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From: kadler@bbncc5.UUCP (Kyle Adler)
Newsgroups: net.wines
Subject: Wine tasting verdict ... Let's do it!
Message-ID: <888@bbncc5.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 6-Jan-86 22:06:11 EST
Article-I.D.: bbncc5.888
Posted: Mon Jan  6 22:06:11 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 8-Jan-86 20:01:04 EST
Reply-To: kadler@bbnccv.UUCP (Kyle Adler)
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 60

Greetings!  Here's my follow-up to the wine tasting suggestion, as 
promised.  I'm pleased to say that I've received a number of responses
and that all were positive.  However, I was not exactly deluged with
suggestions as to a first wine for us to taste.  So the verdict is:
let's just pick a wine and go ahead and enjoy it.

Let's start off with Kenwood Winery's Chenin Blanc 1984.  I think this
wine's a safe bet to get the ball rolling, since it should be available all over,
the price tag isn't outrageous (at around $6), and the wine isn't too complex.

If you'd like to participate (and the more the merrier), this is what to
do.  Try to get your hands on a bottle as soon as possible.  Taste the
wine over the next week or so.  Then we'll open up discussion on Monday,
Jan. 13.  I'd like to emphasize that even if you didn't send me a response,
you are encouraged to try the wine and join in the discussion.  This sort
of forum only works if a lot of Netters get involved!

Since a few people asked me to include notes on what to look for while
tasting a wine, here are a few comments to start the newcomer off.  

	1) Have a clean glass, a pencil and paper, and a white tablecloth
(or other white surface) handy.  It's a good idea to have some french
bread or crackers with the wine to clear the palate, and a friend or two
to keep things lively.
	
	2) Fill the glass about 1/4 full (say, about 50 ml).  Holding the 
glass above the white surface and tilted at about a 45-degree angle, note
the wine's color and clarity.

	3) Holding the glass by the stem, gently swirl the wine.  Then
bring the glass up to your nose and smell.  Short, deep sniffs are generally
preferable to trying to inhale the wine.  If you try to sniff for too long a
time, or too many times in a row, your olfactory senses become fatigued.

	4) Now the fun part!  Take a medium sip, and swirl the wine inside
your mouth.  Try to note any distinguishing flavors and the overall 
balance of the wine.  Observe the aftertaste -- it's length and intensity.

	5) Just jot down your first impressions.  No need to use ornate
language; it gets a lot easier to verbalize your observations after having
tasted a number of wines.

Remember, these are only guidelines.  Your opinions will be your own, and
you shouldn't be guided by what others say.  If anyone would like to add
to these notes in the next few days, please do so.  Also, here are a few
books you can go to for more information.
For wine tasting:
	Michael Broadbent's Complete Guide to Wine Tasting and Wine Cellars.
	M.A. Amerine & Edward B. Roessler, Wines:  Their Sensory Evaluation.
(The second book is more technical.)
For general wine reference:
	Hugh Johnson's The World Atlas of Wine.
	Alexis Lichine, Encyclopedia of Wines and Spirits.

Once again, I encourage everybody who reads this group to participate.  It's
lots of fun, and much easier than some would like you to believe.  Cheers!

-- 
Kyle S. Adler
BBN Communications Corporation, Cambridge MA