Thread: Wine etiquette at a dinner party - swirling

"Nils Gustaf Lindgren" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:ijIzl.7440$[email protected]..
>> I really enjoy doing this, it seems to enhance the flavor. My question
>> is, is it appropriate to swirl and take in the aroma before every sip in
>> a social setting? Or is this only to be done at tastings?
>
> Hello,
> This rude and uncultured person will endeavour to answer your question to
> the best of his imperfect knowledge.
> In a country where formal toasts are ported, it would be inappropriate to
> swirl before the toast. This is the one limitation that should be kept in
> mind at all times.
>
> Also, in the words of a maverick poster who has not been seen in the
> vicinity for along time, " it is fun to see how fast you can swirl the
> wine without it spraying over your neighbor".
>
> On a more serious note, when drinking older wines (I quite often drink and
> enjoy rather old wines, mean vintage c 1960), it is interesting to compare
> the olfactory sensations frist before swirling, then after - the pre-swirl
> bouquet often being much more fragile and delicate.
>
> HTH
>
> Cheers
>
> Nils
Swirl away - unostentatiously of course.

Pls note re wine etiquette (on a less serious note). If one of your guests
should accidentlaly spill some wine at dinner it is incumbent upon you to
discreetly spill even more at a later time so as to lessen said guest's
embarrassment.

This of course can lead to the incremental destruction of your dining room
should you be entertaining a rowdy bunch of wine loving footballers.
(oxymoron?)

Cheers!
Martin

Hi, I'm a little new to fine wine and I found myself at a small dinner
party tonight where there were some very nice red wines. There was an
El Nido, a Chateau Montelena Cab, and another Spanish wine which I can't
remember the name, but it was amazing. I was the only one there
swirling my glass to get the aroma. I did it just slightly but usually
before every sip. There were a couple of other people who did it on
occasion but not very often. I really enjoy doing this, it seems to
enhance the flavor. My question is, is it appropriate to swirl and take
in the aroma before every sip in a social setting? Or is this only to
be done at tastings?

On Mar 29, 9:09*am, tho...@vicon.net wrote:
> Nils Gustaf Lindgren wrote:
> > Hello,
> > This rude and uncultured person will endeavour to answer your question
> > to the best of his imperfect knowledge.
> > In a country where formal toasts are ported, it would be inappropriate
> > to swirl before the toast. This is the one limitation that should be
> > kept in mind at all times.
>
> > Also, in the words of a maverick poster who has not been seen in the
> > vicinity for along time, " it is fun to see how fast you can swirl the
> > wine without it spraying over your neighbor".
>
> > On a more serious note, when drinking older wines (I quite often drink
> > and enjoy rather old wines, mean vintage c 1960), it is interesting to
> > compare the olfactory sensations frist before swirling, then after - the
> > pre-swirl bouquet often being much more fragile and delicate.
>
> > HTH
>
> > Cheers
>
> > Nils
>
> Actually, I was very surprised myself, but there was no toast at this
> dinner party. *It was very informal.
>
> I'll take you're advice and try to taste before swirling sometimes,
> thanks. *But I'm really curious about etiqette. *Is it OK to swirl and
> smell before every sip at a dinner party?
>
> - Tom

I'm at bad person to comment on etiquette- one day there might be a
statue of me in the Hall of Boorish Table Manners. I can't claim to be
an authority on manners.

But my opinion anyway:
As long as you are just trying the wine and not being ostentatious, no
one should mind you swirling. Though I have to say that at a dinner
party, where one assumes you are getting a full pour of each wine (as
opposed to a wine tasting dinner with 10 people where pours might be 2
oz or less), I doubt I'd make a point of swirling and sniffing before
every sip. Usually at dinner with friends (I'm thinking back, I've
never taken notes on what I do) I guess I'd smell a wine, swirl, smell
again, taste. After that, who knows? If it seems open and ready, doubt
I'd specifically make a point of any more swirling. If it is tight,
I'd probably (mostly unconsciously) give it a few swirls while in
conversation. But whatever works for you should be fine. The only
thing I'd say might be a violation of etiquette is if you stop and
drop out of conversation, to then swirl madly, smell loudly and
ostentatiously, and generally make your tasting the center of
attention.

