A Tasting

Over the weekend a friend of mine treated me to a wine tasting at Sand Castle winery http://www.sandcastlewinery.com/.

What an experience that was! I learned even more about how to taste wine and I now have admiration for Pinot Noir that I didn’t have before. What was so wonderful about this wine tasting was that we got it pair with cheese, all kinds of chocolate, nuts, wasabi peas, grapes and herbs.

He showed us how to breathe in the wine. I always just stuck my nose in the glass but he said to open your mouth slightly and breathe in with both your mouth and nose so that the middle of your tongue taste the air as well. It was amazing but it really did happen. Also not to look for legs on the glass, the way a glass was washed can affect the way it runs down a glass but to tilt your glass so that the wine is cupped in the blub of the glass and it looks separated and that will tell you the body of the wine. Sorry guys I didn’t catch which side would be the body. But I’ll be happily experimenting.

The other thing they had us do was the tasting of the wine itself first alone then with food but drinking the wine into the food. It’s amazing how food really does change the taste of wine. Like taking the sweet out of a wine or enhancing a berry flavor.

And this is where I gained my respect for Pinot Noir. Previous to this tasting I thought of Pinot Noir as red water for the most part. They had us take a sip before any food then a sip with cheese, than with a nut and then with chocolate. This wines complexity truly shown and changed with each of the pairings. I can now understand why Pinots are all the rage. I still am a heavy full bodied girl (LOL) but (as I tap my finger to my chin) I won’t be discarding a pinot noir so quickly any more.

They also took us to thier wine making area

It was totally fun and good learning experience.

Its awesome you stopped by .....Thanks

XOXO

E