Silver Oak Cellars makes great Cabernet Sauvignon, while Cardinale Winery in Napa excels with their Cabernet based blend.

And for the latest trends in tasting rooms?

A Wine Bar can offer a tasting experience that an individual winery cannot: tasting multiple wineries from one wine tasting. Wine bars are growing in popularity, opening across the wine country regions and even in non-wine country locales. What I enjoy about a wine bar is trying more wines more quickly. Perhaps this is the equivalent of “10 minute dating” mixers for the wine connoisseur, which to some might be defeating the purpose. But, to the wine enthusiast with a hip and fast-paced urban lifestyle, wine bars can be an interest addition to the wine tasting experience.

The Virtual Wine Tasting Room is something that only a dot-com internet junkie could come up with. But, for those wineries putting most of their wine tasting room experience into selling on the web, this idea might become more popular. One website, Tastoria.com (http://www.tastoria.com/tastingevents.cfm), is putting an emphasis on how wine can be enjoyed and the HUMOR and FUN of the wine tasting experience. I enjoyed watching some of their tastings online, although I’m still not quite certain I could actually TASTE the wine myself!

To narrow down your search for the right tasting room experience, check out the advanced winery search feature at http://www.CaliforniaWineryAdvisor.com. Cheers!

How to host a successful wine party or wine tasting – Part 4

Wine parties are a great way to bring together family, friends and neighbors. The range of tastes is practically limitless and the methods of sharing those delightful flavors equally so.

The easiest way to organize a wine tasting party is to have each of your guests bring a bottle from a specific region to share. Start with a world map of wine producing regions. (A few websites are listed below.) Designate one region to each of your guests and ask them to bring a bottle from their region.

Now that your wine supply is taken care of, your job as the host is to provide everything else. This means decorations, glasses and food. The decorations can be seasonal, worldly, pretty much whatever you feel like and whatever will suit your guests. A map of the world might be a good addition, providing guests with pushpins of national flags. As guests arrive, they can add their flag to the map, allowing everyone to see how much of the world their palettes have traveled.

Glasses can be bought (not recommended), rented from a party equipment supplier, or plastic wine cups can be used. Wine glass tags can help your guests from accidentally getting someone else’s glass. Napkins and paper plates should be in good supply along with a light, palette-cleansing menu. Strawberries, grapes, crudities, cheese and crusty breads are common wine party staples, they are easy to prepare, look beautiful and are easy for guests to eat and carry. Water should also be available to your guests.

Your party is bound to be a success with a variety of taste experiences, good conversation and responsible drinking.

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Pointers for the Host in a Wine Tasting Event

If you’re the one who’s hosting the wine tasting here are a few etiquette rules that you should perhaps keep in mind. It’s best if you can keep the number of guests down to a group that will comfortably fit in your room without being overcrowded. This avoids the normal scramble for seating space, besides which it can be intimidating to any new comer to the basics of wine tasting to have to fight their way through the melee just to get to a bottle of wine!

When you’re serving the wine for tasting, start with the women first then progress on to the older members of the group before going on to the men. As host you should be last on the list to be served.

If you’re having a meal then serve it only after the wine tasting has been accomplished. Keep away anything that will impede with your guests enjoyment of the moment and their wine tasting palates. Keep unsalted crackers or unflavored French bread at hand for those of your guests who wish to cleanse their palates. The strongest in flavor that you should go is a lightly salted mozzarella, anything else just won’t do.

Water is a necessity for some people so be prepared and keep some bottled water on hand. For those who wish to rinse their palates keep a receptacle where each guest can discard their rinse water. Keeping a pitcher of water on hand to rinse glasses is also a good idea.

Wine Tasting In Napa Valley

Wine has been a part of our lifestyle for centuries. Wine used to be served in royal courts and is now served in every bar and restaurant. Wine is served at almost every occasion in life, from births to deaths, celebration, as part of food and while socializing. If you are the sort of person who enjoys the finer things in life, then Napa Valley in California is the place to be. Napa Valley is called the land of wines, as there are more than 280 wineries in the area alone and it is known to produce some of the best wines in the world and also is the main wine growing area in the United States.

Wine tasting is all about sampling and evaluating the wines. When you swirl the wine in your glass and take that first sip, you judge from the color, aroma, flavor and texture of the wine. Wine tasting helps you understand the quality of the wine, its maturity, flavor and aroma and faults, if any. Wine tasting is also called blind wind tasting. This is where the bottle and label of the wine is unknown to the wine taster. He or she judges the wine only by its taste, color, aroma and texture; this removes all traces of bias. Wine tasting also involves the use of wine tasting kits with blotting strips and aroma bottles.

