Just Say "No" to Spitting

In my first article on the wine forum of this website I explained the four basic keys to wine tasting enjoyment. Do you remember? Aw, come on. They weren't that hard, were they?

1. See
2. Smell
3. Sip
4. Swallow

Now, there are a number of religiously devout wine tasters, stacked with a mountainous array of vino credentials-college degrees, worldwide travel, six figure incomes, and flavorful European accents-who would say the fourth point should give place to another S word: spitting.

As insistent and intimidating as they may be, I just can't agree. After all the bliss, joy, and satisfaction received from seeing, smelling, and sipping; why finish it off with spitting the wine out? How anticlimactic.

I do want to say that I feel I understand the supposed merits of their argument. The more wine you drink the more your senses become dulled, and the less perception you have to truly discern and taste the full flavor of wine. Each progressive glass of wine will naturally taste better than the previous, they say, due to your unsharpened senses.

Okay, but isn't that the whole point of drinking wine? Let the alcohol slowly relax you as you watch your worries disappear from your mind's eye.

Yes, to a certain degree, wine should dull your senses. That is the whole idea. Become giddy, merry, and carefree. Smile. And enjoy the taste of wine. All this should be taken in moderation, naturally. But can you imagine a party where everyone spits out their wine? It would definitely make it on the lame-party list the next day at work.

Now, I do want to leave a bit of a disclaimer. There is a time to spit out wine. When it has become "corked"-meaning gone bad, usually due to a faulty cork. By all means, if your wine tastes spoiled, don't try to somehow appreciate the vile, sour flavor: spit it out! I suppose there may be other instances when it would be wise to spit out some wine. Like when you are a professional wine taster with a busy schedule of a hundred tastings lined up for the day. But those two aside, spitting just isn't the way to go.

So the next time you need to chill, open a bottle of wine and do just that-chill. And remember that chilling does not consist of spitting. It consists of seeing, smelling, sipping, and then-you guessed it-swallowing. Then, you will truly be enjoying wine. So always remember-just say "no" to spitting.