What vintages were the el Nido and Montelena? I generally love the
latter, but the '03 Jumilla was way "too much" for my tastes on my one
try.

Nils Gustaf Lindgren wrote:

> Hello,
> This rude and uncultured person will endeavour to answer your question
> to the best of his imperfect knowledge.
> In a country where formal toasts are ported, it would be inappropriate
> to swirl before the toast. This is the one limitation that should be
> kept in mind at all times.
>
> Also, in the words of a maverick poster who has not been seen in the
> vicinity for along time, " it is fun to see how fast you can swirl the
> wine without it spraying over your neighbor".
>
> On a more serious note, when drinking older wines (I quite often drink
> and enjoy rather old wines, mean vintage c 1960), it is interesting to
> compare the olfactory sensations frist before swirling, then after - the
> pre-swirl bouquet often being much more fragile and delicate.
>
> HTH
>
> Cheers
>
> Nils

Actually, I was very surprised myself, but there was no toast at this
dinner party. It was very informal.

I'll take you're advice and try to taste before swirling sometimes,
thanks. But I'm really curious about etiqette. Is it OK to swirl and
smell before every sip at a dinner party?

- Tom

>
> Swirl away - unostentatiously of course.
>
> Pls note re wine etiquette (on a less serious note). If one of your guests
> should accidentlaly spill some wine at dinner it is incumbent upon you to
> discreetly spill even more at a later time so as to lessen said guest's
> embarrassment.
>
> This of course can lead to the incremental destruction of your dining room
> should you be entertaining a rowdy bunch of wine loving footballers.
> (oxymoron?)
>
> Cheers!
> Martin
>
>


LOL. thanks for the help. I will.

[email protected] wrote:

> Nils Gustaf Lindgren wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>> This rude and uncultured person will endeavour to answer your question
>> to the best of his imperfect knowledge.
>> In a country where formal toasts are ported, it would be inappropriate
>> to swirl before the toast. This is the one limitation that should be
>> kept in mind at all times.
>>
>> Also, in the words of a maverick poster who has not been seen in the
>> vicinity for along time, " it is fun to see how fast you can swirl the
>> wine without it spraying over your neighbor".
>>
>> On a more serious note, when drinking older wines (I quite often drink
>> and enjoy rather old wines, mean vintage c 1960), it is interesting to
>> compare the olfactory sensations frist before swirling, then after -
>> the pre-swirl bouquet often being much more fragile and delicate.
>>
>> HTH
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Nils
>
>
> Actually, I was very surprised myself, but there was no toast at this
> dinner party. It was very informal.
>
> I'll take you're advice and try to taste before swirling sometimes,
> thanks. But I'm really curious about etiqette. Is it OK to swirl and
> smell before every sip at a dinner party?
>
> - Tom
>
And when no one else seems to notice that they are drinking really great
wine.

On Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:32:59 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

>Hi, I'm a little new to fine wine and I found myself at a small dinner
>party tonight where there were some very nice red wines. There was an
>El Nido, a Chateau Montelena Cab, and another Spanish wine which I can't
>remember the name, but it was amazing. I was the only one there
>swirling my glass to get the aroma. I did it just slightly but usually
>before every sip. There were a couple of other people who did it on
>occasion but not very often. I really enjoy doing this, it seems to
>enhance the flavor. My question is, is it appropriate to swirl and take
>in the aroma before every sip in a social setting? Or is this only to
>be done at tastings?


Sometimes I catch myself swirling water! :-) really!

