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Let us begin with a bit of general advice - there
is an increasing number of still non-vintage wines on sale which
provide no indication of their age.
To ensure you are not left with tired wines which
have lost their qualities, buy as you intend to drink them.
If you feel a wine is not good, take it back at
the first opportunity and explain why you have done so. Do not buy
large quantities to save in the hope they will improve.
Screwcaps which are becoming a much more prominent
feature of wine bottles are not indicative of an inferior product.
Screwcaps save many customers from the disappointment
of a corked wine whilst providing a more effective and convenient
closure.
Thinking and tasting
With regards to thinking about the wine you drink
there are a few basic considerations. Your greatest attribute is
your knowledge of your palate and the wines you currently enjoy.
When you open a wine it should have a clean, fresh
and vigorous bouquet or smell! If it has a cork there should be
no trace of any musty or fusty odour attached to it.
Pour a little wine into a glass and savour the
bouquet again.
Draw a small amount of wine into the mouth and
over your tongue: this will help you assess its body, texture and
flavour.
Spit out this small sample and jot down your impressions.
After a brief reflective rest take second small
sip, to savour and swallow.
Consider how long the wine's flavour remains, which
foods it would accompany and what price you would expect to pay
for it.
Jot down the results of these thoughts. Over a
period of time you will garner a range of ways in which YOU can
compare and evaluate the qualities of wines.
There is little point in trying to adopt a system
which has been imposed upon you. The appreciation of wine is a highly
subjective skill which requires you to evolve a personal response.
It is a matter of organising knowledge to suit your requirements.
Everything is relative so when we taste a wine
whether we are aware or not we are comparing it with all our previous
experiences and placing it in some sort of personal order.
The wines suggested on the following page, in addition
to being individually enjoyable, would make a useful series of tastings
during what we hope will be long, warm relaxing and sociable summer
evenings.
See Robert
Layton's suggestions of white, rose and red wines to be enjoyed
this summer »
If you have any wine questions please email them
to norfolk@bbc.co.uk
and we'll forward them to Robert for answers which will appear on
this website.
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