A Girl's Guide To Becoming A Wine Expert

As I started my own journey in the wine industry, I soon realized there was so much more to learn than I would have ever imagined. It's really a science in it's own sorta way, the ability one must have to distinguish the various flavours in your mouth (palate) (providing it's a good wine, that is!), the way many can distinguish with easy the different smells (nose) in each glass and true expert can also tell you wether a wine is young or  has been aged based on it's appearance. While I have spent the last few months training my palate to pick up on the different notes in each wine (and am getting surprisingly good at it), I have also developed my own training program based on the three most important principles when tasting and evaluating wine. Let's take a look at these:

Appearance- What's most important to consider here is the impact that your wine may have on the appearance of your outfit should someone bump into you throughout the evening and you should spill some on yourself (of course there is no way that would happen through any fault of your own!) Will the colours of your wine blend nicely with the colours in your outfit? Other points to consider- will I end up with a wine mustache or will this wine stain my teeth and/or tongue?

Nose- You need to consider the way your wine will smell when it combines with the food in your stomach and you start breathing it on people. This is especially important to keep in mind as the party gets louder and you start talking closer!

Palate- Of course it's important to like the wine you will be drinking, at least at the beginning of the evening, by the end you won't much notice or care! Something else to keep in mind? How will your mouth taste in the morning if your lids happen to get too heavy before you manage to make it to the bathroom to brush your teeth before heading to bed?

While these were just some thoughts to consider and not meant to scare you into staying in your pj's on the couch for the evening, the last and perhaps most important thing to consider on your quest to becoming your own wine expert, is to always stay at least one to two glasses on wine behind all the other girl's as they will be your best preview of what lays ahead for you if you keep up at their pace!