How to survive those awkward wine tasting dinners

Henri Giraud is one of the many great producers of champagne in Champagne. I am fortunate to attend a number of wine tasting dinners including this featuring a number of Henri Giraud cuvée. They pride themselves in oak barrel (Fût de chêne) aging their wine specifically in oak found in the woods of the forest of Argonne, a forest between Paris and Champagne.

I always find these sort of wine tasting dinners awkward. Unless you are with a couple of friends, you are usually seated with a number of strangers. I will always try to think in advance what kind of crowd will attend specific wine tasting dinners. I have a theory that different wine tasting dinners will bring in different set of crowd. For some wine tasting dinners, there might be more of a relaxed atmosphere; whereas, some will bring out a party of wine snobs.

Of course, I am here to tell you how to survive those having a party of wine snobs. The typical rundown is the exchange of pleasantries. My name is Calvin and nice to meet you. The weather is fantastic today. This is such a nice venue and fantastic restaurant. The conversation will usually be quite superficial then sooner or later there will be a turning point. It starts when there is an apéritif or your first wine in the menu.

Sense of Sight

Tasting wine is all about utilizing all your senses. The sense of sight, smell, and taste are an important factor in determining how much you like the wine. Once the wine is poured, you can immediately get a sense of what kind of wine it may be. Remember, wine tasting is all about clues. In a white wine, it is lemony greenish or more golden in colour? In a red wine, is it purple of is it more garnet? The wine snob would hold the glass at a 45 degrees angle against the white table cloth to determine the exact hue of the wine. His eyes piercing through the wine. He would voice out, look at the golden hue of this wine. Amazing. Calvin, what do you think?

At that point, I usually have already finished half the glass. The first glass of wine is very important to me. You know someone is usually late and we need to wait for everyone to start. By that point when the first drink is poured, I just go for it.

Of course, to survive this conversation, you simply grin and nod. Remember, grin and nod your way out. The more vigorous your do it, the more you approve of their comment. All the wine snob needs is approval and someone to reaffirm their status in the wine community. At the end of the day, they need someone, anyone, to boost their ego.

Of course, you are not a snob but that doesn’t mean you don’t know your wine. In my head, I understood what he wanted to say. The golden hue most likely means the white wine has been aged and most likely in oak barrels. A prolonged period of bottle ageing will also deepen the colour even further. This could be one of the vintage Henri Giraud champagne. Or any Chardonnays could exhibit a more golden hue compared to other white wines even without prolonged aging.

Sense of Smell

When I am at these wine tasting dinners, all my senses are elevated. This is not just because of the wine but I am interested in how snobby some people could be. After a wine snob inspects the wine visually, they would sniff. Sniff they will. I’ve witnessed and heard some sniff so forcefully and violently that I thought they must have another hobby of sniffing another sort of substance. And some would pace their nose around the rim of the glass like a racetrack. It is indeed quite a spectacle.

I don’t blame them because the sense of smell is one of the most important senses in identifying the taste of the wine. The smell of the wine could determine how the wine would taste. If you plug your nose and taste any wine, it would taste differently than if you taste the wine normal with its aromas naturally emitted through the glass to your nose. This also explains why the type of glass for specific wines are also important. Although, the type of glass can be entirely another post alone. Your sense of smell is inherently linked to your sense of taste.

Calvin, can you smell the pronounced citrussy lemon, lime and lemon peel? My head usually gets transported to a fruit market whenever someone is asking me these questions or when I am nosing the wine myself. I rarely pick up a lemon or lime and sniff it in a market but I try my best to remember what they smell like. I do recommend you try it next time in a market. Pick up and sniff different fruits and vegetables and try to get a sense of how they smell like and remember that sensation. You will look weird but you are not a wine snob so you shouldn’t care about how people perceive you.

The wine snob then attempt to create a whirlpool in their glass. He kept swirling and swirling. I usually stare and admire their wrist action in creating such a vortex inside their glass. There is an immensely important function to swirl your wine other than to create a vortex for fun. When you swirl the wine, you actually introduce oxygen into the wine and releases more aromas that night be missing or masked by other smells. You should pick up more aromas after you’ve swirl your glass thus creating an even better understanding of the wine you are tasting. When you swirl, you could also see the legs or the viscosity of the wine. This usually gives you an idea of the alcohol and sugar content of the wine before actually tasting the wine.

Then there will be a big nod from the wine snob, yes he exclaimed, “that toasty, buttery even smoky notes are coming. Oh yes…Calvin my god this is really good.” At this point, I just nod and grin. Nod and grin. In my head, I always want to know why. Yes, it’s toasty and buttery and smoky but why? Toasty notes will most likely come come prolonged aging in a barrel with dead yeast cells. The aging in an oak barrel could also contribute to the wine’s sense of buttery and smokiness.

The type of oak such as new oak, old oak or a combination of both will also make a distinct difference in the wine. In general, the newer the oak will translate more of the smokiness and oaky nose on the wine compared to older used oaks. There is also a difference between American and French oak but this will be a completely separate post talking about oak alone. This is why Henri Giraud pride themselves in aging their wine in specific oak barrel specifically from the Forest of Argonne. For some of their wines, they could trace back to which specific tree that we used to make the barrel that the wine was aged in. They believe this gives the wine a special nose and mouthfeel and added complexity to the wine.

Sense of Taste

Picture being in a fancy restaurant and you have groups of people dressed up for the occasion. Then everyone started to gargle their wine like mouthwash. Seriously, what’s going on. Tasting wine is all about the gargle. Your taste buds on your tongue is strategically placed in different areas on your tongue. For example, you taste sweetness at the tip of your tongue and sourness at the sides. By gargling, you essentially is moving the wine around your tongue and trying to pick up specific tastes. At the same time, you also introduce oxygen into the wine and further accentuates the taste of the wine. Gargle to your heart’s content because the wine snob sitting beside you will appreciate your efforts and will nod in acceptance.

Still remember the wine?

Remember, wine tasting is about the wine. The ritual above is a standard in how we taste wines. No one can force you to follow it to the tee. The most important factor is understanding why wine snobs do what they do. Once you understand the concept and the why, then you could create your own ritual. It is about consistency in tasting wine. Do not get bogged down by the process. You could create your own ritual that let you appreciate the wine your are tasting. The wine snob will only nod in approval because at the end of the day, it is not about showing off or being agreeable, it is about you knowing your own tastes and what type of wine you love.