DaleW wrote:

> On Mar 29, 9:09 am, tho...@vicon.net wrote:
>
>>Nils Gustaf Lindgren wrote:
>>
>>>Hello,
>>>This rude and uncultured person will endeavour to answer your question
>>>to the best of his imperfect knowledge.
>>>In a country where formal toasts are ported, it would be inappropriate
>>>to swirl before the toast. This is the one limitation that should be
>>>kept in mind at all times.
>>
>>>Also, in the words of a maverick poster who has not been seen in the
>>>vicinity for along time, " it is fun to see how fast you can swirl the
>>>wine without it spraying over your neighbor".
>>
>>>On a more serious note, when drinking older wines (I quite often drink
>>>and enjoy rather old wines, mean vintage c 1960), it is interesting to
>>>compare the olfactory sensations frist before swirling, then after - the
>>>pre-swirl bouquet often being much more fragile and delicate.
>>
>>>HTH
>>
>>>Cheers
>>
>>>Nils
>>
>>Actually, I was very surprised myself, but there was no toast at this
>>dinner party. It was very informal.
>>
>>I'll take you're advice and try to taste before swirling sometimes,
>>thanks. But I'm really curious about etiqette. Is it OK to swirl and
>>smell before every sip at a dinner party?
>>
>>- Tom
>
>
> I'm at bad person to comment on etiquette- one day there might be a
> statue of me in the Hall of Boorish Table Manners. I can't claim to be
> an authority on manners.
>
> But my opinion anyway:
> As long as you are just trying the wine and not being ostentatious, no
> one should mind you swirling. Though I have to say that at a dinner
> party, where one assumes you are getting a full pour of each wine (as
> opposed to a wine tasting dinner with 10 people where pours might be 2
> oz or less), I doubt I'd make a point of swirling and sniffing before
> every sip. Usually at dinner with friends (I'm thinking back, I've
> never taken notes on what I do) I guess I'd smell a wine, swirl, smell
> again, taste. After that, who knows? If it seems open and ready, doubt
> I'd specifically make a point of any more swirling. If it is tight,
> I'd probably (mostly unconsciously) give it a few swirls while in
> conversation. But whatever works for you should be fine. The only
> thing I'd say might be a violation of etiquette is if you stop and
> drop out of conversation, to then swirl madly, smell loudly and
> ostentatiously, and generally make your tasting the center of
> attention.
>
> What vintages were the el Nido and Montelena? I generally love the
> latter, but the '03 Jumilla was way "too much" for my tastes on my one
> try.

I wasn't making a point of swirling and sniffing before every sip. I
just did it very slightly in fact. When I got home I was wondering if
people thought I was acting like a wine snob or something, nobody else
seemed that interested. There were only 7 of us btw. I didn't swirl
madly before every sip, just a little bit. But for the most part nobody
else swirled.

The el Nido was 06, the Montelena was 02, I'm sure of this but I still
can't remember the name of the of the other spanish wine but it had a
checkerboard label. And it was good.

- Tom

CheersCheers! Martin Vinum (Canada) - TheWineBlog (Europe) - The Alsop
Review (USA) - Greater Noosa Living (Australia)
"Young Martle" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:32:59 -0800, [email protected] wrote:
>
>>Hi, I'm a little new to fine wine and I found myself at a small dinner
>>party tonight where there were some very nice red wines. There was an
>>El Nido, a Chateau Montelena Cab, and another Spanish wine which I can't
>>remember the name, but it was amazing. I was the only one there
>>swirling my glass to get the aroma. I did it just slightly but usually
>>before every sip. There were a couple of other people who did it on
>>occasion but not very often. I really enjoy doing this, it seems to
>>enhance the flavor. My question is, is it appropriate to swirl and take
>>in the aroma before every sip in a social setting? Or is this only to
>>be done at tastings?
>
>
> Sometimes I catch myself swirling water! :-) really!

Moi aussi! (Translation: I am an Australian).

Cheers!
Masrtin

On Sun, 29 Mar 2009 10:45:34 GMT, "Nils Gustaf Lindgren"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>On a more serious note, when drinking older wines (I quite often drink and
>enjoy rather old wines, mean vintage c 1960), it is interesting to compare
>the olfactory sensations frist before swirling, then after - the pre-swirl
>bouquet often being much more fragile and delicate.

