What Kind of Drink Are You?
You are a Fine Glass of Wine. You are sophisticated and refined, but also complicated and hard to deal with. Not everyone loves you, but those who do swear that you're the coolest thing since sliced bread. One of these days the people that matter will understand you. Until then, you will be sitting on your throne as the distinguished product that not everyone has the taste to appreciate.
I don't necessarily agree with the above result :P however, I did venture out on a wine tasting jaunt while in New South Wales.We took the tourist route through scenic mountains and via parts of the historic convict trail ,into the Wine Country at the town of Wollombi.Then there were the vineyards ,stretching across horizons,row after row of neatly planted grapevines. Embarking on a winery tour of sorts we wound our way through the vine lined hills.The Hunter Valley is one of the oldest wine producing regions of Australia,a famous supplier of the Semillion and Shiraz worldwide.
Red varieties included Shiraz, Pinot Noir & Merlot fermented in open vats followed by age maturation in a mix of French & American oak.White wines consisted of Verdelho, Semillon and American oak matured Chardonnay.Our primary site of visit was the Lindemans Estate,though we made passing stops at the Tyrrell and Wyndham Estate.
While the area is dominated with larger established winemakers, one of the unique qualities of the Hunter Valley is the number of boutique wineries hidden among the grape vines.The vineyards are a labor of love and handed down over generations. Wine making and maturation processes are closely guarded secrets,while neighbors fiercely compete for the innumerable medals and recognitions at contests and trade shows.
Our time was spent walking through the vineyards, hand-picking grapes, observing the on-site processing and maturation process.Getting into gigantic vats and stamping on ripe grapes is fulfilling and fun at the same time.The smashing of fruit with juvenile abandon helps separate the skins as well :).
The most exciting part was the visit to the cellars followed by wine tasting.The right way to taste and evaluate wines is to swirl,smell,sip and spit!So one observes the colour,followed by smelling the liquid to detect significant aroma.This is followed by rolling it over the tongue so as to expose all the taste buds and nerve receptors to assess the faintest textures,notes and body of the wine.As a group of enthusiastic amateurs, we were spared the terminal stage of the process of the four "s" ; )
4 comments:
Whoa....first i thought it was just an exercise in EGO building!!!!...but a great post...But wait isn't it just puffing up your ego what with the "Certificate" and all!!! :P
ego building?! i think i am pretty self-assured :P.i did get the certificate though..will show it to u :P thanks
Well, after reading your post, I couldn't resist serving myself some red wine in my favourite goblet to experience the "Ambrosial Heaven" first-hand :)
:)) thats great..nothing like a glass of good wine..plus its good for the heart :D
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