October 2009 Archives
Mom and I toured several wineries and tasted lots of wine, but the first tour we took was at the Robert Mondavi Winery and was led by a lovely man named Doug, who is a chemist. At the end of the tour, we tasted three of the Mondavi wines. They were nice, but not our favorite. But Doug taught us his method of wine tasting that was interesting and has, thus far, proven to be an easy way to make it look like you know something about a wine while actually figuring out if you like the wine you are tasting. And now I'm going to share it with all of you.
First, you need a small pour of wine. Two ounces works great. No need for anyone to get tipsy here.
The first step is to stick your nose in the glass and get a good smell for it. Then set the glass back down and swirl it around get it all aerated. Stick your nose in it again and get a bigger whiff. Most likely, the wine will smell much more fragrant than the first time. Doug said that at this point, you should be able to tell if the wine is off. But let's assume that the wine isn't off and start tasting.
Next, take a sip of the wine. Don't judge it, just let it be. Because at this step, the pH of your mouth and the pH of the wine are different and your taste buds don't want you to ingest something that is foreign. So you are just trying to acclimate your mouth to the wine.
For your second sip of the wine, take a bigger gulp and swish it all around like you would mouthwash before you swallow. Probably not a good idea to gargle with it, but you get the gist.
For your third and final taste in this process, your mouth is now acclimated to the pH of the wine and you can get an accurate taste and try to come up with something pithy to say about the wine so you sound knowledgeable.
And that is all there is to wine tasting.
I also learned that I'm not the world's worst photographer like I thought I was. All these photos reflect the four colors I'm working on for the Napa Valley Collection. They'll be up in a slideshow on the Sundara Yarn website shortly.
I'll have a slideshow on the forthcoming Sundara Yarn Collection: Napa Valley sometime next week, as well as details on the Collection. But for now, I'll finish the week with some of the scenery we saw here.
A hillside of vines at sunrise:
And seriously, could it be any more perfect than this?
Some of the variations in greens at one of the wineries:
A hillside of vines at sunrise:And seriously, could it be any more perfect than this?
It's a hard life; taking a working vacation in Napa Valley. Mom is getting a massage, I'm sipping a lovely Pinot Noir and next I'll probably take a nap. In our defense, we got up early and took photos of the sunrise, which I'll show you tomorrow. The best lighting for photos is at sunrise and sunset, so during the day, we can visit wineries, swim in the pool and eat well without feeling too guilty.
We took a very interesting tour of the Robert Mondavi winery and learned a bit about the process of growing wine grapes and taking them through the process of wine making. Much more complex than yarn dyeing!
My mom and I are in Napa Valley all this week soaking up the colors in preparation for the next Sundara Yarn Collection. It is just gorgeous here!