It's worth trying with any wine IMO. Swirling encourages less
volatile aromas to reach the nose - more volatile components will come
through relatively stronger when not swilling.

--
Steve Slatcher
http://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher

>
> Sometimes I catch myself swirling water! :-) really!

And this is peculiar because ... ?

Nils

On Mar 29, 10:21*am, Young Martle <r...@myway.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:32:59 -0800, tho...@vicon.net wrote:
> >Hi, I'm a little new to fine wine and I found myself at a small dinner
> >party tonight where there were some very nice red wines. *There was an
> >El Nido, a Chateau Montelena Cab, and another Spanish wine which I can't
> >remember the name, but it was amazing. *I was the only one there
> >swirling my glass to get the aroma. *I did it just slightly but usually
> >before every sip. *There were a couple of other people who did it on
> >occasion but not very often. * I really enjoy doing this, it seems to
> >enhance the flavor. *My question is, is it appropriate to swirl and take
> >in the aroma before every sip in a social setting? *Or is this only to
> >be done at tastings?
>
> Sometimes I catch myself swirling water! :-) * * really!

yeah, why I prefer non-stemmed water glasses!

On Mar 29, 10:49*am, tho...@vicon.net wrote:
> DaleW wrote:
> > On Mar 29, 9:09 am, tho...@vicon.net wrote:
>
> >>Nils Gustaf Lindgren wrote:
>
> >>>Hello,
> >>>This rude and uncultured person will endeavour to answer your question
> >>>to the best of his imperfect knowledge.
> >>>In a country where formal toasts are ported, it would be inappropriate
> >>>to swirl before the toast. This is the one limitation that should be
> >>>kept in mind at all times.
>
> >>>Also, in the words of a maverick poster who has not been seen in the
> >>>vicinity for along time, " it is fun to see how fast you can swirl the
> >>>wine without it spraying over your neighbor".
>
> >>>On a more serious note, when drinking older wines (I quite often drink
> >>>and enjoy rather old wines, mean vintage c 1960), it is interesting to
> >>>compare the olfactory sensations frist before swirling, then after - the
> >>>pre-swirl bouquet often being much more fragile and delicate.
>
> >>>HTH
>
> >>>Cheers
>
> >>>Nils
>
> >>Actually, I was very surprised myself, but there was no toast at this
> >>dinner party. *It was very informal.
>
> >>I'll take you're advice and try to taste before swirling sometimes,
> >>thanks. *But I'm really curious about etiqette. *Is it OK to swirl and
> >>smell before every sip at a dinner party?
>
> >>- Tom
>
> > I'm at bad person to comment on etiquette- one day there might be a
> > statue of me in the Hall of Boorish Table Manners. I can't claim to be
> > an authority on manners.
>
> > But my opinion anyway:
> > As long as you are just trying the wine and not being ostentatious, no
> > one should mind you swirling. Though I have to say that at a dinner
> > party, where one assumes you are getting a full pour of each wine (as
> > opposed to a wine tasting dinner with 10 people where pours might be 2
> > oz or less), I doubt I'd make a point of swirling and sniffing before
> > every sip. Usually at dinner with friends (I'm thinking back, I've
> > never taken notes on what I do) I guess I'd smell a wine, swirl, smell
> > again, taste. After that, who knows? If it seems open and ready, doubt
> > I'd specifically make a point of any more swirling. If it is tight,
> > I'd probably (mostly unconsciously) give it a few swirls while in
> > conversation. But whatever works for you should be fine. The only
> > thing I'd say might be a violation *of etiquette is if you stop and
> > drop out of conversation, to then swirl madly, smell loudly and
> > ostentatiously, and generally make your tasting the center of
> > attention.
>
> > What vintages were the el Nido and Montelena? I generally love the
> > latter, but the '03 Jumilla was way "too much" for my tastes on my one
> > try.
>
> I wasn't making a point of swirling and sniffing before every sip. *I
> just did it very slightly in fact. *When I got home I was wondering if
> people thought I was acting like a wine snob or something, nobody else
> seemed that interested. *There were only 7 of us btw. I didn't swirl
> madly before every sip, just a little bit. *But for the most part nobody
> else swirled.
>
> The el Nido was 06, the Montelena was 02, I'm sure of this but I still
> can't remember the name of the of the other spanish wine but it had a
> checkerboard label. * And it was good.
>
> - Tom

