From Faith: At my first industry wine tasting 15 years ago, the director, Tom Slocum, knew me and warned me, sternly. “You’ve tasted and studied French wine for years, I know that,” he said. “But over-confidence at an event like this is dangerous.” Why was Slocum talking to me as if I were a motorcycle rider without a helmet? I soon found out.
The event, for wine professionals seeking good wines to recommend to others, offered 750 wines for tasting. A big truck driver or athlete could not survive it and remain standing. Even worse, I began to see you could lose your judgement from a weary palate and an altered mind. That’s why spitting buckets were invented — the buckets placed at both ends of a tasting table so that professional tasters can swirl the wine in the mouth to assess it, without actually swallowing. Swirl. Spit. Consider. I also realized there is an art to spitting, and it’s best learned or you risk looking like a drooling dog. Did all that advice, the buckets, and my awareness save the day? No, it didn’t.
I discovered that even though I spit out every single wine I tried, except for one glass of rare 1970s Haut Brion, which I drank slowly and swooned over, there is no escaping at a giant professional wine tasting. It requires a full defense worthy of the best of the NFL. I discovered that even while swirling and spitting religiously, wine is absorbed through the tongue.
At the end of the four hour event, which became louder and louder as the afternoon proceeded, I realized I was fuzzy. Not drunk, but fuzzy. I was mystified. But Slocum had his eye on me, and I will be forever grateful.
I had slipped up by not eating at every other table, he explained, which would have helped with absorption. “Sit,” he commanded. And there I sat as I was served plates of food. Not until I was crystal clear would he allow me to drive home. I had a list of many wines to recommend on our show. Above all, lesson learned.
If you enjoy attending or conducting wine tastings, don’t miss this recent New York Times story about how rowdy we’re allowed to be. It’s apparently an issue at our local wineries nationwide. Wherever you stand on this, take it from me, you’re going to need a strategy going in…
Growing interest in wine tasting and the incidents that have resulted, including a recent one on the Napa Valley Wine Train, have led to questions on how to police tours.
