Taking a wine-loving client out
to dinner, but don’t know anything about the stuff? Learn some
basic grape facts and a few catchwords, and you’ll at least be able
to fake it, says Craig Pinhey (www.frogspad.ca), a New Brunswick, Canada-based
wine consultant.
Read up first. Just
one or two inexpensive wine books will tell you where common wines
come from and what the basic flavors are.
Name that grape. There
are seven basic varietals: chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, Riesling,
cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir and Syrah. Test yourself
with a few blind tastings until you can tell them apart.
Master the trivia.
Syrah is another name for Shiraz; Riesling is a German wine; a
white burgundy is made from chardonnay grapes, and red burgundy
comes from pinot noir grapes. And only wine made in Champagne,
France, can be called champagne.
Memorize these words.Zingy, lustrous, silken and
voluminous are some key buzzwords to throw out in
conversation. They have little meaning but are sure to impress.
Others such as gamey, meaty, pungent and
fat are actually used by wine experts.