Creating a family from scratch, as you know, takes so much work and so many ingredients!! One very important ingredient is… sorry…not wine… but QUALITY TIME! The past couple of weeks Jordan and I have gotten to spend quite a bit of quality time not only together as a couple but with family as well. It was so much fun and can be such a great way to have a date night with your husband, a much needed girls night, or even just spend some time with your parents and in-laws! Family is so important, and Jordan and I LOVE finding fun new ways to spend time together, and there’s wine involved so who can complain?!
If you read last weeks Pairing of the Week I talked about a wine tasting we went to with my parents and in-laws called Invintions Winery. We found this awesome Groupon to do “wine tasting for 4” and bought it for Mother’s Day gifts this past year. The tasting included an unlimited amount of wine for 2 hours, a bottle to take home of our choice, along with 2 wine glasses, well worth the cost!
We actually first did this tasting two years ago for our two year anniversary as well. At that point Jordan was not much of a wine drinker but because of all the different wines we got to taste and learn about he started to figure out what he liked and didn’t like. Not only that but even if you aren’t hugely into wine it’s just something fun to do to switch up the whole “dinner and a movie” date night routine and actually encourages conversation between you and your spouse!
Maybe you’re thinking, “I don’t really want to spend the money…” or you’re like me and it’s just hard sometimes to leave the house with a baby. Well I’ve got you covered! You can do you’re own in-house wine tasting as a date night with the printable link at the end of this article. And as I said before, quality time with friends and other women is just as important. So this can also be a fun excuse to get together and have some much needed R&R and girl time.
Ok got it, quality time, now let’s get to the good stuff 🍷
As we sat and enjoyed our wine, we got this whole spiel on wine tasting etiquette and why it’s important for tasting wine. I learned a ton and was so shocked at how some of these tips truly enhance the flavor of the wines! So not only are you about to become a wine snob (if you aren’t already 😂) but I bet you’ll enjoy wine even more and enjoy spending quality time with friends and family by teaching them all these fun facts!
WINE TIP #1
Holding your glass! Have you ever wondered what the purpose of the fancy stem on a wine glass is? Wine glasses are actually designed that way for a reason. Typically a red wine should be served between 62-65º and white wine 49-55º (hence the purpose of a wine cooler). When you hold your wine glass on the glass itself, it alters the temperature of the wine, which actually greatly alters the flavor. Have you ever noticed your wine get sort of bitter as it get’s warmer? Check how you’re holding your glass! Not only that but look at how much better this glass on the right looks from holding the stem and how NASTY the one on the left is!
For the second part of the “how to hold your wine glass” tip was actually something Jordan and I were laughing about until we realized it’s actually a real thing 😂! THE PINKY OUT! (I told you- wine snobs!) But we learned that if you’re at a dinner or cocktail party of some sort and you’re walking around with a glass of wine, you should be holding the glass with your pinky under the bottom to support. With it here you have control of the glass and are less likely to spill it if someone bumps you. Then to drink you are supposed to remove the pinky from under the glass and hold it up…apparently there’s a ligament that goes up your arm and causes your elbow to go up which would bump into other people if you were to keep your pinky down (fancy huh?)
WINE TIP #2
Oxidize your wine! I’m sure you have seen those fancy decanters where you pour your wine into it and let it sit for a while. Or maybe you have seen the automatic one that you attach to your wine bottle and it aerates as it pours? Well those both serve a purpose but you don’t necessarily need one to enhance the flavor of your wine if you practice swirling! This allows oxygen to break down the tannins in your wine (which is that harsh, bitter sensation you may get on your tongue and cheeks). Many people turn away from wine right away because of this bitter tannin flavor, but if you properly oxidize, holy cow does the wine taste amazing! I recommend taking a sip FIRST then REALLY swirl for a couple of minutes to taste the difference!
