The sweet bitter valleys

Let me start from where the road begins.

This is San Francisco and we were on our way to visit 2 of the biggest winery at the Sonoma and the Napa Valley.

Our guide was Mr. Ken Washington with a very deep voice and a crispy sense of humour was going to take us to these places telling us all about it all the way to the destinations. To ensure all our ears were on him, he would often go back to 2-3 descriptions of the past and test our concentration quotient. He was a short man with a limp on one leg with a very cheerful and pleasant disposition.

It was a pleasant day and I certainly did not need a jacket but wearing it was better than carrying and losing it. The bus ride to the valley was amazing, around 1 and a half hours from our hotel at the heart of the city. We were busy taking pix all the way, there was no time for a snooze or anything as the countryside was too beautiful and virginal to miss out for anything.

We soon arrived. The hosts as they call themselves took us in for wine tasting and some fine wine etiquette. It was an experience by itself especially for someone like me who knew there are 2 kinds of wine, red and white. Now you can call me half a connoisseur till my next visit to either the wine state in California or maybe France, let’s see.

Now let me begin my short class right here – this is something I knew before my visit there… you are supposed to hold a glass at the upward stem level with your thumb and forefinger. Once the wine is poured first you smell it and relish the breath you take in.. Then you either roll your glass on the table top or simply pick it up and swirl is for the flavor to be at its best. Then you take your waited, baited first sip and twirl is around your mouth and finally drink it. Ah, that was neat, wasn’t it?

Cheers is not something to be done with a touch for the fear of breaking your glass, you should criss cross your glasses and go boom at the bottom where the stem begins to go down. The thickness of the glass is thickest and meant to be knocked ‘cheers’ so can take the bang so go on, try it, its worth the sound and cheers feels so much better since I learnt this trick.

There is more on wine chilling or chilling with wine and other winteresting little observations that I made so will come back to post that later, till then ciao!