Wine Not? How to Relax and Enjoy Your First Wine Tasting

So, you are going to a wine tasting for the first time. Are you a bit nervous? Intimidated? Or just plain curious? For many people, the idea of attending a wine tasting brings to mind snooty people sniffing their wine and spitting it out after making rude noises swishing it around in their mouth.

The truth looks nothing like that. Or at least it shouldn’t. Well, ok, it might. But a good wine tasting will consider people with all levels of wine knowledge and experience. A great place to consider for your first wine tasting experience is Baseline Wines, located on Athabascan Avenue in Sherwood Park.

The crew at Baseline Wines is both knowledgeable and friendly. When you enter the store, you will notice that the wine tasting room is located just to the left of the store. You can’t help miss it, because it is a glassed in room that is the focal point of the store.

The staff will help you deal with any coats or baggage you have and get you seated. There is no set seating so grab whichever looks the most comfortable.  All the seats offer easy viewing for the big screen TV where your host may show pictures of the wineries he is discussing.

In front of you, are glasses sitting on top of a paper placemat. On the placemat are the names of the wines you will taste.

•       top line refers to the winery.
•       second line is the type of wine and the year.
•       final line will tell you the name of the country. 

There are also communal plates of crackers, cheese or bread along the table. This is for eating between the wines so your tastebuds are cleaned off from the previous wine. Please refrain from snarfing. There are also carafes of water provided.

I have noticed that those who have a vast amount of knowledge about wines are quite eager to help those just starting out, so don’t hesitate to let people know this is your first time. I found our host at Baseline Wines, Ryan, to be very approachable and if he knows it is your first time, he can help coach you through.

Once the wine tasting begins, the host will pour a small amount of wine in your first glass. This is where most newbies start to sweat. But have no fear, you learned to drink as a baby and your years of experience will serve you well. It is perfectly acceptable to take a small sip of your wine and see how you like it. No one will snicker or point fingers and proclaim you a blasphemer.

You may notice that those around you are doing other things with their wine. They may be swirling it in their wine glass. This is to let the wine aerate a bit – or “letting it breathe”. This helps the less desirable elements of the wine evaporate and brings out the more desirable and aromatic elements.

Another thing you may notice is people sniffing their wine. Part of the enjoyment in tasting wine is experiencing all aspects of it and smelling the wine and discovering its “nose” is one aspect. When people sniff the wine, they are inhaling the aroma of the wine and trying to figure out what it smells like. Many wine tasters will refer to it as having a “nose of…” or a “aroma of…”

One of the more disconcerting and rather intimidating things you may notice is people doing odd things with the wine once it is in their mouth. It can appear rather odd to see and hear a grown adult swishing the wine around in their mouth with their cheeks puffed out. We usually give kids heck for pulling this trick. What they are doing is drawing air into the wine to enhance the tasting experience. It is not necessary for you to do this or to feel in any way inferior because you don’t. Frankly, your seat mates may silently thank you.

Of course, you can learn to introduce more air into the wine in a discrete way so you can more fully enjoy the process. Sip a small amount of wine, let it pool around your tongue and teeth, part your lips slightly and quietly suck in air, almost like a relaxed, reverse whistle. You will notice that the aromas of the wine fill your mouth and the flavour intensifies. Practice this at home, before the wine tasting so you are comfortable and confident you won’t end up with wine dribbling down your chin.

It is considered good etiquette not to say anything about the wine until every one has had a chance to try it. If you shout out “it tastes like wood chips!” before someone has had a chance to taste, it is considered the equivalent of shouting out “the butler did it!” in a movie theatre before the end of the show.

Don’t worry if you have nothing to say about the wine other than “I like it” or “I don’t care for this”. As you try more and more wines, you will become more discerning and understand why you like some wines more than others.

If you don’t like a wine, listen to how the more experienced wine tasters describe it. If they refer to it as being very oaky or full-bodied, then that might mean oaky, full-bodied wines are not for you. If you love it and others are calling it light and fruity, then you know where your palate lay.

If you find a wine you really love, make sure to make note of it. The Baseline Wines tastings provide slips of paper where you can write down your first, second and third choice. If you taste a wine you don’t care for, don’t feel you need to finish drinking it. Simply let it sit in the glass.

Throughout this process, your host will be providing information about the winery, the region the grapes were grown and any other interesting tidbits he comes across. This helps you gain a better understanding of the wines you are tasting.

After everyone has sampled the wine and compared notes, you can take a piece of cracker, cheese or a sip of water to cleanse your mouth from the taste of the wine and prepare for the next glass.

Sometimes, your host may say that a particular wine goes well with the cheese they have provided. By all means, pop a piece in your mouth and sip more wine. If you have the cheese and wine in your mouth at the same time, bite down on the cheese and let the flavours mix to get the full effect.

You will go through this process several times until all the different types of wine have been tasted. Once it is all done, you will be able to hold your head up high. You have survived your first wine tasting without ridicule and maybe even enjoyed yourself. 

But wait, it isn’t over just yet! At Baseline Wines, they offer all participants a 10% discount off the wines that were tasted.

Baseline Wine Tasting Schedule