So based on my recent experiences in Arizona — yes, they grow and make wine in Arizona, and yes, it’s good, and yes, you should try it — here is some advice on how you should behave at a wine tasting.
• You can and should swirl the wine around in the glass before you taste it and all that, but don't make a lengthy production out of it, otherwise everyone's going to think you're a showoff and secretly begin to loathe you.
• Don't keep bragging about that time you tried Chateau Mouton-Rothschild in Bordeaux. Maybe — and here's a wild idea — learn a little about the region you're actually in.
• You don't have to finish the samples you don't like. Really! You can just pour it out and move on. I know it runs counterintuitive to your usual desires, but a tasting isn't happy hour at Flanigan's.
• Solicit recommendations from your server. Ask questions about the wine and pay attention to the answers. Even if you barely know a malbec from a mourvèdre, displaying interest, being friendly and showing yourself to be an enthusiastic wine consumer may pay off. Our knowledgeable server at Page Springs Cellars in Cornville, Ariz., noted that I really liked a red blend that used five percent of the unusual grape counoise, which earned me a taste of the 2015 Counoise House Mountain Vineyard (pronounced "coon-whaz" or "-whah"). Which tasted like what the seraphim drink, lots of berry, almost a rose but with more muscle. I heard harp music with every sip. Unfortunately, tasting this wine led to a lot of begging on my part to purchase a glass, which was not a problem, and then a bottle, which was — bottles were for wine club members only.
• If the wines are good and you like the idea of new and unfamiliar wines flowing to your front door throughout the year, consider joining the wine club.
• If you're visiting more than one vineyard, pick a designated driver. Buy that person a bottle of the best wine you taste as a thank you for driving you around.
• You don't have to finish all the wine. Seriously.
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