By Kathleen Lisson, CSW

http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com

Step One: Train Yourself to Taste Wine

Gary Vaynerchuk is making the rounds of late night TV with bowls full of dirt and tobacco, but you really don’t have to go that far to discover the aromas and flavors in the your favorite wine’s tasting notes. If you’re in the Albany, NY area, attend my wine palate training class at the Honest Weight Coop.

Step Two: Learn to Taste Like a Pro

Wine tasting can be a sample as enjoying a glass on the deck at sunset or as complicating as judging flights of wines in a wine competition. If you’d like to get more enjoyment out of every glass of wine, do what the professionals do:

To full appreciate a wine’s flavor, inhale, take a sip, roll the liquid around in your mouth, coating your taste buds, and exhale through your nose before swallowing. If you are feeling brave, purse your lips in a small ‘o’ shape and inhale a little air, running it over the wine in your mouth, then exhale that air through your nose. After you swallow, note how long the taste of the wine stays in your mouth. This is called the wine’s ‘finish.’

• Taste white wine before red wine, light bodied before full bodied wine, ‘still’ (regular) wine before sweeter ‘dessert’ wine.
• Taste wine at the correct temperature, 50 – 60 degrees for whites, 55 – 65 degrees for rose, and 62 – 68 degrees for reds.
• Don’t put on cologne/perfume or brush your teeth before drinking wine.
• Instead of just drinking the wine, practice the 5 S’s of wine tasting – See, Swirl, Sniff, Sip and Savor.

Step Three: Pop Some Corks

This is a fun way to have an evening in with friends. Go to your local wine shop and ask for suggestions for a ‘sample case’ of wine. Choose one bottle of oaked Chardonnay, unoaked Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, dry Riesling, off dry Riesling, Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, fruit-bomb Merlot, old world Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah/Shiraz. Divvy the list up among your friends, and have your new ‘Wine Tasting Club’ get together over the course of a few weeks to sample 4-6 wines at a time. Taste, and then try to describe what you are tasting using the flavors you remember from your wine palate training.

Step Four: Practice Makes Perfect

 Learning about wine can take a lifetime; here are some fun ideas to get you on your way:

• Take your results from the wine tasting in Step Three and ask your local wine shop to put together a second case of wine for your personal use. Drink these wines over the next few months and choose which ones are your favorites.
• Follow your favorite wine around the world, trying versions from different countries.
• Rent a wine-related educational video from Netflix or your local library.
• Consider joining a wine group. Meetup.com and LocalWineEvents.com are great resources for finding local wine lovers.
• Pick up some books from the library on wine and food pairing and try different wines with family meals.
• Host a wine and dessert or wine and cheese tasting party at your home.

 Kathleen Lisson is a Certified Specialist of Wine and teaches wine classes in Albany, NY. Find wine and food pairing advice at my website: http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com

Do you have wines gathering dust on your wine rack? Here are ten great excuses to open your home, and that bottle of wine, to others this season.


Invite your coworkers over to a simple but festive meal. Bake a lasagna, toss a salad and open a few bottles of Chianti. Have everyone agree to leave work problems at the front door and talk about hobbies, brag about family and share funny or happy memories.

Celebrate a recent success with pizza and a bottle of Pinot Noir or Chianti. Meat Lover Supreme your idea of pizza? Pair your slice with a robust glass of Zinfandel!

Invite your boss or your spouse's boss over to dinner. Try a nice roast paired with a bottle of Pinot Noir.

Treat your next door neighbors to a casserole and a bottle of Oaky Chardonnay or rustic red wine and catch up on the neighborhood news.

Look up an old high school or college chum and rekindle the friendship. Laugh at how much you've both grown up (or haven't). Hearty stew goes well with a bottle of Malbec or Syrah.

Invite your son or daughter's sports coaches over for dinner, thanking them for their selfless effort.

Invite your priest or pastor over to a nice home cooked meal.

Invite the hockey crowd over and have a chicken wing party, pairing different types of wings with Merlot, Zinfandel and Syrah.

Invite your child's best friend's parents over for dinner.

Try out a new recipe on your best friend or close coworker. Drink a glass to your success, or drink two to practice making perfect.

And last but not least...

Let the kids sleep over at a friends house and make a romantic meal for just the two of you, capped off by a nice glass of wine cuddled on the couch.

Kathleen Lisson is a Certified Specialist of Wine and teaches wine classes in Albany, NY. Find wine and food pairing advice at my website: http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com