Wine tasting is very popular all over the world and even more so in the United States and other European countries. People form wine tasting groups and clubs just to enjoy their passion for wine and to socialize. California is the most popular wine tasting state in the United States. This is because it has wine producing areas like Napa Valley and Sacramento. The Napa Valley some 10 years ago had more prunes and walnuts than grapes. There were only 10 wineries then, where now there are more than 280. Cabaret Sauvignon and Chardonnay are like the essence of the wineries and there are very few wineries without these oh-so popular wines.

Wine tasting is a great activity for all those wine lovers whether connoisseurs or novices and Napa valley has a whole plethora of choices. Wine tours and wine tasting events like buffets and parties are the best place to go to for wine tasting. If you are looking for an exciting evening in Napa Valley, consider wine tasting. This offers tourists and others a chance to indulge in an evening filled with fun and education, where you get to taste wine and learn all there is to learn about the process. And if you think you will feel out of place just because you are not a wine connoisseur, do not worry; there are stewards and wine experts that help.

Wine tasting gatherings and events open up a whole new world for you. You will be exposed to the best wines in the world and will be served complimenting breads and cheese to enhance the taste of the wines. Remember to not wear strong perfumes or scents when going to a wine tasting affair, as the scent of the wine is supposed to be stronger than your perfume.

Crimean Wine Tasting, an Exotic and Memorable Experience

Crimea is famous for its wines, among which the best are produced along the Southern coast of the Crimea. These wines have absorbed splendor of Crimean sunshine and other favorable natural features; they are brilliant, tender and full of fragrance.

Crimean wine making has over 2 500 years of traditions, brought there by ancient Greeks.

Many of the actual brands of the Crimean wines have been created with the participation of the “Magarach” experts, and in particular white and red table wines to accompany rich and varied Crimean cuisine.

The Inkerman winery in Sevastopol region is known for production of fine wines; this is the unique enterprise of classical wine making, from grapes grown on the land of ancient Greek settlement Chersoneses (5th century B.C.) where wine making was first developed in the Crimea.

Crimea produces also high quality strong wines following the traditional methods of Porto, Madeira or “Sherry” type. These wines have taking part in international wine competitions since the year 1873 and the most demanding experts acknowledge that the Muscatel wines of the Southern Coast of the Crimea are incomparable in aroma, fullness and richness of taste feeling.

A fine golden colour of White Muscatel “Magarach” is notable for its brightness. Low alcohol and high sugar content, and special tenderness and sort bouquet with a shade of honey and a tea rose create excellent scale of feelings. The wine has been produced from 1836 and has 31 awards.

Sparkling wines produced according to traditional Champagne methods are here for festive occasions. They have been made in the Crimea for more than a hundred years. The internationally known “Novy Svet” (new world) winery founded by Prince Leo Golytsyn produces these wines according to classical Champagne methods, whereas the winery “Zolotaya Balka” in Sevastopol region makes excellent Champagne according to modern technology.

Connoisseurs prefer the collection Brut “Novy Svet”, and pay tribute to original “Sevastopol Igristoye”, with its aroma of tea rose and citrus plants with a pleasant refreshing taste.

Brandies too are made in the Crimea. Their brands are “Magarach”, “Ai-Petry”, “Koktebel” or “Khersones”. The brandies made by Koktebel plants, are notable for richness of their taste and luxuries aroma. Their brandy “Kutuzov”, matured for 25 years, is a real gem, with a dark and transparent gold colour. It is notable and harmonious taste and a magnificent bright bouquet with resinous-vanilla tones, slight shade of dried fruit and chocolate.

The Crimean wine makers are glad to offer you their production and to wish your life be like a magnificent wine – bright, sharp and fragrant.

Tempting cuisine and superb wines are the treasured traditions of the Crimea. Abundance of fruit and vegetables, culinary specialties of more than 80 nations of the Crimea makes our peninsula the gourmets’ paradise while the intriguing diversity of wines can impress any connoisseur. Taste excellent dry wines from the Crimean plains and mountainous valleys, savor exquisite champagne – type wines from the Novy Svet winery, enjoy the ports, sherries, madeiras and, especially, preserving the sweetness of the southern coast grapes for many years, dessert wines of the celebrated Massandra winery. The Crimea can cater for any taste: go to an expensive restaurant or just have a picnic in the picturesque surrounding of the Crimean nature; everywhere you can enjoy the hearty food and delicious wine.

