brian clayton

Last night I went to my first wine tasting – hosted by Curious Wines at the Ambassador hotel in Cork City.
I had no idea what to expect – I know very little about wine in general so I was hoping to learn something and move outside my ‘choice’ comfort zone.
I was travelling in a party of 4 – my sister and two friends. Unfortunately my friends had to cancel at the last minute. We landed in to see a number of tables laid out with spittoons, glasses, tasting notes and glasses of water. Suddenly I had that feeling you get at the dentist when you see the instrument tray laid out by the chair. No matter, I said hello to Mike and my sis and I took a seat.

Mike opened proceedings and introduced Joyce Austin of New Zealand Boutique Wines. Mike was careful to put our minds at rest and made it clear that things were informal. Joyce was a fantastic MC for the evening, explaining the wines and giving lots of useful information on wines in general, not just the ones she was promoting.

For the procedurally curious, the wines were poured “blind” into the glasses on the table. We then had time to swirl, smell and taste them before she explained what we had just tasted.
You could then either finish the glass or abandon the contents into the buckets on the table.

I confess I did taste the intruiging looking bucket at the end of the night. I won’t reveal the results of that taste test though.

All in all, it was a smashing night. I met a number of Irish wine names, everyone was very friendly and in great form. I was stunned by some of the revelations, mainly to do with how different in character a different ‘breed’ of a familiar grape can be.
If you get any chance at all to attend a wine tasting, grasp it with both hands.

incidentally, if anyone wants to see how seriously I take life: