Wine testing

CEBU, Philippines – Let's say you've joined an elite group where wine tasting is part of your duties and obligation. Whether you belong to the hospitality industry like a hotel or restaurant, or you're a wine merchant, or a lifestyle media practitioner or food blogger, or in like professions, good preparation is in order. The world of wines is quite complicated and you have to be ready in order to survive and enjoy it.

It can be like travelling to a foreign country. It helps to do little research beforehand. There are the peculiarities of the culture to understand, including the language. In oenology, you have to learn an entirely new set of vocabulary.

"Dry" is the opposite of "sweet" taste; "clean" means refreshing or agreeable; "nose" refers to aroma or bouquet of the wine. "Tannins" in red wine add a bitterness and astringency similar to black tea, and the word "finish" refers to the aftertaste.

Different varieties of grapes produce different types of wine. Cabernet Sauvignon, the red wine, or Chardonnay, the white wine, have different varietal characteristics that you as a new wine connoisseur better get to understand. Also, as wines contain 12.5 percent to 14.5 percent alcohol, you better know your alcohol tolerance, because you are to taste five to ten wines. Imagine that if you drink a glass of each wine, you will have consumed one to two bottles of wine in the end!

Recently Australian vineyard winemaker Mark Conroy, Philippine Wine Merchants Director of Sales and Marketing Raymond Lim Joseph, and Shangri-La's Mactan Director of Communications Mildred Amon invited your favorite food critic to the AQUA restaurant of Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort & Spa for a tasting of some of McLaren Vale Australia's premier wine collection, featuring wines from Pirramimma.

Three Pirramimma White Wines (Stock's Hills Chardonnay & Sauvignon Blanc Semillon and the White Label French Oak Chardonnay) and six Pirramimma Red Wines (Stock's Hills Shiraz & Cabernet Sauvignon, White Label Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot and the War Horse 100% Shiraz) were served.

I am a firm believer in the adage, "Never drink on an empty stomach," especially when there are nine wines to taste! I make sure that I eat enough foods like proteins and dense carbohydrates to slow down intoxication. I visited the kitchen where I met Manilyn Ugay at the Tuna Tartare section, Lourdes Biano (Kinilaw section) and Mari Gail Camello (Live Cooking at the Pasta Station). Fish dishes go best with white wines and roast meats with red wines, although if it's your first wine tasting and food pairing and you find roast meats go well with white wines, the veterans will respect your opinion.

Two and a half decades ago, I had a preference for white wines because sweet taste was more agreeable to my palate than the bitter taste of tannins in red wines. But later I read that the more expensive wines were the red variety, and I thought that if I did not develop a tolerance to tannins, I could0 never truly enjoy red wines.

Usually, the meats nearest to the bone taste best; I asked for special cuts from the Roast Peking Duck and paired it with the group's favourite, the 100% Shiraz, Pirramimma War Horse. Wow, life is indeed, excuse me, truly wonderful!