We would recommend an excursion to Massandra palace. The experience of doing a Wine-tasting in “Massandra” winemaking complex (It was founded 100 years ago to produce wines for the court of Russian Emperor Nikolay is something out of the world.

Another experience we will recommend is a wine-tasting session in the “Magarach” winemaking complex.

Combining this with an excursion to the Livadia palace and having your lunch in the restaurant “Tsar’s cuisine”, and then top it off with an excursion to the Vorontsov palace.

You will now have an experience you will remember forever, and you will not only bring home a bottle or two from the complex, but a taste in your mouth that you will never forget. Combining this with the scenery and the architecture, leaves you with no other choice but come back again to visit this part of the world to get a better taste of its soil.

Beginning Wine Tasting

Wine really does deserve some serious attention if you ask me, it’s a lot more than just a drink. It is for this reason that I find it very strange that there is no defined tasting procedure which has a universal acceptance. It is common that the majority of wine tasters follow their own set out plan when tasting and this will vary from person to person. Most of these steps, whilst having their place in the vineyards would be frowned upon at the dining table, they involve a set of steps which to the layperson would appear quite ridiculous. The difference can be akin to that of a persons preference to a particular style or genre of music. The world of critical wine tasting is a comparison between a real standard and the wine in question, drinking wine with a meal is greatly different to this and the wine is undoubtedly intended as an accompaniment to the meal and as a “refreshment”. Although there is no doubting the eccentric activities of a wine taster at a dinner party are perhaps not required it is worth admiring and appreciating the great talent and concentration that goes into the true appreciation of wine. From an outsiders view, these strange and sometimes occult like tastings may seem a little over complicated but with a true desire and ability to focus ones attention it is quickly possible to begin to understand and appreciate wine in a more full sense. For the basics of wine tasting we are undoubtedly in debt to the likes of Clarke and Goulden.

Where possible it is advised that you should rinse your mouth clean before tasting a wine, but obviously in a dinner party setting this is not always possible nor desired. I would however, recommend that the beginner use this method, it clears the palette and allows the wine taster to become more familiar with the basic characteristics of the wine being tasted (if in doubt, borrow from the experts!). A more experienced taster will more quickly be able to get the basic qualities of a wine and will often omit this step. Many consider that rinsing with water in this way detracts from the wine and affects palette because the water alters the sensitivity of the tongue and therefore adds a further complication in the whole process. During a long session of tasting it is quite possible that the mouth can become fatigued and therefore this instance lends itself to a revitalization with water.

Wines are best tasted in tulip shaped glasses, with the exception being sparkling wines which require a fluted glass (the elongated type you often see unused in display cabinets!). These style of glasses enhance the sparkling wines natural effervescence. If you don’t have the correct glasses (or enough if you’re having friends round) you can always loan them from a friend. It is important when comparing wines that each glass is filled to the same level (about a third full is the normal) this allows the taster to hold the glass at a steep angle to allow for a nice observation of the colour and clarity but also allows for a nice vigorous swirl of the wine which in turn releases the aromatics in the wine. At dinner party’s it’s also a useful tool when showing off, but beware there is always someone at the party who knows more about wine than you, so credit your fellow guests with some intelligence!

Wine S.o.s.: the Secret of Professional Wine Tasters

Wine S.O.S: the secret professional wine tasters don’t want you to have is yours for the taking! That’s right, cutting edge science has created an all natural answer to wine’s harmful side affects allowing you to taste the wine, swallow the wine and repeat without worrying about a hangover!

Wine S.O.S helps balance the body’s internal chemistry to allow you to drink the wine at a wine tasting without waking the next day with a splitting headache. Wine contains non-alcoholic ingredients known as congeners which give each wine its unique and tasty characteristics. These congeners have been found to cause allergic reactions in some people and amplified the hangover affects in others and made every wine taster worry about swallowing the wine.

Wine S.O.S has been specifically designed using all natural herbs in FDA approved laboratories to make it possible for you to taste your wine, swallow your wine and repeat without suffering the negative affects of the congeners in wine—GUARANTEED.

That’s right, guaranteed. Wine S.O.S guarantees you will not feel a hangover the morning after a wine tasting or you will receive a full refund. So go out and do what your doctor recommends—enjoy a great glass of wine and let Wine S.O.S take care of you the next morning.

Wine S.O.S.: The secret of professional wine tasters

Wine S.O.S: the secret professional wine tasters don’t want you to have is yours for the taking! That’s right, cutting edge science has created an all natural answer to wine’s harmful side affects allowing you to taste the wine, swallow the wine and repeat without worrying about a hangover!

