{"id":59971,"date":"2025-01-15T22:00:05","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T20:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/?p=59971"},"modified":"2025-01-15T22:00:11","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T20:00:11","slug":"what-not-to-do-at-a-wine-tasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/en\/what-not-to-do-at-a-wine-tasting\/","title":{"rendered":"What Not to Do at a Wine Tasting"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Tasting is undoubtedly the main way to learn about wine – especially if it takes place at a winery, but that\u2019s another discussion. Naturally, there are various types of tastings: with the sommelier or sales representative of the winery\/importer, with the restaurant host, or with a notable figure from the ever-growing world of wine connoisseurs. Each has their own style, level of knowledge, and unique way of engaging with guests. That said, don\u2019t let participating in a tasting make you believe you\u2019ve learned everything there is to know. Every experience offers something to learn, clarify, or deepen.
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The Wines of Romania Survey<\/strong><\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Recently, the Wines of Romania Facebook page hosted a mini-survey asking what is the worst faux pas at a wine tasting. The response options were: <\/span><\/p>\n

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  • Holding the glass by the bowl<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Interrupting the speaker<\/li>\n
  • Wearing a strong perfume<\/li>\n
  • Getting drunk<\/li>\n
  • Tasting wine from the spittoon and praising the unique blend<\/li>\n
  • Saying the wine is bad<\/li>\n
  • Talking about how much better other wines you\u2019ve tasted are<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Unsurprisingly, the most voted options were “wearing a strong perfume” and “getting drunk,” although praising other wines, holding the glass by the bowl, interrupting the speaker, and sampling the “final blend” from the spittoon also garnered significant votes. Let\u2019s explore these faux pas further, noting that none of these behaviors are well-seen. <\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    The Most Voted Mistakes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    For obvious reasons, the most voted options are also the most serious offenses. While holding the glass by the bowl only affects you, wearing a strong perfume affects everyone, especially in a confined space. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Each grape variety has its own aromatic spectrum, and the specific expression in the glass is unique – no exaggeration. Wine itself is unique, influenced by the terroir (climate and soil of its origin), harvest timing, and winemaking techniques. Moreover, wine evolves and transforms in the bottle, even imperceptibly. When tasted daily, it might seem the same, but when sampled years apart, differences become clear. Wines presented at tastings are often at their “plateau” or optimal tasting\/consumption period. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Now imagine all that aromatic expression drowned out by a wave of perfume. Whether masculine or feminine doesn\u2019t matter – it happens in both cases. Searching for freshly cut grass or flint notes under layers of cedarwood, musk, or amber is not only disrespectful to other participants but also a “misstep” that ruins the tasting experience for everyone. <\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    You Can Get Drunk After the Tasting, If You Must<\/strong><\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    “Getting drunk” was the second most-voted response, and understandably so. First of all, it\u2019s called a tasting, not a casual drinking session or party. The purpose of a tasting is education – learning about a producer, a vintage, or a portfolio. Even when tasting 3\u20135 wines or more, the quantities served are not meant to cause inebriation. For larger tastings with 9\u201312 wines, the amount poured (about 75 ml per glass, roughly one bottle shared among ten people) is necessary for assessing the aromatic profile but doesn\u2019t need to be fully consumed – that\u2019s what spittoons or disposal vessels are for. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Even at a large tasting of ten wines, the total wine consumed is equivalent to one bottle over 3+ hours. So, if you get drunk, it\u2019s likely because you drank beforehand, have a low tolerance, or intended to get intoxicated all along. <\/span><\/p>\n

    While some drunk people might seem harmless or amusing, the intoxicated state of a participant impacts everyone present. Each individual should know their limits and act accordingly. Moderation is key. If you can\u2019t resist getting drunk, nothing stops you from going to another bar after the tasting to indulge where it won\u2019t disrupt others. (On a related note, there\u2019s more to be said about who makes the guest lists for tastings, but when tickets are sold online, it\u2019s hard to screen everyone on the first try – though a blacklist might help over time.) <\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    The Lesser-Voted but Serious Faux Pas<\/strong><\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Drinking the “blend” from the spittoon
    This assumes no one else has spit into it, which would be… let\u2019s not get into details. <\/span><\/p>\n

    The winery staff spend months, even years, meticulously working barrel by barrel, balancing acidity, tannins, aromas, and structure to achieve a harmonious final product. Then, you claim that a random mix from a spittoon\u2014perhaps including a sweet white, a semi-dry ros\u00e9, and a heavily oaked red\u2014is your dream wine. Seriously, did you attend the tasting for a genuine reason, or just because you heard it would be fun? Or do you genuinely believe your senses surpass the combined expertise of winemakers, enologists, sommeliers, and marketers? <\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    Why You Shouldn\u2019t Interrupt the Speaker (and When It\u2019s Okay)
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    Sure, not every speaker is charismatic, and unfortunately, some lack expertise. But at established wine bars or tastings organized by reputable producers, the person speaking usually knows their stuff. These tastings often feature wines being presented for the first time or vintages matured to their optimal drinking stage, designed to maximize enjoyment. <\/span><\/p>\n

    While some speakers encourage interaction and questions, consider your position relative to other participants. If you know far more than the group, don\u2019t bore everyone with ten minutes on tannin polymerization. If you\u2019re a beginner, save questions about “wine made from pills” or “Grandpa\u2019s backyard grapevines” for the end. Just as moderation is essential in drinking, a little “self-awareness” is crucial in conversation. Think like the Japanese: aim not to disrupt others. <\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    Holding the Wine Glass by the Bowl \u2013 Looks Cool, But Do You Know What You\u2019re Doing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    From Brad Pitt to Angelina Jolie, you\u2019ve probably seen how glamorous a glass looks when held by the bowl rather than the stem. But wine changes expression with temperature. Proper serving temperatures are generally 10\u201313\u00b0C for whites and 12\u201317\u00b0C for reds, with some exceptions. Holding the bowl warms the wine rapidly, altering its profile and rendering the speech held by the host irrelevant. You might think the speaker is “talking nonsense” about blackberries and blueberries, while all you detect is alcohol and cocoa. <\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    \u201cI\u2019ve Had Better Wines\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Talking about much better wines you\u2019ve tasted or calling the tasting wine “bad” are two nuanced but serious offenses. If you\u2019re a connoisseur raised on Petrus and Opus One, it\u2019s fair to acknowledge that most wines won\u2019t meet your standards. But then why attend? Were you expecting a Petrus to magically appear from the banks of the Olt River or a Chablis in Transylvania? These regions are still evolving, with the rebirth efforts barely 30 years in the making. <\/span><\/p>

    If your intention is to compare the wine to what you\u2019ve made at home or to dismiss all bottled wine as “chemical,” you\u2019ve misunderstood the purpose of a tasting: learning. A wine tasting isn\u2019t the place to air uninformed biases – it\u2019s an opportunity to understand the craft and complexity behind the bottle. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    Calling a Wine \u201cBad\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    A wine can be flawed or not. If it\u2019s flawed, say so clearly. If it\u2019s of lower quality, explain why – harvested too much or too early, overly filtered, or lacking expression. Rarely is a wine just “bad.” If you\u2019ve never harvested grapes under the scorching sun or bitten by frost, if you never washed barrels for hours, never crawled in a stainless steel tank to scratch for hours the remains of the latest harvest, it\u2019s unjust to dismiss the labor behind the bottle. Even top regions like Bordeaux or Tuscany experience disastrous vintages. Unless you understand the conditions of the vintage and the effort behind the wine, calling it “bad” is not just unfair but insulting.
    However, this may be just as well another goal of the wine tastings: help you decide what wines you\u2019ll avoid in the future. Just keep it for yourse <\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    Tasting is undoubtedly the main way to learn about wine – especially if it takes place at a winery, but that\u2019s another discussion. Naturally, there are various types of tastings: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":59977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-all"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59971"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59996,"href":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59971\/revisions\/59996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.winesofromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}