WHAT’S WINE EVALUATION

  • SUB-TOPICS Of WINE EVALUATION
    1. What is Wine Evaluation?
    2. What Are You Evaluating Against
    3. Demystifying “The Vine” Evaluation Ratio
    4. Demystifying Procedures

1) WHAT’S WINE EVALUATION?

WINE RATER– Person Who Rates Wine By Tasting and Evaluation, They Produces a Score to Reflect Their Opinion.

  • The Term is Reserved For Wine Professionals, Sommeliers or Proficient Amateurs Who Have the Knowledge, Experience, Advanced Palate and Objectivity For Wine Evaluating and Rating. I Believe It’s These Who Posses the Ability to Critically View a Wine.
  • Cellar Palate- Term For Wine Producers Who Only Drink Their Wines or Become Too Acclimated to Wines of the Village or That the Appellation Produces.
    • People Can Develop Cellar Palates By Drinking Only a Certain Grape or Wine Usually Their Own.

“You Have to Taste a Lot of Wine to Really Understand Wine.”

WINE SCORE– Subjective Quality Score Assigned by Wine Taster/ Critic to a Wine Tasted as a Summery of That Tasters Evaluation of That Wine.  Often Supplemented by Tasting Notes and a Point Scale.

  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY? “What Makes a 100 Point Wine?”
    • “This All Depends On the Evaluators Palate.  A Wines Quality is Objective and Easy to Score.  Most Everything Else is Subjective and Difficult to Quantify.  A Super High Acid Riesling to Some Might Be the Most Appealing Characteristic Ever, But to Someone Who Does Not Like Elevated Acidy Wouldn’t Score That Wine With a 100 Point.”

WINE CRITIC– A Person Who Evaluates Wine and Describes it With Either a Numerical Rating, Tasting Notes or a Combination of Both. Wine Critics Are Informative In Their Assessment and Usually Have Some Kind of Exposure In the Wine Industry.

  • Find and Follow a Wine Critic That You Trust and Your Palate Alines Up With. If You Don’t Like 3+ Wines That Your Critic of Choice Recommends Then You Need to Find a New Critic to Follow.

“Wine Scores Are to Tell People What to Think if They Don’t Have a Wine Opinion Themselves.”

  • FAMOUS WINE CRITICS
    • ~Atkin, Tim~ Master of Wine
    • ~Bacciocco, Derek~ Wine Professional, Curator of DtheV.Com Resources Website.
    • ~Galloni, Antonio~ The Wine Advocate, Started Vinous.Com
    • ~Laube, James~ Wine Spectator/ California
    • ~Martin, Neal~ Started Website Wine-Journal.com
    • ~Meadows, Allen~ Started Publication Burghound
    • ~Parker, Robert~ “America”, Wine Critic, Owner Wine Advocate Magazine.
    • ~Robinson, Jancis~ Well Respected Critic/ Personality
    • ~Suckling, James~ Internationally Regarded as a Influential Critic
    • ~Tanzer, Stephen~ Publisher, Wine Cellar

“People Want to Be Told What Wine is Good and What to Drink.”

  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY? “Binge Drinking Wine?”
    • “Is Binge Drinking Wine In the Proper Setting or Conditions Acceptable?  Yes…As Part of a Safe and Responsible Wine Festival or Wine Tasting Event Acute Binge Drinking In the Effort to Benefit From Gaining Wine Knowledge is Lightly Accepted.  Think of it as Over Consumption In the Name of Wine Education.”

EXPERIENCED vs. TRAINED WINE PERSON/ PALATE

  • There is a Education vs. Training and Experience Debate In the World of Wine. Booth“Camps” Have Benefit and Drawbacks. Booth Training and Experience Is Needed and Necessary to Be a Complete Wine Person.
    • Experienced Wine Drinker- Without Formal Wine Education Background, Having Experience and Skill In a Subject of Wine. Possessing Wine Wisdom.
    • Trained Wine Drinker- Having Completed a Course of Training In Wine Education. While Being Trained In Wine Some Are Lacking the Years It Takes to Fuller Inderstand the Wine World and Having a Developed Tasting Palate.
    • ~Example~
  • CONTENTIOUS WINE ISSUE! “When is a Sommelier a Sommelier?”
    • “The Sommelier Who Works the Floor of a Restaurant and Isn’t a Certified Sommelier.  This Compared to the Advanced Sommelier Who is a Sommelier by Certification But Has Never Set Foot On a Restaurant Floor In His Life.”

