"Kiss Don't Spit!"
It’s not hip to spit in my book! Especially given Covid-19!
It's not something you often hear from the wine critics and experts.
But it is my contrarian advice to those attending the 2022 Vancouver International Wine Festival - now running May 16-22 - for the International Festival Tastings or wine seminars.
Most wine experts advise you to "spit" the wine after nosing the bouquet in the glass and sipping it into your mouth and swirling it around - then spew it out - but I strongly disagree.
After all, there's a reason I'm called The Wine Barbarian!
The experts' reasoning makes some sense - you can taste far more wines without getting intoxicated by the alcohol content if it doesn't go down your throat and into your stomach.
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| Bill Tieleman, Wine Barbarian, with David Nicolls, Senior Brand Manager for Penfolds in Napa Valley at delicious Penfolds dinner at Five Sails restaurant at VIWF 2022! |
But you - the wine consumer - are not an expert nor are you tasting hundreds of glasses.
First - you simply cannot fully experience a wine without swallowing it, feeling the wonderful elixirfloat down your throat, discovering the length of the finish - you can literally count the seconds when you can still taste it, and know the satisfaction of having tasted one of the best wines in the world!
Spitting? Sorry but you just don't get that sensation.
And you are at North America's largest consumer wine festival, with literally dozens of wines priced at $100 or more per bottle - why the hell would you spit that out?!!!
Plus, you can simply "kiss" a lot of wines without swallowing or spitting!
By kissing I mean you nose the wine in the glass, bring it to your lips and then - unless it's awesomely tasty and probably quite expensive, you simply pour the wine into the conveniently located spit bucket on the table.
Polite, discreet, saving your sobriety for none but the best and when you do sip and swallow it will be worth it!
Lastly, proper spitting is hard - don't try to learn it in front of 1,600 people including sommeliers, winemakers, family and friends!
So enjoy the Vancouver international wine festival and taste lots of the fantastic wines from around the world and BC - and "kiss" lots of them! I hope to see you there!