Sounds like you were a perfect dinner guest.
One must accept that others may not be as interested in the wine as we
are.

>>
>>The el Nido was 06, the Montelena was 02, I'm sure of this but I still
>>can't remember the name of the of the other spanish wine but it had a
>>checkerboard label. And it was good.
>>
>>- Tom
>
>
> Sounds like you were a perfect dinner guest.
> One must accept that others may not be as interested in the wine as we
> are.

Thanks, but I don't know for sure. I think I was fairly discreet about
my swirling, I was just trying to get a little nose and enjoy the wines.
And actually, I think the only other person doing it was the host.
I'm actually going to be more discreet next time.

I now remember the other wine, it was Alto Moncayo. I finally
rememebered Alto and did a web search on Spanish wines. Not sure of the
vintage.

T

Young Martle wrote:

>
>
> Sometimes I catch myself swirling water! :-) really!

Haha. I'm not that bad yet! :-)

[email protected] wrote in news:k7Izl.3054$[email protected]:

> Hi, I'm a little new to fine wine and I found myself at a small dinner
> party tonight where there were some very nice red wines. There was an
> El Nido, a Chateau Montelena Cab, and another Spanish wine which I can't
> remember the name, but it was amazing. I was the only one there
> swirling my glass to get the aroma. I did it just slightly but usually
> before every sip. There were a couple of other people who did it on
> occasion but not very often. I really enjoy doing this, it seems to
> enhance the flavor. My question is, is it appropriate to swirl and take
> in the aroma before every sip in a social setting? Or is this only to
> be done at tastings?

Swirling is ok, but try to avoid spitting.

On Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:36:13 -0500, Jim Lovejoy wrote:

> [email protected] wrote in news:k7Izl.3054$[email protected]:
>
>> Hi, I'm a little new to fine wine and I found myself at a small dinner
>> party tonight where there were some very nice red wines. There was an
>> El Nido, a Chateau Montelena Cab, and another Spanish wine which I
>> can't remember the name, but it was amazing. I was the only one there
>> swirling my glass to get the aroma. I did it just slightly but usually
>> before every sip. There were a couple of other people who did it on
>> occasion but not very often. I really enjoy doing this, it seems to
>> enhance the flavor. My question is, is it appropriate to swirl and
>> take in the aroma before every sip in a social setting? Or is this
>> only to be done at tastings?
>
> Swirling is ok, but try to avoid spitting.

Especially at your host/hostess ;-)

Godzilla

Godzilla Monster wrote:
> On Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:36:13 -0500, Jim Lovejoy wrote:
>
>
>>[email protected] wrote in news:k7Izl.3054$[email protected]:
>>
>>
>>>Hi, I'm a little new to fine wine and I found myself at a small dinner
>>>party tonight where there were some very nice red wines. There was an
>>>El Nido, a Chateau Montelena Cab, and another Spanish wine which I
>>>can't remember the name, but it was amazing. I was the only one there
>>>swirling my glass to get the aroma. I did it just slightly but usually
>>>before every sip. There were a couple of other people who did it on
>>>occasion but not very often. I really enjoy doing this, it seems to
>>>enhance the flavor. My question is, is it appropriate to swirl and
>>>take in the aroma before every sip in a social setting? Or is this
>>>only to be done at tastings?
>>
>>Swirling is ok, but try to avoid spitting.
>
>
> Especially at your host/hostess ;-)
>
> Godzilla

Now you tell me. I'll probably never be invited back! :-)

- T