WINE EVALUATION MIND/ MOOD SET

  • I Prefer to Evaluate or Blind Taste Wine When I’m Hungary.
  • It Doesn’t Work In the Case of Blind Tasting When You Have a Set/ Minimal Amount of Time to Taste and Evaluate the Wine.  But When I Can I Prefer to Drink a Couple Glasses of a Certain Wine to Get an Accurate Sense of the Wine.  Over the Course of a Couple of Glasses Over a Couple Hours the Wine Has a Chance to Open-Up and Speak to Me In a More Profound Way.
  • Things to Be Aware of When Evaluating Wine.
    • Don’t Brush Your Teeth In Close Proximity to Evaluating Wine.
    • Don’t Be Tired.
    • Don’t Be Hung-Over.

“Trust Your Senses As Much As the Numbers When Evaluating Wine.”

  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Mind Set or Mood Has a Great Influence On the Enjoyment and the Score or Evaluation Rating.~
    • “The Time of Day, Who You’re With, What You Are Eating, Will This Bottle Lead to Sex?  A lot About Drinking and Enjoying Wine is All About Context. Try to Be Conscious of Your State of Mind and Adjust Accordingly When Evaluating Wine. Take a Deep Breath, Get Your Mind Focused Then Relax and Engage the Senses and Your Brain.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Be Hungry When Evaluating Wine.~
    • “Fully Processing In the Olfactory Pathway is Dependent On Whether We Are Hungry or Not.  Prior to Wine Tasting or Evaluating Wine Make Sure to Be Staving or at Least a Little Hungry. This State of Hunger Will Enhance Your Smelling and Tasting Senses.”

“The Best Bottles I’ve Drank Are Associated With Moments, People or Emotions.”

  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “Just as There’s a General Consensus to What Makes a Good Song, Beautiful Girl, or Work of Art is There a Consensus to What Makes Up a Great Wine?”
    • “There’s a Consensus to What a Quality or Sound Wine is, the Other Attributes of What Makes A Great Wine Are Subjective and Up to the Taste and Preference of the Consumer.”
  • CONTENTIOUS WINE ISSUE!  “I Don’t Care So Much About the Wine Maker!”
    • “Generally I Don’t Care About the Winery or the Winemaker. I Care About and Want to Know Where the Grapes Are Grown So I Can Assess the Geography,, Topography, Climate and Terroir That Influenced the Vineyard and Quality of the Vintage.  With This I Can Make an Educated Assessment of the Wine.”

WINE COMPETITIONS– An Organized Event in Which Trained and Accreted Judges Competitively Score or Rate Brands of Wine, Styles of Wine or Other Categories. Most Wine Competitions Are Usually Judged Blind.

  • WINE COMPETITIONS
    • ~American Fine Wine~ (April/ Boca Raton, Florida)
    • ~California State Fair Wine ~ (June/ Sacramento)
    • ~California Zinfandel Championship~ (September/ Pittsburg, California)
    • ~Denver International Wine~ (September/ Denver, Colorado)
    • ~Finger Lakes International Wine~ (March/ Finger Lakes, New York)
    • ~International Wine & Spirits~ (November/ Surrey, England)
    • ~Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits~ (May/ Los Angeles, California)
    • ~New York International Wine~ (February/ New York, New York)
    • ~San Diego International Wine~ (March/ San Diego, California)
    • ~San Francisco Chronicle~ (January/ San Francisco, California)
    • ~United States National Wine~ (April/ Sonoma, California)
    • ~West Coast Wine~ (July/ Sonoma, California)

“The Try to Judge a Winemaker by Their White Wine. Producers Have Up to 2 Years to Massage Their Red Wine. White Wines Are Generally Harvested and Put Into Market In 9 Months.”

