WINE AND THE ART OF WINE TASTING. 19 



the good or bad qualities of a wine of a certain locality or of some par- 

 ticular producer or vineyard; in this case, even though he may be well 

 acquainted with the kind of wine, to be able to give his decision with 

 more confidence, he will carefully provide himself with a wine of the 

 same type as that which he is called upon to judge; he can thus receive 

 material aid by making a comparison. 



Naturally, a taster who is used to the wines of a certain locality or 

 country will be more easily able to detect the slightest differences 

 between the wines of that locality, especially those differences in fine 

 wines which distinguish wines produced by different vineyards even in 

 the same locality, and when planted with the same varieties of grapes. 



A taster should be very cautious in giving an opinion of a young 

 wine, or of one whose origin is unknown, and of pronouncing on its in- 

 trinsic worth; the youth of the wine will often mask defects, which, 

 later, become apparent. 



When it is found necessary to taste several wines in succession, it is a 

 good practice to eat a little dry bread between each wine, or to rinse out 

 the mouth with a little fresh water, to neutralize the palate, so to speak. 



It is always good to rinse out the mouth with fresh water before com- 

 mencing to taste. 



Before commencing the tasting, or rather the final tasting that on 

 which is based the concluding judgment the wines should be sorted; 

 for example, if the wines are of the same kind, but of different ages, it 

 is best to begin by tasting the weakest, thinnest, or greenest wines, 

 reserving the maturer wines and those which are more 'aromatic, smooth, 

 or alcoholic for the last. 



The same is true when there are many and diverse wines, as at an 

 exposition. In this case the tasting proper should be preceded by an 

 arranging of the various wines, a thing which is not done at all, or 

 badly done as a rule, much to the detriment of the exhibitors. This 

 selection should be based not on the labels on the bottles, or on the 

 statements of the exhibitors, but on a preliminary tasting; in this way 

 those who are to judge the wines will not be presented successively 

 with different type's of wine, with wines of different qualities and ages 

 together, and, as is unfortunately the case, sometimes with defective or 

 bad ones. 



There are tasters who are ready at any time to pass judgment on a wine; 

 they will even taste directly after smoking. Their opinion, to say the 

 least, is of little value. 



A good taster is not always in condition to exercise his art, and for 

 that reason must sometimes refuse to make a tasting when he does not 

 feel in a state to judge critically. 



Here I may appropriately remark that the wine dealer often relies too 

 much on the lack of delicacy of taste on the part of the consumer. He 

 should remember that among his customers there is occasionally a con- 

 noisseur, or at least a fairly good taster, who can appreciate the wine at 

 its true worth, and whose opinion is followed by the majority of his other 

 customers. 



A little advice is needed also by those who are called upon to judge 

 competing wines at exhibitions or elsewhere. 



Without exaggeration, I may say that there is scarcely a person in 



