Wine Tasting

The wine party went like this:

We arrived at the host's house around 7pm with the intentions of sipping some wine and maybe having appetizers. It was the same gathering of people; familiar acquaintances, familiar friends. Same table that's held many a Christmas dinner. 

We hit the room with an excited air. Fifteen of us circled the table while the wine lady gave a description of the wines. She uncorked bottles. She held up the first wine, then dumped it through the aerator. 

"What do you see when you look at this wine," the wine lady asked. "What colors are there? Is it more opaque than not?"

There was a ton of cheese. There were fruits and veggies. They passed a plate of fried chicken strips with thick breading. Sometimes it paired well. Sometimes nothing could mask the hideous acidity of cheap wine. 

"Tilt the glass and let the wine rise up the side, then bring the glass upright again," the wine lady said. "You see the wine left on the side of the glass? That gives us an indication of the body of the wine. The more body, the more alcohol in the wine. Some people are very good at guessing a wine's alcohol content by observing its body, within a few percentage points."

They poured a Pinot Grigio and passed the bottle around. 

Ann was a woman with two grown daughters. She sat beside me. She skipped the fried chicken, skipped the blue cheese, skipped the cocktail weenies. By this time Ann was tipsy. She was laughing and joking and I couldn't understand her. 

The wine lady said, "I want you to really smell this wine. Concentrate on what's in there. What are some of the scents you're picking up on? Melon? Anyone getting floral notes?" 

There was a rosé in there somewhere that was nice. I kept my poker chip to remind myself of one I liked. There were products for sale; wine stoppers and glasses and decanters and aerators. 

"This red that I'm pouring now pairs well with barbecue meats, steaks, things like that," the wine lady said. "It also makes a nice pairing with dessert. Bring the eclairs please!"

The wine lady poured a Syrah and passed the bottle around. They poured a merlot and passed the bottle around. By 8pm we were finishing our 10th bottle. 

A stand-up comedian was telling jokes on a cable channel. We were laughing. We were still tasting! We were laughing again. Then we had eaten all the food for the tastings. 

There was a carbonated red that was really good. I wanted to order a bottle to try in a sangria recipe. Then I realized I had already ordered two bottles of it. 

By 9 o'clock, we had ordered 124 bottles of wine. By 10 o'clock, the house was still packed. There was a baby somewhere playing a piano. There were two dogs yelping and barking. 

We had gone through all of the wine lady's wines. At some point we had started passing around the home stock. 

My wife and I made our way outside into a brisk, cold wind. "I'm so stuffed," I said. "Me too," she said. We walked to the sidewalk. After a moment I said, "You know what I'd like to do? Make my own wines and then do a tasting."

"That would be interesting."

"Or maybe instead of wine, we could get some tequilas or whiskeys and do a tasting. Just us. Just family and friends." 

"There is some good stuff out there." 

"Right. It's probably just another excuse to have a party, but we don't get together often enough with people, since we moved to Toledo."

"That's true. It might be nice. You ready to leave?"

I said I was, then we went back in and said our goodbyes. We drove home, with the urge to do it all again soon.