Wine S.O.S helps balance the body’s internal chemistry to allow you to drink the wine at a wine tasting without waking the next day with a splitting headache. Wine contains non-alcoholic ingredients known as congeners which give each wine its unique and tasty characteristics. These congeners have been found to cause allergic reactions in some people and amplified the hangover affects in others and made every wine taster worry about swallowing the wine.

Wine S.O.S has been specifically designed using all natural herbs in FDA approved laboratories to make it possible for you to taste your wine, swallow your wine and repeat without suffering the negative affects of the congeners in wine—GUARANTEED.

That’s right, guaranteed. Wine S.O.S guarantees you will not feel a hangover the morning after a wine tasting or you will receive a full refund.

So go out and do what your doctor recommends—enjoy a great glass of wine and let Wine S.O.S take care of you the next morning.

Interesting Facts About Wine Tasting Tour

Wine tasting tours is usually a journey designed for particular purpose of sampling wines. Such trip is generally done in wine country such as Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley in California. These are such regions where grapes are dramatically grown and further processed into wine. People on such trip have amazing opportunity to taste hundreds of wines from various wineries, evaluating them against one other and understanding more in detail about the region in which wines are made. Wine country tour is planned to enlarge the taste of the tasters, and it could really be enjoyable, since many wine generating regions of the world are very gorgeous.

Characteristically, any wine tasting tour moves around wineries, letting the tasters to view the winery, and possibly meet the wine producer also. In other cases, the trip visits chosen tasting rooms that might pour wines from a unique winery, or several wineries. Organizing and managing a wine tasting tour could actually get complex, as the director desires the people on the tour to taste as many wines as probable, while harmonizing the wish to remain in some spots higher than others. The journey may take the shape of a day trip or a more comprehensive quest, and habitually comprise lunch, dinner, and other lodgings as well.

You can come across two major kinds of wine tasting tour. First is a bus or limousine could be hired so that a huge number of people could go on trip. In such case, tour is usually arranged by any private company that sells seats tickets in the bus to people and narrates the order in which wineries are going to be visited. On the other hand, a small group of people travels in car privately visiting any wineries they wish to. However, in both cases, the driver is projected to stay clear-headed for palpable reasons.

In many cases, a winery or tasting area is open for people during pre set hours. In few cases, a scheduled time needs to be fixed. Scheduled time only wineries are apt to be small, and apprehensive about overwhelming their services with the tasters. By asking visitors to make appointments, the wine producer makes sure that people get a bespoken and frequently cherished experience in the winery tour. In some other cases, the vineyard might in addition offer tours of the wine lab and making rooms that could actually be interesting for people who desire to be acquainted with more about the course behind making wine.

How Do You Become A Good Wine Taster?

Millions of people all over the world are drinking wine but only few know how to recognize its characteristics. Today, wine tasting parties are organized to bring together all wine lovers and test their expertise firsthand. It takes a lot of experience and exposure before a person can become wine expert. However, becoming one is surprisingly easy. Here are some useful tips on how to become an effective wine taster:

1. Preparing the tongue.

Apparently, the tongue plays a major role in wine tasting. It contains the taste buds that are responsible in detecting if food or drinks being eaten are bitter, salty, sour, or sweet. To make them work as intended, swish wine around the mouth, this will signal to the tongue to get ready in identifying the wine.

2. Preparing the sense of smell.

Actually 75% of taste is rule by the sense of smell. Aside from the tongue, the nose will also play an important role in tasting a wine. Wine experts know that it is not a good idea when tasting a wine while having a running nose because it will affect their sense of taste. By smelling the wine, this is necessary required to swirl it first. It will release the molecules that produces the aroma.

3. Examining the wines appearance.

To be able to recognize the wine color, pour it in a tablecloth as the background. This technique will give you estimation about the wine age. For example, when white wine appears whiter it means it contains more flavors and it may be vintage. On the other hand, red wines appear lighter as they age.

4. Evaluating the wine.

After the first 3 steps has been followed, what next is to evaluate the wine. To be able to do so, the following questions must be answered: Is it too harsh or too smooth? Is the wine rich or light? Is it too dry and does it have pleasant aftertaste?

The answers will lead the wine taster to decide if the taste is appropriate for a specific brand or type of wine.

To become an expert wine tester, you need to taste several wines. In the process, you will able to keep note of the impression and labels of each wine you tasted. This would make the identification process easier and more accurate. Acquiring this skill requires a lot of time and experience. Do not be in a hurry to learn it, take time to enjoy while doing so.

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