WINE TIP #3
Prep your senses! The last big tip we learned that really changes how the wine tastes was how to actually prep your senses for the wine your about to taste. This includes smell and tastebuds. I’m sure you’ve seen people “smelling wine” and wondered what the heck they are doing (yes I have been there too.) By smelling the wine you are actually prepping your brain for the flavors the tastebuds are about to encounter. BUT the trick here is in how you smell the wine. You shouldn’t just stick your nose there and smell, it’s just going to smell like wine. The trick is to oxidize to separate the alcohol then turn the glass horizontally and smell from the top- down. At the top of the glass you’ll smell the alcohol, as you go down you’ll hit the fruit smells and at the bottom you’ll smell the oaks and woods. Try smelling both ways- it’s crazy what a difference it makes!
Now that your sense of smell is prepped, time to FINALLY take a sip! BUT remember- we still have to prep the tastebuds. You’ll do that by hitting all the taste buds on your tongue. Take a sip, let the wine fall towards the back of your throat over your tongue, but before swallowing let the wine come back forward and fall to the sides of your tongue. You should feel a bitter bite, that means it worked! Then take a regular sip and prepare for greatness! Again, many people take that first sip and feel that bitter bite from the initial contact to the tastebuds and immediately turn away from the wine. Once all these steps are taken it really helps break down that bitter taste and enhance the flavor!
Congratulations you are now an official wine snob!🎗🤣
But really, now what the heck are you supposed to do with all these fun facts and how do we turn it into quality time?
1- Find a local winery and have some fun learning about and tasting different wines. As I said before, you can have a fun, quality date night, girls night out or some family time!
2-Throw a wine tasting party!
Like I showed previously, I’ve done this a couple times in the past for bachelorette parties and birthday parties. Jordan and I have even done our own in-home date night with this. It is always such a fun time! I’m going to link the wine tasting printable below. I didn’t create this document, I found it years ago on Pinterest and have used it ever since!
So Step 1: Download This document!
Step 2- Get the wine- For your party, assign one bottle of wine to everyone on the guest list (If they bring any kind they want- the wines won’t match up with the wines on the wine tasting printable). For whites you’ll need 1 Chardonnay, 1 Pinot Grigio, 1 Reisling, 1 Moscato and 1 Sauvignon Blanc. For red’s you need 1 Merlot, 1 Pinot Noir, 1 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1 Zinfandel and 1 Syrah. You can also provide all of the wine if you’re feeling generous 😉
Step 3- Set up- When the wine arrives you’ll want to hide the bottles-I typically wrap them in tissue paper (you can also use a paper bag) and number the whites 1-5 and the reds 1-5. If you really want the bottles to be blind you can also cut the paper that usually comes on the top of the bottle as well (that way people won’t recognize their own bottle).
You’ll also want a large table or space for everyone. On the table provide a “spit bucket” or bowl if people want to just taste and spit or don’t like the wine and want to dump it (horrifying I know!)
Food- I like to provide crackers (no salt) to “cleanse the pallet” and you can provide other fun pairings such as chocolates, cheeses or check out my Pairings from Scratch page for more ideas!
Party- Once everything is set up, you’ll pour everyone’s first taster- ALWAYS start with whites! Before they take a sip, you get to be the wine snob to explain all the fun tips you just learned about how to properly hold their glass and how to properly taste the wine they are about to taste. You’ll also be able to explain how to determine the body of the wine by explaining the “legs” of the wine like I showed in my video above. Then they get to taste and make their guesses on the back of the card. I typically like to buy a bottle of wine for whoever is the winner-but that’s up to you!
After that, sit back and have fun! With the craziness of our lives sometimes quality time really get’s pushed to the back burner. And by quality time I mean intentional, phone-free, meaningful time together. Whether it’s with your spouse, your friends or your family, ALWAYS find the time. You never know when that opportunity will suddenly disappear. And now you even have all the tools necessary to have some fun quality time, WINE INCLUDED! So there’s no more excuses! Cheers!