SOMMELIER CHALLENGE– An Organized Event Where Wine Professionals Compete In Blind Tasting, Theory and Service In Order to Crown a Winner.

  • BEST SOMMELIER
    • ~Texsom~ (August/ Austin, Texas)
    • ~Association de La Sommellerie Internationale~ ASI. (March/ Belgium)
    • ~Best Somelier In America~
    • ~Best Your Sommelier~
    • ~Somm Slam~
    • ~Somms Under Fire~
    • ~TopSomm~
    • ~Worlds Best Sommelier~

2) WHAT ARE YOU EVALUATING AGAINST

The GRAPE/ WINE CLASSICS

Every Grape Possesses a Definitive Example Grown In a Specific Location and This Expression is What the Educated Wine World Compares All Others Wine to.

If You Are Getting Into the Wine World This is Where You Start. Drink the Classics and Then Keep These Style In Mind as You Taste Across the Wine World.

  • The CLASSIC EXPRESSIONS
    • ALBARINO     @Riax Basias, Spain
    • CABERNET SAUVIGNON     @Medoc, France
    • CHARDONNAY     @Cote de Beaune, France
    • CHENIN BLANC     @Loire Valley, France
    • GAMAY     @Beaujolais, France
    • GRÜNER VELTLINER     @Wachau, Austria
    • MALBEC     @Cahor, France
    • MERLOT     @Pommerd, France
    • NEBBIOLO     @Barolo, Itlay
    • PINOT NOIR     @Burgundy, France
    • RIESLING     @Mosel/ Rhinegau, Germany
    • SANGIOVESE     @Chianti Classico, Italy
    • SAUVIGNON BLANC     @Sancerre, France
    • TANNAT     @Madiran, France
    • TEMPRANILLO     @Rioja, Spain
    • VIOGNIER     @Condrieu, France

“When Beginners Ask Me What Should I Drink? I Say Drink the Classics.”

GRAPE THAT ARNE’T CLASSICS BUT HAVE CLASSIC EXPRESSION

  • BARERA         @Piemonte, Italy
  • AGLIANICO      @Campania, Italy
  • Classic Disclaimers…
    • Classics Aren’t Debatable and a Personal Preference Means Nothing.
    • Some Varieties Arn’t Classic and Don’t Have a Classic Example.
    • Some Varieties Don’t Have Old World Classic Expression, Only a New World.
    • Some Varieties Don’t Possess Classic Expressions.
      • Some of These Have New World Examples But No Old World Classic
        • Zinfandel     @Dry Creek, California

“If Something is Deemed to Be Over/ Under Rated, It First Must Be Rated.”

  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “Is There a “Benchmark” Expression of a Certain Grape/ Wine That All Other Grape/ Wine Are Compared to? Does There Have to Be a Perfect 100 Score of That Grape/ Wine?”
    • “Just Like When Judging a Dog Show There is What is Thought to Be a Perfect Dog or That Breed or an Image of What That Particular Dog Should Look Like and What Qualities it Should Posses.”

3) DEMYSTIFYING “The VINE” EVALUATION RATION

“I’m a Single Person Making an Evaluation of a Craft Product. Through My Wine Evaluation Ratio, I Want to Credit Excellent Terroir and Wine Making, Acknowledge a Wines History and Cultural Importance While Exposing Poorly Made Anonymous Wines. The Wine Evaluation Ratio is a Tool For People Looking to Be Demystified.”

STATEMENT Of INTENT– Before You Evaluate a Wine You Must State What Purpose You are Evaluating the Wine For and Consequentially What Specific Criteria You Will Be Calibrating it to. In the Past Wine Raters and the Criteria or Systems They Used to Rate Wines Have Been Kept In Secret Leaving the Entire Wine Rating In a Grey State.

  • PERSONAL LIKING- (Subjective)
    • Criteria– Typicity, Price, Bottle Presentation……“Yes”…“No”
  • QUALITY-PRICE RATIO- Rating a Wine Based On the Ratio of Its Quality Compared to Its Price. The Higher the Quality and the Less Expensive the Wine is the Better the Ratio and Better Perceived Value. Cheap vs. Inexpensive. vs. Value.
    • Criteria– Price, Quality, Typicity, Structure
  • BLIND- (Subjective/ Objective)
    Diminishing Criteria For Blind Tasting….Country, Region, Bottle Shape, Label, Price

    • Criteria–
    • **Refer to “WINE EVALUATION/ Blind Tasting” For Additional Information.

