There are always annual wine tastings that I attend. Strong social ties that keep me attending year after year usually accompany these events. One that is on the agenda for this upcoming Friday is at the local tennis club is having its wine tasting. A friend I went to Wine College with always calls to ask how many tickets I would like for this event. The tasting is a time for us to get together compare notes as we taste and catch up on how the other person is doing. I always get my friend to get me a few extra tickets so I can invite other people as well. This is also starting an annual event for some of my previous guest. I suggest to everyone to get in the habit of finding wine events and invite all your closest friends. You will eventually find the ones that enjoy wine tasting. Your friends will also help you enjoy the event better by having more opinions on the wines you are tasting, or just provide casual conversation. You may also meet new people through your guests. The whole atmosphere is what wine is all about.
You might want to brush up on your wine vocabulary before you go to a wine tasting. You may have a good palate and a great nose, but if you can't describe or understand the wine in terminology, you're missing half the event.
Lets start with the body of the wine. The body is the weight. A good way to judge body is to pour red wine into three different glasses. Add a little water to the second glass and a little more to the third glass. This is a good way to see how a wine can be described as "full bodied" (being the first glass that hasn't been diluted with water). The second glass becomes "thin" and then the third wine is called "lean". A full-bodied wine can have many descriptions like "complete" or "well structured."
Some people like to concentrate on the balance of a wine. The sweetness combined with the acids and tannins yields balance. If one component is too overpowering, it throws off the balance and the wine is called "unbalanced." Acids and tannins help a wine age. If they are increased, the fruit character must be powerful enough to balance out the wine and withstand the bottle-aging process. If the wine is unbalanced due to a higher acid level, the wine can be called "dried out," "biting," "sharp," or "short." If the wine has a high tannin, you could describe it as "bitter," "harsh," or stemmy."
