- PHOTO BY CARLINGTON WILMOT/Freelance Photographer I met Elizabeth Rice Bennett, ambassador of Delicato Wine in the United States at Wednesday afternoon's wine seminar. Born in the small fishing town of Fort Bragg, California, she had her first sip of wine at age 21 while working at a restaurant in California. It was instant love.
"I had to learn about wine, I also had to sample it to be able to sell it the to customers and when I started to learn about wine I then fell in love with it."
At the Sonoma State University where she was a student, Rice Bennett switched her major to business administration with an emphasis on wine.
Now a resident of California's wine 'valley' Napa, Sonoma she has combined her love of wine and international travel into a career that allows her to travel, drink, sell and
educate people the world over about wines.
At the seminar she explained how to think and act like a wine connoisseur.
5 WINE-TASTING TIPS
1: Look for the colour of the wine. Check if it is cloudy, or clean. Do that by holding the glass of wine in front of something white with a light in the background.
2: Smell the wine to see what flavours you can identify. Swirl it to allow the esters to come alive.
3: Sip a mouthful and taste all the flavours you identified when you smelled the wine. Take another mouthful, but this time suck in air through your lips to better feel the intensity of the wine on your tongue.
4: Swallow be aware that the more you swallow the number your palate will become. Professional tasters will spit out the wine so their palate will survive the many samples.
5: Savour the taste of the wine. After it leaves your mouth, see how long the flavours last.
After going through that session, I felt like I had just become a professional wine taster. Alas, that feeling was short-lived because next on the agenda we had to pair wines with a variety of food to test for compatibility. There were six glasses of wine labelled A to F. The wines were George de bouef Sauvignon Blanc, Delicato Chardonnay, Clay Station Viognier, Merlot, Delicato Shriaz and 35 South Cabernet.
ACIDIC FOOD AND WINE
First, we tried an acidic food (a slice of lime) with all six.
The Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay with lime was all right.
However, the Shiraz and Carbernet Sauvignon with the lime was so bitter I almost gagged.
The Viognier went down excellently with the lime while the Merlot tasted flat.
CREAMY FOOD AND WINE
Next up, cheese.
The Sauvignon Blanc the Sauvignon Blanc took away creamy cheesiness.
The Viognier was excellent. I felt as though I could have eaten cheese and drunk glasses of Viognier for the rest of the afternoon.
The Chardonnay, Shiraz and Merlot did not complement the cheese at all.
The Carbernet Sauvignon and the cheese together had an acidic taste.
FATTY/SALTY FOOD
The choice of food was spicy jerk chicken.
When I tasted the jerk chicken with Viognier and Shiraz the spiciness of the jerk chicken really kicked in.
While the Merlot also brought out the spices, it tasted a bit flat on the tongue.
The Carbernet Sauvignon and the jerk chicken tasted bitter together.
SWEET FOOD
Chocolate. As much as I like chocolate, my spirit was beginning to wane. By this time I had downed a total of 24 sips of six different wines.
However, somewhere deep down I found the will to persevere. The chocolate was calling me.
Chocolate paired with the Sauvignon Blanc and the Merlot was so acidic, my jaws clenched.
The Viognier, on the other hand, went very well with the chocolate.
The Carbernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and the Shiraz tasted bitter with the chocolate.
At the end my head was spinning. Still my work was not over, there was a seven-course meal to be had.
- Keisha Shakespeare
