Of legs, noses and fine wines

Itrsquos fairly oozing luxury at the winetasting session arranged by Aspri Spirits exclusive distributors of fine wines from the house of Domaines Baron de RothschildLafite for India Bordeaux resident Michel Negrieacuter Export Manager BR Lafite is the head of the table seated at which are a handful of attendees some clearly wellinformed on wines and other simulating equal expertise We notice someone frowning at the sight of our fingers around the bowl of the glass Quickly we slide them down to the stem and make a mental note to keep them there Most present know the sequence to this whole routine that begins with the swirling moves on to sniffing savouring and sipping then slides into the dramatic moment of deliberation followed by a declaration of whatrsquos what ldquoon the noserdquo and ldquoin the mouthrdquo all of which is quite frankly a lot of noise ldquoin the earrdquo for most of us Before serving a young wine pour it in a decanter and let it air for about two hours PicsNimesh Daveu00a0 What on earth does it all mean ldquoWine appreciation takes years and is a continuous processrdquo says Delhibased sommelier Magandeep Singh But far from scoffing at our ignorance he steps up to contribute suggestions for our cheat sheet Delhibased sommelier Magandeep Singh Know your glass Simplifying the process of choosing the right glass for the right wine Singh explains ldquoA wine should be treated like a person A big person needs a big place to sit a petite person requires less space Similarly a heavy wine needs a big glass a smaller wine needs a small glassrdquo Air makes the wine open up and heavier wines taste better when theyrsquove been allowed to breathe so these should be served in larger glasses A leggy drink Negrieacuter recommends ldquoFill only 13rd of your glass with wine keep 23rd empty to allow the drink to oxidise gently It allows the molecules to reach the nose so you can enjoy the full flavour of the winerdquo He adds ldquoIf you see a trail form on the sides of the glass when you swivel the drink this indicates alcohol content A good wine has more alcohol so the trail or what we call lsquothe legsrsquo will lingerrdquo Breathe easy ldquoBefore I serve a good young wine Irsquod open it pour it into a decanter and let it air for about two hoursrdquo says Singh The oxygen boosts the aroma and expression of the wine and swirling the wine in the glass achieves the same purpose Keep it cool Negrieacuter says ldquoSome vintages are of incredible quality so those wines can be kept for longer and wonrsquot go off even after 35 to 40 years Other wines are meant to be enjoyed within two to five years Wines that can be kept for long are best stored in a cool space sheltered from the sunlight and these should be kept sideways or lying down else a natural deposit may build up after several yearsrdquo Palate mate Pointing out that pairing wine with food requires finding a sort of yinyang balance Negrieacuter adds ldquoAll the flavours must come together to create a balance in your mouthrdquo He recommends serving cheese when yoursquore serving a mishmash of food and yoursquore just not sure what wine to serve ldquoMost of the time cheese will compliment wine but it shouldnrsquot be too strong or too mature like camembertrdquo he shares Singh on the other hand offers the adage ldquoBuy on apples sell on cheeserdquo and explains ldquoApples cleanse the palate so you can pick up on every flavour cheese on the other hand coats the palaterdquo This is the tip of the iceberg and therersquos so much more to know but while both Negrieacuter and Singh would recommend exposing your palate to different wines the bottomline as Singh points out is that life is all about individual choices ldquoSo when it comes to wine respect yours and those of your friendsrdquou00a0 Too warm for comfort Like most other things around us wines too get affected by global warming ldquoIn France we used to harvest the crop in October but now sometimes the harvest comes much earlierrdquo says Negrieacuter adding that wine producing regions in California and Australia have been more affected as itrsquos hotter there He says that all wineries are trying to adapt to this changing weather altering their harvesting patterns accordinglyu00a0Pointing out that the real impact of global warming on wines may u00a0become obvious in the next few years Singh says ldquoIn California the alcohol content in wine has become so high because of the scorching heat that theyrsquore now allowed to legally remove the alcohol from wine Twenty years ago this wasnrsquot even an issue And England a country that never made wine before now produces wine of a quality thatrsquos comparable to French wine simply because itrsquos getting warmerrdquou00a0