“The Only Thing You Really Need to Know When Drinking a Wine is Where is it From? What Does it Smell Like? And Most Importantly Do I Like It?”

DEMYSTIFYING “The VINE” SCORING GRID

“Not a Score But a Caliber/ Merit, Average of Objectively Quality, Back-Story, Intrigue, Value...25 Point Total 69-97 Point Scale.”

  • PALATE STRUCTURE        16%…4 Points _____
  • PALATE FLAVORS              16%…4 Points _____
  • AROMA                                  16%…4 Points _____
  • TYPICITY                               12%…3 Points _____
  • SIGHT                                       4%…1 Point  _____ 
  • BACK STORY                           4%…1 Point ______ 
  • VINI-PROCESS                       8%…2 Points ______
  • PRICE                                      12%…3 Points ______
  • DID I LIKE IT                         12%…3 Point ______
    • “Total”                                                     _______
  • ——————————————————————————

“I Can Generally Tell Just By Smelling a Wine If It Possesses Quality or Not.”

  • PALATE STRUCTURE – Structure Should Be the Backbone of a Wine.
    • **Refer to “WINE EVALUATION/ Wine-Structure” For Additional Information.
  • PALATE FLAVORS
    • **Refer to “WINE EVALUATION/ Wine-Flavor” For Additional Information.
  • AROMA
    • **Refer to “WINE EVALUATION/ Wine-Aroma” For Additional Information.
  • TYPICITY
    • **Refer to “WINE EVALUATION/ Blind Tasting” For Additional Information.
  • SIGHT
    • **Refer to “WINE EVALUATION/ Wine-Sight” For Additional Information.
  • VINI-PROCESS– Exceptional Production Processes Need to Be Equated.
    • **Refer to “VINICULTURE” For Additional Information.
  • Demystifying “The Vine” Secondary Scoring Grid
    • AFTER THE SCORING GRID, MY BASIC WINE GRADING SCALE IS THIS
      • 5- Exceptionable
      • 4- Great
      • 3- Good
      • 2- Average/ All Right
      • 1- Bad
      • 0- Faulty/ Undrinkable

“Tasting and the Evaluation of Wine is a Full Cognitive and Sensory Experience.”

ROBERT PARKER WINE SCORING

  • PIONEERS~ ~Robert Parker~ Wine Critic F0r Wine Spectator Magazine.
    • His Score In the 1990’s Changed the Way Wine Was Thought of and Consumed. His 50- 100 Point Scoring Scale.
      • 50-59 Points- A Wine Deemed to Be Unacceptable.
      • 60-69 Points- A Below Average Wine Containing Noticeable Deficiencies.
      • 70-79 Points- An Average Wine With Little Distinction.
      • 80-89 Points- A Above Average Wine to Very Good.
      • 90-95 Points- An Outstanding Wine of Exceptional Complexity and Character.
      • 96-100 Points- An Extraordinary Wine of Profound and Complex Character.

UC DAVIS 20 POINT SCALE SYSTEM SCORING GUIDE

University of California at Davis 20 Point Scale System Organoleptic Evaluation Scoring Guide For Wine. The Davis System Was Developed by Dr. Maynard A. Amerine, Professor of Enology at the University of California and His Staff In 1959 as a Method of Rating the Large Number of Experimental wines That Were Being Produced at the Uniersity.  The Davis System is Straightforward. It Assigns a Cretain Number of Points to Each of 10 Categories Which Are Them Totaled to Obtain the Overall Rating Score For a Given Wine.

