At our Beach House, we are all about sharing our passion and love of the foodie world, which is why the team at Anchor & Den came up with an informative and interactive series of events for our guests which include a Sommelier Masterclass, Crepe Making Workshop and Chocolatier Class; to name a few!
These fun and well-attended events run weekly and they are a perfect excuse for guests to take a break from the beach, the heat and learn something new! In this blog post, we hear more about our popular Sommelier Class with some top tips from our Wine Connoisseur and Sommelier-In-Training, Alyona.
During these interactive sessions, Alyona shares her knowledge with our guests about how to evaluate wine by speaking about the different regions, grape-specific flavoring profiles and climate influences based on the WSET approach (The Wine & Spirit Education Trust). Her previous restaurant’s wine vault had over 350 wines and that is what inspired her to learn more about wines in general. Luckily, Anchor & Den has been the perfect place for her to pursue her passion and apply her knowledge!
For starters, it is useful to know some of the language used when describing wine, so here are some common words used when talking about wine and what they really mean:
Aroma: the smell. This one is pretty obvious, but you rarely hear a wines’ smell referred to as such, more often you’ll hear terms like “powerful aroma.”
Acidity/Acidic: tartness. Think lemon, lime, grapefruit, blueberries and cranberries.
Dry: Not sweet. Sometimes on bottles of champagne and sparkling wine you’ll see the word “Brut;” it means the same thing.
Tannin(s)/Tannic: astringency. If you’ve ever had a cup of tea that steeped too long, then you know what tannins are.
Vintage: the year that grapes were harvested. As in “2005 was a great vintage.”
Balance: the overall unity of the flavors.
During the Sommelier Masterclass, Alyona encourages guests to make sure they are all set up to sip the wine properly. When you first receive a glass, hold it by the stem, tilt it away from you, and observe the color of the wine. Gently swirl the wine in the glass by making small circles with you wrist; be careful not to overdo this motion and end up spilling wine!
Last but not least, Alyona’s shares her three top tips to follow before and during a wine tasting session:
1. Stay hydrated during the wine tasting session as we lose saliva and drinking water is also good for our aroma receptors.
2. Do not smoke or use any strong perfume or fragrance before wine tasting as it can impact our ability to perceive aromas and flavours.
3. Make sure to smell wine with both your nose as well as your mouth! The right way is to place the rim of the wine glass right on your upper lip. This will give you a better sniffing technique as well as give the aromas a better chance to flow.
Make sure to check out our changing calendar of special events at our Beach House to learn more about these fun F&B series. Cheers!
Sources:
https://wine.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Red_Wine_Tasting_Basics
