What is the best way to cleanse your palate between tastings?

White bread, or bland crackers, have a very neutral flavor and are therefore often used to clear the palate at wine tastings. Professional wine judges will take a piece of bread and a drink of water between wines in order to judge each one from a fresh palate.

What's the best way to pop a sparkling wine cork?

First, make sure that the wine is ice-cold, and you haven’t shaken the bottle. Then, carefully away peel the foil, place one thumb over the top of the cork, and unwind and remove the wire cage. Wipe around the cork with a damp cloth to remove any debris. Grip the base of the bottle with your primary (right) hand and hold the cork tightly with the other hand. Hold the cork steady while you slowly twist the bottle. The cork will gently ease out with a soft hiss. Hold the bottle at an angle of 45° for a few moments to calm the initial rush of foam.

My wine had crystals in it, is it harmful?

The sediment or crystals are completely harmless tartrate crystals which have precipitated in the bottle. Tartaric acid is a natural acid present in grapes. If wine is left over time, a precipitate of potassium tartrate will collect in the bottom of the bottle, and the acidity of the wine will drop. A sharp drop in temperature will precipitate the crystallization, as the crystals are insoluble at temperatures less than 24° F.

How to taste wine:

Tasting wine seems such a simple process, and there is nothing wrong with simply pouring it into a glass and drinking it! Without going to extremes, here are a few simple guidelines that can help enhance your enjoyment of the wine.

• Use a suitable glass, with a large bowl and a stem.
• The stem lets you hold the glass without your body heat warming the wine: the large bowl, which should be no more than half full, allows you to swirl the wine around and release the flavors.
• Smell the wine.
• A large part of the enjoyment of a wine, as for any food, comes from the stimulation of the olfactory senses (your nose). This is why when you have a cold or a stuffy nose food becomes quite bland. To get the most enjoyment from your wine, take a good, deep sniff. The bowl of the glass will help contain the flavors of the wine, and you can enjoy the multi-layered, complex combination of scents that make wine such an enjoyable overall experience. Smelling the wine will also give you the first indication if your wine is corked. If instead of the full fruity flavor you were expecting, you are met with a thin musty smell, the wine is probably corked.
• Drink the wine.
• To get the most flavor, take a mouthful of wine and swirl it around in your mouth so that your whole palate is exposed to the wine. If you also suck in some air - and don't mind the resulting sound effects - this will help the various flavor compounds climb up into your sensitive nasal passages, thus guaranteeing you are tasting all of the wine.
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• Swallow the wine.
• Professional wine tasters oftentimes spit out the wine at this point, but they are tasting dozens of bottles at one time. You, however, can swallow the wine and enjoy the warm, complex flavors, which a good wine will leave behind.

What is the best way to store my wine?

The best place to store wine is one that has minimal temperature variation. A space, like a basement, where it is cool and dark is traditionally where wines are kept for longer periods. Remember to keep the bottles horizontal so the cork is kept moist.

How long should I store wines?

Most modern wines are not intended to be stored for long periods, but should be drunk while fresh and young. There are some exceptions to this rule, instances where a wine might benefit from some time spent in storage, though these days that is rarely the case. 

Corked wine

Corked wine occurs because certain molds can grow on the cork and the aromas from the molds can create a 'wet newspaper' smell in the wine. “Musty”, “sweaty shoes” and “cardboard” are frequently used adjectives to describe corked wine. Also, if air is introduced through the cork, it can oxidize the wine within the bottle also turning the wine. Either way, don't worry if you accidentally drink it - it won't hurt you. 

While not the fault of the winery, corked wine cannot be rescued and the only thing you can do is return the bottle for a replacement.

Please note that bits of cork floating in the wine do not mean the wine is 'corked'. The cork fragments that sometimes float in the wine are harmless and are probably the result of an enthusiastically applied corkscrew. These fragments can easily be removed from the wine with a spoon without impacting its taste at all. 

Temperature

The serving temperature of the wine depends on the type of wine. As a general rule, the lower the temperature the fewer flavors you will get from the wine: this is true of foods in general. 