  • Clarity (2 Points)                            Color (2 Points)
  • Bouquet (4 Points)                         Total Acidity (1 Point)
  • Sweetness (1 Point)                        Body/ Texture (2 Points)
  • Flavor/ Taste (2 Points)                Astringency (1 Point)
  • Overall Quality (4 Points)
    • 17-20 Points- Wines of Outstanding Characteristics, Having No Defects.
    • 13-16 Points-  Standard Wines With Neither Outstanding Character or Defects.
    • 9-12 Points- Wines of Commercial Acceptability With Noticeable Defects.
    • 5-8 Points- Wines Below Commercial Acceptability.
    • 1-5 Points- Completely Spoiled Wines.
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “Does a Certain Wine Style or Vinification Process Play a Part In Assessing the Quality of a Wine?”
    • “Style or Vinification Process Shouldn’t Be Confused With Quality, But the History or Back Story Behind a Wine Style Can and Should Be Taken Into Consideration With Evaluating the Overall Enjoyment or Education Aspect of a Wine or a Growing Region.”

“Think When You Drink Your Wine.”

  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Always Ponder the Wine For a Least 32 Seconds.~
    • “Take at Least 32 Seconds to Ponder a Wine…Look, Smell, Taste and Ponder. Even If You are Just Drinking For the Buzz. The 3 Things You to Discover In That Time is.”
      • What Type of Grape is It?
      • Where Was it Grape Grown?
      • Do You Like the Wine?

SPITTING WINE WHILE DOING TASTINGS

  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “Do you Ever Wonder if I Should Spit or Swallow?”
    • “Seasoned Drinkers, Wine Professionals and Sommeliers Wanting to Get the Most From Their Wine Tasting Experience Know It’s Imperative to “Spit” During a Portion of a Wine Tasting Event. Spitting Allows Tasters and Evaluators to Get a Full Impression of the Wine Without Getting Inebriated and Losing Their Palates Sharpness. After About a 10 Ounces of Wine the Tasting Receptor In Your Mount and  On Your Tongue Close Down Due to Alcohol Absorption and the Perception of Flavors Diminish. After a Wine Festival Where the Potential For Over 100 Wines Can to Be Tasted, Your Palate Will Quickly Becomes “Fatigued”.  Be Aware That Trace Amounts of Alcohol Gets Vaporized an Absorbed On Your Palate and After More Than 25 Tastings You’ll Possess and Slight Buzz.”
  • TIPS FOR SPITTING WINE
    • There’s an Art to Spitting that Can Be Learned, Practiced and Mastered.
    • Purse Your Lips and Use a Bit of Force when Spitting.
    • Carry a Personal Plastic Cup or Spitting Vessel, or Use the Dump Bucket.
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Carry a Personal Spitting Vessel~
    • “At Wine Festivals or Tasting Events I Always Carry a Personal Spitting Vessel With Me.  Mine Choice of Container is Always the Same, a 8 oz. Wide Mouth Plastic Bottle With a Top That I Can Screw On Tightly. I Can Pull it Out of My Pocket and Return With Quickly and Precision With No Mess or Second Though. I Get  A Lot of Looks and Comments About it, and I Look Like a Professional Because I am.”

CULTURE- Spitting is Widely Accepted In Countries Around the World. So Part of the “Norm” That Across France it’s Accepted to Spit On the Gravel Floor or In Drains.

  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “When Sipping and Spitting What Percentage of Alcohol In the Wine Does Your Palate Absorb?”
    • “I Feel Your Palate Absorbs 5%- 7% of the Alcohol In Wine While Sipping and Spitting.”
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “What Percentage of a Wine Can You Appreciate While Sipping and Spitting?”
    • “I Feel Your Palate Can Appreciate 88%-90% of a Wine While Sipping and Spitting, There is About 10% of a Wine That Can’t Be Truly Appreciated or Assessed Completely Without Fully Swallowing the Wine.”

CLEANING YOUR PALATE DURING TASTING

  • Bland, Cracker, Sorbet
  • Water, Hoppy Beer, Dry Champagne, Time
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Hydrate Before and or After Your Wine Tasting.~
    • “Drinking Water Can Dilute and Throw-Off Your Palate.”

THERE’S NO RIGHT And WRONG WHEN It COMES To WINE

  • While There’s a Right and a Wrong When Objectively Evaluating a Wine, There Isn’t a Right and Wrong Response to Subjectively Enjoying a Wine. Someone Who Pushes Their “This Grape is Better, or You Should Like This Wine More” is Pushing Their Own Subjective Palate or Agenda. The Only Right/ Wrong That There is When Enjoying a Wine is Weather or Not you Like the Wine or Not.

4) DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURES

  • WHAT Is a DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~
    • ~Some Act or Lesson That Will Help You In Your Wine Journey.~

BEFORE TASTING

  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Always Be Mindful of Your Wine at All Times.~
    • “As Soon You Procure Your New Wine Bottle Be Aware of it at All Times.  Just a Small Lapse of Leaving the Bottle On the Kitchen Counter For 30 Minutes In Direct Sun or Indirect Sun Exposure Can Effects Your Wine.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Be Hungry When Evaluating Wine.~
    • “Prior to Wine Tasting or Evaluating Wine Make Sure to Be Staving or at Least a Little Hungry. This State of Hunger Will Enhance Your Smelling and Tasting Senses.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Calibrating Your Palate to High Tannins.~
    • “If You Want to Know and Understand High Tannins, Over-Steep a Cup of Black Tea and Drink.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Don’t Wear Perfume or Heavy Lotions When You Know You’re Going to Be Tasting Wine In an Academic Environment.~
    • “If You Know You’re Going to a Wine Tasting Don’t Use Perfume. Even if You Perceive it as “Just a Little”, Other at the Tasting Are Usually Very Sensitive to Outside Aromas.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Mind Set or Mood Has a Great Influence On the Enjoyment and the Score or Evaluation Rating.~
    • “The Time of Day, Who You’re With, What Your Eating, Will This Bottle Lead to Sex? A lot About Drinking and Enjoying Wine is All About Context. Try to Be Conscious of Your State of Mind and Adjust Accordingly When Evaluating Wine.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Hydrate Before and or After Your Wine Tasting.~
    • “Drinking Water Can Dilute and Throw-Off Your Palate.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Visiting the Wine Areas “Downtown” Tasing Rooms.~
    • “The Majority of Great Wine Regions Have “Downtown” Tasting Rooms or a “Wine-Square” Where’s There’s a Concentration of Wine Experiences.  A Lot of Time the Estate Wineries Will Close Around 5 pm. and After You Are Still Interested In Wine, These Tasting Room Provide Another Side to Culture of That Region.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Try to Constantly Work On Developing Your Wine Palate.~
    • “Practice and Develop Confidence In Your Palate, Over Time Try to Calibrate Your Palate to Identify the Structure of the Wine as Well as Aromas and Flavors. Recognize and Identify the Objective Factors/ Personal Markers and Are Found In Wines, Learn and Understand the Cause of These Factors.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Work On Developing Your Wine Palate.~
    • “Evaluating Wine is a Complex, Multi-Sensory Experience. It’s Up to You to Coax Your Palate and Brain to Make the Connection Between Sight, Smell and Taste to Create a Personal Impression of Wine.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Construct Your Personal “Wine Vocabulary” and Hone Your Verbal Skills.~

    • “The Best Way to Learn “Wine Speak” is to Construct Your Own Personal  Wine Sensory and Description Vocabulary.  One That You Have a True Understanding of and One You Posses Complete Command of.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Be Aware of Your Wines Temperature.~
    • “Red and White Wines Have Different Chemical Compositions That are Influenced by the Temperature of the Wine.  The Temperature Has a Noticeable Effect On a Wines Sensory Traits and Our Sensory Perception.  Structural Elements and Aromatics are Dampened or Enhanced with Temperature Change In Wine.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ “When Opening Old Wines the Main Goal is to Get the Cork Out In One Piece.”
    • “No Matter How Much Time and Effort it May Take the “Clean Open” is Your Objective. Take All the Time You Need and All the Opener Resources You May Have to Achieve This.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Always Decant Your Wines When Possible.~
    • “When You Pour the Wine Into the Decanter it Get a Splash of Oxygen With the Introduction of Air. Once Inside the Decanter the Wine Has a Huge Surface to Mix With the Oxygen. When You Pour from the Decanter the Wine Get Another Blast of Oxygen. Besides Air Exposure Decanting a Wine Helps With Older Wine Which Had Dropped Some Sediment. When You Pour Into a Decanter You a Can Leave the Sediment In the Bottle.”

