Check me out! A NEW blog series! After writing last week’s blog post about how I know I’ve been coming up short, I realized I wanted to do something new, something non-wedding related. Jen & Ashley have their Styled posts, Katelyn has her home decor posts, and I’ve been wanting to find something to blog about that I really enjoy on a personal level. I was talking through it with Matt and brought up the idea of blogging about different wines since I love trying new varieties, and wallah! Wine Wednesday was born. You all can thank Matt for that catchy little title- that was all him.

Here’s what I’m thinking for Wine Wednesdays: I love wine (in healthy proportions). I love trying new types, searching the wine aisles for hidden gems, and being able to order a glass in a nice restaurant with confidence. I’d be willing to wager that there are at least a few of you out there who aren’t as familiar with the differences between a Pinot Noir and a Merlot, or who are slightly intimidated by the grocery store’s wine selection? Let’s break it all down here! I’m going to blog about the differences between stemware, how to taste a glass of wine, the different varieties, how to store your wine, etc. My hope is that for those of you who are, as of now, intimidated by all the choices available you’ll be able to find something you like and be willing to branch out a bit more!

Virginia wine lover

So with all that said, I thought we’d start the first week off super easy by chatting about how to pour and taste a glass of wine!

1) Start out by making sure you have the appropriate type of glass for whatever you’re serving (large, bulbous glasses for reds, more narrow glasses for whites, flutes for anything sparkling- we’ll chat more about that next time). Check the glass to make sure it’s clean, even give it a sniff to make sure it doesn’t have any lingering soapy or musty smells (if so, give it a rinse).

2) Once you’re satisfied with the glass, place it on the table, then pour to the center of the glass for reds + whites. If you’re pouring anything sparkling, hold the glass and pouring against the side to preserve the carbonation.

3) Pour reds until you get the widest part of the bulb, then stop- usually about 1/3 full. Whites should be poured until about 1/3, but you can get away with a little more with whites. The reason WHY you stop at the fullest part of the glass for reds is to give your wine the largest surface area possible to decant (breathe, aerate)- doing so lets your wine rest and come into its best flavor possible before drinking it. I’ll be doing some experiments in the next few weeks, testing a decanted glass of wine vs. the same wine straight from the bottle to see just HOW much of a difference it makes.

4) Give your wine glass a good swirl, then stick your nose into the glass and take a deep breath- what do you smell? What’s your initial impression?

5) Now take a sip. But don’t swallow it immediately- let it roll around in your mouth so you can really EXPERIENCE the flavors the wine has to offer. If you’ve ever been to a wine tasting and heard people slurping with a sip of wine in their mouth, it’s to give the wine even more of a chance to aerate.

See? Now you look like a pro! And in case you feel like picking up a book on wines, this is one I definitely recommend- it’s a GREAT source for people who aren’t as familiar with wines as they’d like to be.

Virginia wine lover

Happy Wednesday!

Wine Wednesdays- musings of a vino novice

November 14, 2012

  1. Jean says:

    Wine tasting with you was such a hoot!

  2. Ursha says:

    What a great idea for a blog post! I don’t drink alcohol but i did enjoy this post! I was recently in Italy and we had wine tasting of some of Italy finest wines and it was such a great experience 🙂

  3. Rebekah says:

    I’ve slowly been wading my way through the wine world in the past year or two. I can’t wait to learn more about it from you. Still haven’t found a red wine I like.

  4. Anna K. says:

    oooh, excited to hear about your suggestions! I love a good glass of wine!

  5. YAY Abby! I am SO excited about this blog series!!! I LOVE wine and consider myself an amateur wine enthusiast haha so I can’t wait to read what else you have in store for this series! 😉 I didn’t know about the different glasses for reds and whites…very interesting!

  6. Stephen says:

    Wine is yummy 🙂

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