Wine Tasting Tips

A wine club of the month is a mature, classy and unique gift to give. The perfect solution for expressing gratitude to a boss when you are given a promotion (or for proving that you deserve a promotion) is a wine gift club. This type of gift provides delivery of 2 different bottles of fine, quality wine each month for as long as the subscription lasts.

Wine of the month gift clubs are available monthly, bi-monthly (every other month) or seasonally (once every 3 months), the subscription length you choose should be decided based on the situation and the gift recipient.

Most importantly, one does not need to already be a wine lover to appreciate the gift of a bottle of wine (or two) every month. The beauty of unexpected gifts is that you are given the opportunity to experience and appreciate new things… and they might become your new favorite thing!

For example, not everyone knows the proper way to sample wine. When out on a wine tour, for example, it's easy to focus more on "getting tipsy" and less on savoring the unique flavorings that each individual wine has to offer. However, a wine of the month gift club opens up the door to learn appropriate wine sampling etiquette. Here is a general starting point that you might want to include in a note if you choose to give a wine of the month gift club to a "newbie."

Rule Number One: Use All Of Your Senses to Sample Wine!!!

• Look at the wine, preferably in daylight. The best way to do this is to tilt the wine in its glass and then look at it against a white background. The color of wine will vary intensely depending on what type of wine it is, but it's important to know that there is more than simply "red" or "white." There are several different shades of each, and the color can change as wine ages.

• Through the sense of smell, the pleasures of wine reveal themselves. Start by swirling the wine around in its glass vigorously (but don't splash it!) and a variety of aromas will be released. Try to describe the full range of scents you experience, and at different levels. (The scents change depending on how far your nose goes into the glass.) Consider the intensity and appeal of each aroma.

• Finally, the good part! When you taste wine you should take only a very small amount into your mouth and then swirl it around so that all of your taste buds are exposed to the flavors. Keeping the wine in your mouth for a brief period, compare the taste to the aromas. Was it what you had expected?

At this point, you can spit the wine out (which is tasteful on a wine tour to avoid getting tipsy) or swallow it and pay attention to the aftertaste. Remember to share these tips to a recipient of a wine of the month gift club who is new to the world of sampling wines so that he or she will get the most value out of this gift!

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