Show Notes

Minisode #2: Why do people slurp wine?

Hi everyone, and welcome to this mini-episode of The Wine Pair Podcast! I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair.

If you are wondering what the hell minisodes are, minisodes are short tastings of The Wine Pair Podcast meant to be fun and educational, and in this episode we are going to discuss why some people make slurping sounds when they taste wine. 

Have you heard people doing this, Carmela? Seems weird, right?!?

If you have never heard people doing this, then you have never been around wine nerds. The first time I really noticed it was when your dad would slurp his wine. I actually thought at the time that not only was it weird, but it was a little rude. 

But, why do you think people slurp wine, Carmela? Do you think it is at all related to why people slurp things that are hot?

There are a few reasons why. 

• What you are trying to do is aerate the wine in your mouth - meaning, add air to it. In addition, you are also trying to spread the wine as much as possible across your whole mouth so that you can as much of the taste as possible.
• This slurping also mixes the air and the wine so you can smell it better - it is about impacting smell as much as it impacts taste, because your nose will pick up the scents of the wine as well as your mouth picking up the taste. And we should know that smell is the most impactful thing to taste (which is why you hold your nose when you don’t want to taste something you are eating)
• Slurping wine is fine to do with reds and whites. It is less necessary to do with sparkling wines because they already have effervescence to bring their flavors into the air

Articles:

https://bishopscellar.com/2019/09/ask-a-pro-why-do-some-people-slurp-wine/#:~:text=In%20short%3A%20people%20who%20slurp,enjoy%20it%20to%20the%20fullest 

https://www.wtso.com/blog/why-do-sommeliers-slurp-their-wine/ 

Is there a right way or wrong way to slurp wine? Or times when it is more acceptable than others?

• The proper technique is to put a bit of wine in your mouth, swish it around, and then have the wine sort of sit on your tongue, purse your lips, and suck in air. But, you can find your own way to do it.
• I would probably avoid gargling with your wine, but really, you don’t need to have a huge mouthful of wine in order to slurp it, and less is usually more.
• As far as when to do it, it probably matters most who you are with. If you are at a wine tasting, that is a great place to slurp. If you are at a friend’s house who is a wine connoisseur, yes, that is a great place to slurp. But you may want to refrain if you are visiting the parents of your significant other, unless you know already how they feel about it because it can seem rude! 

Let’s slurp some wine, Carmela!

Ok, that’s it for this minisode. Check out our other minisodes to learn more, and send us a note if you want us to cover other subjects. You can follow us on Instagram and Twitter, you can visit our website thewinepairpodcast.com and in any of those places you can reach out to us directly. We also will have our show notes on our website, and we will include links to articles on this topic as well. 

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