To spit or not to spit - Hunter Valley Wineries

Wine tasting can be threatening to the uninitiated, but it shouldn’t be. The people the other side of the counter are promoting a product that they want you to buy, so, the customer is always right.

While the winemaker might be impressed when someone knowingly nods and passes a comment like ‘this one has a vibrant, herbaceous character underpinned by gooseberry and floral flavours’, he or she will be just as happy with a judgement like ‘now, that’s nice!’. But a comment like ‘I think this one was aged for 24 hours in a cat before bottling’ won’t make too many friends. And, while the serious wine taster may be on a voyage of discovery, most people are willing to be led. The winemakers will ask you whether you like a dry, sweet or fruity wine and then select a few to suit your particular tastebuds.

The sight of a bucket with wine floating in the bottom puts some people off because they think they are required to spit the wine out after swishing it around the palate. If you want to do that, fine, but it's really there to pour out a wine you don’t like so you can move on to another (or simply to empty the odd glass so you can continue tasting without falling over).