On Wineology…
On the scale of wineology (my word) knowledge I am at maybe stage 2.5 out of 10, so it is fun for me to find different ways to sample wines, compare or pair them with various flavors and enjoy them with friends. I realize that many of you are much higher on the scale than I, but maybe you can share with all of us some of the ways you incorporate wine into your social events by sending in ideas for the Enological Society’s website.
Kathy and I have experienced several different types of events, other than those at the Enological Society’s tastings each month, with friends. We attended a vertical tasting last winter at a friends house in East Wenatchee where we compared Fielding Hills‘ Cabernet Sauvignon from 2001 thru 2005. It was educational to be able to learn the percentages of various grapes used in the making of each of the wines and the affect that composition had on the various years.
Horizontal tasting involves picking a specific year and varietal of wine to compare, such as 2005 Syrah’s from various wineries. You can take that one step farther and make the tasting blind by putting the bottles in bags so that people do not know which wines they are tasting and rate the wines as to preferences or identify the wines from a provided list of tasting notes for each of the wines. We did this last February for the Enological Society’s Cabernet and Chocolate event. Some other suggestions might be continent tastings, regional tastings, or country tastings. The potential is limitless.
Paring wines with specific foods is another way to have a delightful event with friends. I’m sure many of you probably have done your own research on pairing wines with specific foods. Joanne Saliby has shared many possibilities for us in her newsletter articles.
I encourage you to share your experiences with events or food pairings, along with recipes, with the rest of the society on the website. E-mail your information to Beth Stone at:
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Bruce Campbell