Does it seem snobby to you when people swish and swirl their wine at tastings?  “Why don’t they just drink the stuff like normal people?” you may think.  However, according to this Creative Loafing Tampa article, there are good reasons for all the swishing and swirling.

Swishing, the article says, exposes wine to oxygen more quickly, opening up the wine more, getting rid of rough flavors and providing a taste that is more faithful to the winemaker’s intentions.  The article also notes that swishing is mainly for red wines and doesn’t have much effect on whites.

Swirling in your mouth moves the wine across all your taste buds, giving your brain a complete picture of the wine’s taste.  Different taste buds pick up different sensations - sweet, sour, salty, bitter.

You can find plenty of large wine glasses in our store that are perfect for swishing wine at your next tasting, or just to appreciate a fine bottle by yourself at home.

If you’ve ever thought about hosting your own wine tasting, this article from the Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register will help get you started.  The first order of business, the article says, is to stock up on wine glasses (Mid-South Alcoholic Supply can help you out with that), because some tasters prefer a new glass for each wine.  The article also offers advice on picking a theme for the tasting, but the most important advice is “keep the focus on your passion, and it will come through in the party.”  For example, if you have a love of Italian wines, make those the theme.

The article also talks briefly about appetizer pairings, and about selecting the wines themselves, and bagging them if you want to do a blind tasting.

You can even show off different types of wine openers and corkscrews in the tasting.  Mid-South Alcoholic Supply can help you with that too.