Wine Tasting Class at CIA

I didn't really talk about this class in my previous post. First, it clearly was one of those gifts that benefitted the giver significantly. Since Jill already acknowledged this, I guess I don't need to rub it in. Second, I learned a lot.

Jill already mentioned the 4 types of wines we tasted (we did this several times over the two days). We had to identify color, scents, flavors, acidity, body, tannins, etc with each wine. Then they'd bring out a plate of food or spices. We'd eat a little of something and then sip some wine and see how the food affected the flavor. It's interesting what a twist of lemon (or other ingredients) will do to a wine.

I won't go into the details of the plate of potatoes prepared 6 or 7 different ways or the rice paper rolls filled with mystery ingredients (the last two were AWEFUL - I think intentionally). You also don't need to know the details of the spit cup we all had especially while eating food and drinking wine. A few of the guys in the row in front of us never appeared to spit - I was surprised they weren't trashed. The lady in the company store said usually there are a few folks walking around the store trashed at the end of the day.

What I will tell you is that I found an appreciation for white wine for some foods. I've never really thought much of whites and basically skipped over those and went straight to the big, bold, fruity or spicy reds from the beginning. But the exercises showed me with specific detail that sometime the red just doesn't go with the meal. Sometimes when we opened a red it tasted great. Then we started eating and I was like, "what is with this wine?". Turns out, body style of the food, or fat content of the food, or sweetness of the food, or acidity level of the food, or umami (savoury-ness) can really do things to the flavor of the wine.

So maybe we will drink those 20+ bottles of white that we've slowly accumulated and ignored. Hopefully most of them aren't past their prime. Of course, a good beer would go with most of those "white wine" meals too and that may be where I end up on some days.