Learn to understand its inner hidden beauty!

Step into a beautiful restaurant, stop for a moment to enjoy the tinkling of the music notes upon your ears. Drift with the ambience and be elegantly seated. You could be there alone, or you could be there with a significant other, but no matter what the circumstances may be, you probably think in your heart like I do now - This is not a night to be missed so easily.

The menu is here. But please do not just focus on the main dish of the night though that's supposed to be the star of the night - the reason you are most probably there for. Here's why. Imagine a night, so magically drawn and made before you. You may have gone through a tiring day at work. Right before you is a chance to reward yourself. And no, just a main dish can never make you enjoy the time with your loved one. How much can you possibly talk and share your day when your mouth is busy munching? Or how romantic can it get when you talk with your mouth that is so full of the smell of garlic and sauces that you just swallowed? And have you no time at all to stay a while more after the main to relax with the tunes?

Are you able to sense what is lacking here? With no doubts, the answer is revealed. Yes, a bottle of wine, or even just a glass is the complementing element of the night.

While your senses are probably awaken and enticed by the wonderful atmosphere surrounding you, please don't neglect them so soon. Engage your senses with wine. Well, except maybe for the hearing sense. Here's how:

Look at the wine. For just the appearance of the wine alone can tell much about the sort of style you can likely expect. Next, just like how you probably see a thousand times how people use to swirl their glasses , yes you may do it. This is to help aerate and release the aroma of the wine. And no, you don't need a bull's strength to do this. A simple way would be to just place your glass on the table, and sliding the stem of the glass between your index and middle fingers, press down on the base of the glass and slide it gently from side to side. Then invite your nose to the test and sniff the aroma released. What do you smell? Spices? Chocolates? (I'll touch on the different aromas released and how these smell come about in probably the next post..stay tuned) Spend a good 60 seconds to appreciate. Don't worry about the waiter who might be standing beside you to wait for a nod from you while you test. Take your time. Ultimately, you are going to be the one drinking that bottle of wine for the night.

Now, take a sip (yes a sip and never a gulp). Swoosh the wine around your mouth to release and bring out the flavor of the wine to its fullest. Notice the taste and texture that is now occupying your tastebuds. And then for a finish, while some do this, you may choose not to do it too. What the "finish" consist is actually spitting out the wine. And the reason professional testers do this is to save their sobriety. Note that this doesn't then mark the end of the assessment. Texture of the wine can also be assessed right after the wine is spat out. Any tinge of lingering flavor can help determine if you love it or not. Certain unusual nuances also often come through more during the finish. So enjoy the whole process for this may be seen as the first touch of love towards the wine by your precious senses!

Savour the taste of your dish with the aromatic taste of your carefully picked wine. Be prepared to fill your tastebuds with the warming touch of balance between your food and wine. Spend the night toasting to a greater tomorrow with your loved ones after the main and build your love in the midst of romance.

And here I toast to you my readers for we have now equipped ourselves with more understanding on how, through the revealing of the hidden inner beauty of wine, we can appreciate the next dinner that is blessed upon us in the coming evening better.

P.S The above information have been gathered from :
- "The Downtown Girl's Guide to Wine" by Megan Buckley and Sheree Bykofsky
- "International Wine Guide" by Susy Atkins
(These 2 books are my newly borrowed books. Looking forward to sharing more with you guys. Hope you'll like it.=) )