It's holiday time and you can bet that wine events will run the gamut this season.  Many people feel intimidated by the idea of not knowing what to do at a wine tasting event and so they decide to avoid the event instead of risk going to something unfamiliar.  Don't miss out on the festivities this year simply because you don't know what to do at a gathering for wine sampling.  Besides a great opportunity to learn you'll be missing all the fun if you do!  We were afraid at first too, but got hold of these simple tips and there was no turning back after that!

There is an etiquette that should be observed and it's the same as the customary opening of a car door – It is Ladies First. Women are served before men.  Chivalry isn't truly dead, now is it!?  In order for you to rid your mouth of the previous wine flavor, you may be offered a bottle of water.  Use the water as a mouth rinse instead of a beverage so that you can more fully experience and appreciate the flavors of your wine choices.

Heat has a tendency to affect the wine flavor, so hold the stem of your glass and not the glass itself when you are taking your sip.

If you are a smoker then you'll want to avoid smoking at the event so that your taste sensations are at their peak.  The same rule applies to colognes or perfumes.  Try to steer clear of additional 'odors.'  This courtesy will also be appreciated by others at the event.  Mints or gum can throw off the taste too, so use caution when you introduce other tastes and smells into your wine tasting experience.

I always wondered what people were looking for when they held their glasses up to the light.  Now I understand that it is not an empty gesture full of pomp, but rather an attempt to determine the body of the wine.  You may want to carry a cloth handkerchief or napkin with you so that you can wipe your glass to keep it free of smudges and so you can see clearly through it when you hold it up to the light and check the body of the wine.  You should also be able to hold your glass against a white table linen to check the body of the wine.  You are looking for variations in color.  White wine really are varied in color.  They may have variants from yellow (notice I didn't say white) to green and to brown.

Red wines can have variations from light red to brown red and, with age, are often lighter.  Here is something fun that we learned.  Do a rim test.  A rim test is when you check the color of the wine by tilting the wine to the glass rim.  Younger wines display a more purple tint and older wines are more of a dark (or brown) red shade.

If you want to appear to know something about wine then you will swirl the wine in your glass so that the aromas and flavors of the wine are released.  If you think of it as if you are cooking and by performing this task, releasing the flavor into the air to add flavor instead of into your food ingredients, then it makes great sense.

Once you have swirled your wine, you'll want to sniff your wine.  Smell and taste often combine for the full effect when we experience the taste and what our senses perceive of it.  It is an age old battle of the senses and their perception of one another.  Now you have two choices when it comes to smelling (or sniffing) your wine.  You can either sniff your wine in one long sniff or a short sniff followed by a longer sniff.  Once the smell hits your senses, think about what your senses are feeling (or experiencing).  You'll want to let the aroma rest on your nasal senses first – without tasting.

Tongues taste everything from sour to sweet, so you'll experience a variety of taste sensations.  First you want to know what your impression of the wine you are tasting is and second you want to know what your impression of the wine aftertaste is.

Once you take that first drink, swish it around in your mouth for a second or two so that all your taste buds experience it and can know the full flavor and then think about and decide if the wine is either heavy or light, rough or smooth.  Second, what aftertaste stays in your mouth after you swallow.  Did it last long and did you enjoy it – or not.  Whether you swallow or spit out the flavor to taste another, try not to stand too close to the spit bucket because you might get 'spotted,' if you do and it's not polite to watch someone spit, plus it doesn't look very nice and you might be tempted to make a face (completely innocent on your part, but if accompanied by any outburst that even resembles, "Oh yuck," then  it is you who are being rude, not the person discharging their wine from their mouth by spitting – take my word for it as the voice of experience).

And one more thing you may want to do.  If you know in advance what types and kinds of wine are going to be at the wine tasting you might want to either go online and research those wines, or go to the bookstore and look up a good book on the subject so that you are familiar with what they are known for in regard to taste and flavor.

Enjoy your time at the tasting!  And by the way, we celebrate all the holidays that our family and friends enjoy so whatever the season means to you, we hope you have a beautiful memory to cherish forever – Salut!