Throughout the year there is always a selection of French Wine Festivals and Fairs – see Frenchduck’s Calendar of wine fairs/festivals often to celebrate the harvest or as part of a village festival:-

These events are often free and open to the public – you may have to pay a few euros for a tasting glass.

• Show interest in the wines, say if you really like or dislike a wine -ask questions, no matter that you are no expert e.g what to eat with the wine, grape varities, where grown…..

• There is no obligation to buy – you can taste and compare, but also do not worry if you just want 1 bottle not a case!

• Often there are a number of stalls selling local produce – and music, dancing, ceremonials etc – all great fun!

• see FrenchDuck’s listing of Wine Festivals in France

The four recognized stages to wine tasting, which you can take as strictly as you wish, or just a guide to what to look for/assess:

• appearance
• “in glass” the aroma of the wine
• “in mouth” sensations
• “finish” (aftertaste)^[2]

– should enable you to assess the following:-

• complexity and character
• potential (suitability for aging or drinking)
• possible faults

Ideally the tasting glass should contain just enough wine to enable you to assess the aroma of the wine in the glass, e,g by swirling the glass to release its aromas. Be careful not to overfill which can lead to spills and remember that however good the wine the objective is to assess the wine and those following – not necessarily to drink it in any quantity.

For a professional., a wine’s overall quality assessment, based on this examination, follows further careful description and comparison with recognized standards, both in comparison to other wines in its price range and according to known factors pertaining to the region or vintage; if it is typical of the region or diverges in style; if it uses certain wine-making techniques, such as barrel fermentation or malolactic fermentation, or any other remarkable or unusual characteristics.

Although wines are often tasted in isolation, a wine’s quality assessment is more objective when performed alongside several other wines, in what are known as tasting “flights”. Wines may be deliberately selected for their vintage (“horizontal” tasting) or proceed from a single winery (“vertical” tasting), to better compare vineyard and vintages, respectively. Alternatively, in order to promote an unbiased analysis, bottles and even glasses may be disguised in a “blind” tasting, to rule out any prejudicial awareness of either vintage or winery.

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