DURING TASTINGS

  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Smell Your Wine Starting at You Waist Then Your Chest Then Your Nose.~
    • “A Real ‘Intense’ Aromatic Wine Can Be Smelled if You Hold the Glass at Your Waist.  A “Good” Aromatic Nose Can Be Smelled With Glass to Your Chest. If Your Can Smell a Wine Under Your Nose the Wine is Lacking.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Assessing Alcohol In Your Glass of Wine.~
    • “When Assessing ABV. In a Wine You Are Drinking Without Looking On the Label.   After Your Initial Swallow a Sip of Wine  Take In a Prolonged/ Shallow Breathe In. The Fumes From Higher Alcohol Wines Should Give a Warming Sensation to Your Chest.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Always Use the Stem of the Wine Glass.~
    • “Hold the Wine Glass by the Stem or at the Base. (Never Touch Glass Bulb.) Swirl the Wine Around the Glass. (Either In the Air or On a Flat Surface). This Coats the Inside of the Glass With a Layer of Wine Which Increases the Surface and Evaporation Rate and Amplifies the Aromas. Hold the Glass In the Light So You Can See Through it, You Are Looking For Clarity and Color.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Appreciate Your Wine.~
    • “Think When You Drink Wine, Don’t Be a Passive Drinker. Take the Time and Effort to Appreciate the Scents, Flavors and Structure That Grapes and Vinification Gives Us. Get Your Mind Focused, Free and Clear to Concentrate of the Wine In the Glass.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Always Ponder the Wine For a Least 32 Seconds.~
    • “Take at Least 32 Seconds to Ponder a Wine…Look, Smell, Taste and Ponder. Even If You are Just Drinking For the Buzz. The 3 Things You to Discover In That Time is.”
      • What Type of Grape is It?
      • Where Was it Grape Grown?
      • Do You Like the Wine?
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Calibrate the Wines Needs Before Decanting.~
    • “Before You Can Decant a Wine, You Must Quantify the Style and Character of a Wine In Order to Accurately Choose What Decanting Measure and Duration to Use. Think of a Bottle of Wine as “Sleeping” or “Hibernating” Do You Want to Violently Wake it Up or Gently Wake it Up.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Take a Moment to Feel the Wine In Your Mouth.~
    • “Take a Larger Sip Than You Would Take Normally. Work the Wine Around Your Palate Without Swishing. Finally Take Two Small Slurps of Air For Oxygen to Open Up the Wine’s Flavors and Increase the Taste and Potential Textual Impact of the Wine.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURES~ ~Use Fresh Wine Glass Between Whites & Reds.~
    • “Hold Strong Convictions Regarding the Switching of Wine Glasses During a Wine Tasting When Going From White to Red Wine. The Commingling of Fresh Pinot Noir With a Glass In Which Chardonnay Had Just Been Enjoyed is Disappointing.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Vary the Size of Your Sips While Assessing the Wine.~
    • “The Size of the Sip When Tasting Wine Does Effect How We Taste it. The Amount of Volatile Released When Wine Interacts with Saliva In the Mouth is Perceived Differently. Just as You Want to Smell a Wine Differently You Should Try to Taste Wine Differently In a Range of Sip Proportions to Get the Most Flavors and Subtleties Out of Your Wine.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Taste the Wines In the Proper Order.~
    • “When Evaluating a Wine Start with the Body of the Wine as You Feel it On Your Palate, Then Move to Assessing Sugar/ Sweetness, Acidity/ Sourness, Tannins/ Astringency, Then Alcohol Levels.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Know Your Geography & Topography.~
    • “To Understand the Wine World and Benefit From DtheV.com a Understanding of Geography is Needed and the Ability to Visualize Its Wine Regions Topography.  DtheV.com and the General Wine World  is Organized In a North to South / East to West Orientation and Intended to Be Researched and Memorized as So.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Try to Visualizing the Wine Worlds Geography In Your Mind.~
    • “In Order To Truly Become a Geography & Topography Master a Visualization of Maps While Closing Your Eyes is a Must.  Practice by Studying a Map of the Bordeaux.  Close Your Eyes and Visualize the Orientation of the Rivers, Surrounding Mountains Sub-Zones and the AOC.’s That Fill It Out.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~When Blind Tasting Try to Minimizing the Wine World.~
    • “When Blind Tasting, (Especially When You Have a Time Limit Per Wine) It’s Imperative to Minimize the Wine World Fast. Start Out by Identifying Objective Factors or Lack There of In the Wine. After Identifying Multiple Objective Factors Cross Reference Those With Classic Blind Tasting Varietals Until You Can Make an Educated Decision.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~A Sip and Spit Your Wine When Drinking or Assessing A Lot of Wine.~
    • “When Going to a Wine Festival or Doing A Lot of Assessing it Will Benefit Your Palate and Help You Not Get Wasted.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Buy a Case of the Same Wine and Drink One Bottle a Year For 12 Years.~
    • “Drinking the Some Wine Over a Extended Period of Time Can Be a Multi-Benifitial Experiment, For Both Your Palate and Your Patience. ”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Open and Systematically Drink a Bottle of Wine Over the Course of a Week.~
    • “This Practice Will Help Understand and Contify the Development of the Oxidation Leading to the Degeneration of the Wine.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Let Wine Bring Your Friends and Loved Ones Together.~
    • “When Drinking For Pleasure Wine Can Be Used as Social Lubricant.  After a Mention to the Wine Enjoyment Factors and Remarks On a Wine Character the Conversation Should Move Onto Topics Regarding Real Life. Wine Brings People Together But Shouldn’t Be the Basic of What’s Talked About In Non-Wine Events. Seem More Interesting.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Always Bring a Great Bottle From Your Home Cellar and Pay the Corkage Fee.~
    • “This Practice Will Help You Avoid the Absorbent Mark-Up That Restaurant Charge While Enjoying thr Perfect Wine From Your Cellar. If a Restaurant Has a Corkage Fee of $25 It Will Be Far Better Than Buying the Wine Valued at $30 That the Restaurant is Charging $125 For.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Reduction~
    • “If the Odors On of the Wine Aren’t Too Bad Letting the Wine Breath or Decanting the Wine Will Help In the Oxidation of the Volatile Sulphur Compounds and Minimize the Faults.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Is the Wine Low or High Acid.~
    • “Place the Tip of Your Tongue Against the Roof of Your Mouth, and See How Much You Salivate.  Tip Your Head Forward So Your Eyes Are Facing the Floor, Open Your Mouth and See if You Drool….A Little or a Lot.”
  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Carry a Personal Spitting Vessel~
    • “At Wine Festivals or Tasting Events I Always Carry a Personal Spitting Vessel With Me.  Mine Choice of Container is Always the Same, a 8 oz. Wide Mouth Plastic Bottle With a Top That I Can Screw On Tightly. I Can Pull it Out of My Pocket and Return With Quickly and Precision With No Mess or Second Though. I Get  A Lot of Looks and Comments About it, and I Look Like a Professional Because I am.”

AFTER TASTING

  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Using Half Wine Bottles to Preserve Wine.~
    • “When Not Planning to Drink the Entire Bottle of Wine Put Half the Wine In a Half Bottle With Filled to the Top. I Find This the Best Way tho Preserve the Wine, Often For Up to 10 Days.”

NON TASTING RELATED

  • DEMYSTIFYING PROCEDURE~ ~Don’t Do an Entire “Mega” Wine Region In One Day or One Weekend.~
    • “When Traveling to a Large Wine Region Like the Central Coast or Bordeaux Don’t Try to Consume It In All at Once.  As With the Central Coast Don’t Go to a Winery In Santa Ynez In the Late Morning and Then Drive Up to Paso Robles F0r an Afternoon Tasting.  This Rushes the Entire Experience All While Passing Multiple Quality Wine Areas Along the Way.  Take Your Time to Explore an Area and Get the Feel For the Vineyards and Wine by Visiting Multiple Wineries.”

**Refer to “BIBLIOGRAPHY/ Sources” For Details On Scholarly Works Referenced.