Grape & Grain | Why spitting trumps swallowing for the serious wine taster

While clearing up after a recent consumer wine tasting, I was struck by the fact that of the three spit buckets I’d set out, not one contained a drop of wine. I realised I’d forgotten that, for most people, the idea of spitting out wine borders on sacrilege, and was reminded how fundamentally different the worlds of wine tasting and wine drinking are.

To underline a rather unpleasant point, spit buckets are the deeply unglamorous underbelly of professional wine tasting. Nothing says “welcome to the trade” quite like spitting into an ominously heavy bucket and having the mingled expectorations of your fellow tasters come spurting back up at you.

However, in answer to the question asked by all those who drink for pleasure – “How can you possibly spit?” – I offer an anecdote from my first ever wine trade show. I was sent to a notoriously boisterous show by a manager whose only instructions were “real men don’t spit”. This mantra I repeated to the 30-plus producers who somehow continued to pour me their wares until I was so sozzled I could no longer stringa sentence together. Eventually decanted into a taxi, I woke in my hotel room at 10pm with what remains to this day the worst hangover of my life.

Consequently, I am now a spitter so prodigious even water isn’t guaranteed to pass my epiglottis, and I’ve put any aspirations to be a macho girl to rest. But beyond the question of to spit or not to spit, I’ve also tried to draw other lines between tasting and drinking, a distinction I recommend for anyone hoping to sharpen their palate.

The most obvious difference relates to timing. While I try not to actually drink wine until after noon (usually well after), my preference is to taste in the morning, when your palate is freshest. If I’m ramping up for a tasting exam, I will taste two “mystery” wines chosen at random for me every morning, leaving less baffling tastings for later in the day.