Light white wines, and all sparkling wines, can be placed in a refrigerator in the morning for serving that evening. More full-bodied whites only need a few hours of chilling before they’re ready to be served. 

Red wines will usually be at the right temperature if left at room temperature all day. Lighter bodied reds oftentimes benefit from being served straight from the cellar- cooler than room temperature, but warmer than refrigerator temperature- or perhaps even chilling for half an hour or so. 

Barrel Tasting

Barrel tasting is where winemakers use a tool called a “wine thief” to siphon the wine directly from the barrel straight into your wine glass. Many wineries on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail hold special events where barrels are opened and tasted before actual bottling has taken place. While these wines will be young, it allows serious wine enthusiasts the opportunity to test drive wines even before they’re bottled. Many enthusiasts also enjoy discerning the differences between a specific vintage from the barrel, and then from the bottle after it has aged a bit. 

Blind Tasting

Blind wine tasting is simply when you taste wine (or any beverage or food for that matter) without knowing anything about what you are tasting. People taste blindly to force themselves to look beyond brands or anything (like packaging, price, color, and other far less relevant characteristics) that could impact their overall opinion of the wine. Blind tasting is a great way to find out what wines you really do and do not like, rather than counting on the opinions of others, or price or other irrelevant attributes. 

Botrytis Cinera

This beneficent mold causes grapes to shrivel, leaving sugar-laden fruit full of rich, concentrated flavors. Botrytis cinerea doesn't always develop and, when it does, it is sometimes late, rewarding only those vineyard owners bold enough to wait before picking their grapes. The risk being that they could end up losing their entire crop due to inclement weather.

Brix

This is the measurement of soluble solids in grapes at harvest. The Brix is measured with a refractometer and expressed in degrees. In unfermented grapes, degrees of Brix are about the same as percent of sugar. After fermentation, the alcohol concentration is approximately half the sugar concentration of the juice. Therefore, grapes harvested at 22.5 degrees Brix will produce a wine with an alcohol content between 12.5% and 13.5%. 

Decanting

Decanting simply means pouring the wine from its original bottle into a carafe or other glass container. There are two main reasons for doing this. Firstly, if you're drinking an unfiltered wine, this is the best way to filter off sediment before serving it. Secondly, decanting allows the wine to “breathe” through aeration as the wine pours from one container to another. This helps oxidize the wine, allowing more of its aromas and flavors to be released. 

When decanting an older wine, be careful not to disturb the built-up sediment that sometimes settles in the bottom of the bottle. Stand the bottle upright for a day before serving so the sediment can settle to the bottom of the bottle. Once the cork is removed, wipe the mouth of the bottle with a moist cloth to remove any possible mold. Then slowly pour the wine into the decanter, placing a strong light behind or below the neck of the bottle so you can see the first signs of sediment As you near the end of the decanting, you will start to see sediment, at which point you’re done! 

Finish

This is the lingering sensation after you taste a wine. How long the flavors last after it is swallowed is an important factor in great wines. Did it last several seconds or fade quicker than the time it took to swallow? Was it light-bodied (like water) or full-bodied (like the consistency of milk)? In great wines, the finish should last long and and displayflavors well after your sip. 

Flight

A selection of wines to taste consecutively. Sometimes the wines in a flight share a common theme, making it easier to compare them to each other, while wineries on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail oftentimes provided a flight of wines as part of their standard tasting experience. 

Malolactic Fermentation

This process is the bacterial conversion of the crisper malic acid to the softer, lactic acid in wine. Also called ML or secondary fermentation, this acid conversion results in wines with increased complexity and softer acidity.

Mead

Also called “honey wine”, mead is a separate and distinct family of alcoholic beverages, completely apart from beer, wine, liqueur, and distilled beverages. Some wineries on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail specialize in this unusual beverage. 

