I love my wine. The only alcohol I can wholeheartedly enjoy is wine. So when the awesome Hetal Lakhani (@Gujjucactus on twitter) invited me for a wine tasting event at Out Of the Blue, Bandra I jumped. And the fact that is was organised in conjunction with Nikhil Agarwal of All Things Nice got me even more excited. I’ve heard so much about the various wine tasting and pairing events they organize, I surely knew I wanted to go try this.

This event was a pre-cursor to the Wine week that is following up from the 17th to 23rd February 2014. During the entire duration of the week, wine lovers can enjoy set courses of food and wine pairings at a number of restaurants around the city. These pre-decided menus are otherwise unavailable. And if you really enjoy what your drinking, you can take home the wine at a 30% discounted rate. How cool is that!! For more information check out their website The setting was relaxed and fun. A group of around 20 of us wine aficionados were present from the ages of 25-75! There’s no age limit to enjoy a glass of wine. The event was open to the public at no cost. So anyone could come and enjoy an evening of wine, conversations. learning and break bread with like-minded people.

We were made to taste seven wines. Two white wines, Four red, and one dessert wine. They are as follows in the order of their appearance:

• Reveilo Grillo 2012
• York Chennin Blanc Vintage 2013
• Reveilo Merlot 2012
• Grover Merlot 2013 Art Collection
• York Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage 2010
• Grover La Reserve 2011
• Reveilo Late Harvest Chenin Balnc vintage 2006 Dessert Wine

We were served some absolutely delicious Bread basket with hummus and some Tomato Bruschetta alongside. Absolutely important to eat some bread as it serves a dual function of being a palate cleanser and the bread also helps absorb the alcohol.

Nikhil patiently explained the process of wine tasting with each of the seven wines. He described each of the seven wines to us, getting each table to participate and interact and explore the basics of each wine. We described the wines based on:

• Look of the wine. Checking for color and clarity.
• Opacity of the wine. Is the wine clear, opaque or translucent?
• Smell or aroma of the wine after swirling it. Swirling the wine well helps ‘open’ it up. I became an expert swirler after the two hours. Swirling others wines for them too!
• Fruitiness of the wine. Describe the first fruit that comes to your mind after a sip of the wine.
• Acidity of the wine. Is the wine acidic? How acidic? What is the sugar content like?
• Attack phase of the wine. What does your throat and mouth feel like after you’ve finished swallowing it down.

All in all a great evening. Learnt my wine basics. I think I will be able to describe and appreciate wine more carefully now. Everyone who enjoys their wine, do get a chance to try out a Wine Appreciation Class atleast once. All Things Nice keeps posting up their events on the website.

Branded Bawi’s Most Favorite Wine: Reveilo Late Harvest Chenin Blanc Dessert Wine. Most people found it a tad bit sweet, but it was my first dessert wine and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would surely buy it again for a special occasion or just to treat myself.