Sniff Out Keys to Wine Tasting
Sun Valley Center Wine Auction 101
July 26, 2002
The annual Sun Valley Center for the Arts Wine Auction, which takes
place this weekend, means many wine-swilling folks will not be running
around on the trails.
One can't do both, after all. In fact, the many activities associated
with the auction prohibit such aggressive behavior as hiking and biking.
To wit: On Friday afternoon there is an Italian Cult Wine Tasting
affair in the clubhouse of Thunder Spring on Saddle Road. Conducted
by Sergio Esposito of Manhattan's Italian
Wine Merchants it will highlight several classic Italian wines.
Even the names sound delicious on the tongue: Amarone,
Barolo,
Brunello,
Barbaresco
and Chianti.
Yum
The Wine Auction Dinner and Dance in the Piazza
Americana theme is being held on Friday night at River Run Lodge.
An elegant sit-down dinner is preceded by the auction, which generates
an enormous amount of revenue to the Sun Valley Center for the Arts'
education and arts programs.Renowned in New York for hte quality of
their Italian wines and their knowledge, Italian Wine Merchants is
a shop designed "To celebrate the lifestyleof Italian wine -
a Studio del Gusto - where people can learn and tast, and, of course,
buy," said its co-founder Joseph
Bastianich. Its Studio
del Gusto also holds cooking demonstrations that regularly sell
out.
On Saturday afternoon, the widely attended Wine Tasting is held on
teh lawn at the Sun Valley Resort, where vintners pour their wines
for hundreds of thirsty oenophiles.
And that evening the Wine Auction Picnic, which is an annual sellout,
is held on the Bigwood Golf Course.
Elaborate picnic set-ups are arranged with blankets and lawn chairs.
Picnickers' attire is playful and summery. The party that ensues over
the course of the evening includes a buffet of dishes from Bigwood
Bread and Mountain Pride served by volunteers and accompanied by live
music.
At the long wine tasting table bottles are popped open and sampled
prior to and during the picnic.
Though enjoying wine is one of the oldest of pleasures, it never hurts
to revisit some guidelines for tasting.
Not incidentally, it's all about the senses - the pocket book not
really being one of them.
The front and back of the tongue contain the taste buds, which are
all capable of detecting sweet, sour, bitter and salty flavors.
So that you get the most out of your taste buds when wine tasting,
swish the wine around your mouth. This will allow all of your taste
buds, and your sense of smell, to participate in the detection of
teh finer flavors of the wines.
Among these flavors you might detect in white are oak, toast, vanilla,
fruits with light-colored flesh, grass, butter and cream.
In reds, the flavors come from teh many dark flesh fruits along with
pepper, earth, pine, chocolate, oak and licorice. Of course, there
are many other scents and tastes that can be detected the more sensitive
you become to them.
White and red wines behave inversely in terms of color. So when you
look at the color remember that white gets darker as it ages while
the reds get lighter. White wine is better drunk young.
Smell your wine first by taking a quick sniff, then after a moment
put your nose deeply into the glass - what's called nosing it - and
sniff again. Wait awhile before actually tasting. Eighty percent of
taste comes from smell. Take your time with each glass. By identifying
an aroma you may remember it better.
In the long run, however, taste is still the most important quality
of a wine.
After sipping, examine the body and texture of the wine. The aftertaste
is all-important and remains in your mouth after you have swallowed
the wine. A good finish is vital. No one wants a wine to die on the
tongue.
And the most important issue to remember when filling the weekend's
nights and days with wine is to have fun.
Wine is a social commodity to be drunk in the field after a harvest,
to share with family and friends, and to have on a picnic.
It's also something wholly natural with which to celebrate any occasion.
By Dana DuGan
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