Sediment

This is the debris that looks like dirt inside the bottle and makes the liquid hazy when held up to the light. It is a combination of many things including minerals, grape skins, dead yeast cells and practically anything and everything the grape juice came into contact with along the complex fermentation process. Most wineries filter off these particles though not all. This sediment can lend wine incredible complexity over years in a cellar if left undisturbed. Many people are horrified when they see the sediment. But it definitely won’t harm you if you consume it. Just filter it off before you pour the wine into a glass. 

Tannins

Tannins are astringent substances found in the seeds, skins, and stems of grapes, as well as in oak barrels and are especially strong in new oak. Tannins are important in the crafting of good red wines because they impart flavor, structure, and texture. Also, it is the tannins that provide many of wine’s antioxidant traits we hear about so often. Tannins also act like a preservative, allowing a long and graceful aging. Strong tannins give young wines a noticeable astringency that dries the tongue and gives you that puckering feeling in the mouth. Wines with prominent tannins are referred to as “tannic”. 

Tastevin

Originating in French cellars for analyzing and tasting wine, a tastevin is a small, shallow silver cup with raised indentations that help a sommelier discern the wine's color and clarity. 

Terroir

Anything that impacts the quality of the grapes grown on the vines that is not controlled by humans is considered to be the terroir. Basically it as the environment the grapes grow in. Aspects that make up a regional terrior like the Seneca Lake Appellation are climate, natural irrigation, hillside, soil type, geography, and many other factors. 

Ullage

This term - pronounced "ull-idge"- describes the air space in the neck of an unopened bottle of wine. 

Umami

About a hundred years ago, a Japanese scientist dubbed the term "umami" as the fifth tasting sense beyond sweet, sour, bitter, & salty. It is what we refer to as the "savory" sensation found in foods like: oysters, tomatoes, and mushrooms. This sense is largely driven by tannins - wines that appeal to the umami are typically mature reds (with soft tannins) and certain white wines without an oak influence. 

Vertical Tasting

This involves various bottles of wine but as opposed to 'horizontal tasting' where you probably taste different varietals; in vertical tastings, the varietal is the same but the vintage is different. This is a great way for wine enthusiasts to start to really develop their palate and begin to be able to discern the many subtle differences that define different wines. 

Vintage

The term vintage is the period of picking or harvesting grapes each year. Vintage does not mean when the juice was transported to bottles and distributed. 

Serving Temperature of Wine

White and blush wines should be chilled to 45°F - 50°F, around refrigerator temperature. This temperature can also be achieved by immersing the bottle in ice water for 30 minutes.

Red wines and dessert wines should be served at cool room temperatures of 55°F - 65°F. This temperature can be reached by simply placing the bottle in the refrigerator for a short period of time or popping it an ice bucket for five minutes. 

Sparkling wines are usually chilled to 45°F or cooler.

Whatever you do, however, do not make it too cold: wine freezes at 24°F.

Food and wine pairing

The most important rule of matching wine with food is that there are no strict rules. Wine and food pairing can be as random as pouring a glass of what is available to go with whatever happens to be in your refrigerator. As is the case with wine in general, where the best wine is the wine you like best, the best wine and food pairings are those that you personally prefer. Below, however, are some standardized guides that many people adhere to: 

Appetizer or Aperitif wines: Serve before or between meals, with nuts, cheeses or hors d'oeuvres. Best-known types: Sherry, sparkling wines and white table wines. 

White table wine: Serve with lighter dishes, such as chicken, fish, shellfish, pork; omelets, or any other white meat. Also served as an appetizer wine. Best-known types: Chablis, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. 

Red table wine: Serve with hearty dishes, such as steaks, chops, roasts, any red meat; or cheese dishes and pasta. Best-known types: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel. 

Rose/Blush wine: Serve with all foods. Best-known types: White Zinfandel, blush, and rose wines. 

Dessert or ice wines: Serve with any type of sweets. These wines have an alcohol content of between 17% and 21%. Best-known types: Muscat, port and late harvest wines. 

Sparkling wines: Serve with all foods at any time during the meal, including dessert. Best-known types: Natural (very dry), Brut (dry), Extra Dry (semidry).