Sassy drinks at The Flying Winemaker, Hong Kong

It has been said that “the point of learning about wine is not to know everything about wine, [but to] enjoy life more”. As I’m sure many out there will agree, us girls love our wine – not in a co-dependent way though! Rather, our love affair with wine resembles that loving and reliable relationship where you still find ways to surprise and delight each other after so many years. So, when Team Sassy was invited to The Flying Winemaker for an introduction to their mini “Tongue Explorer” tasting (not as kinky as it sounds, I promise), us girls jumped at the chance, because, let’s face it, who doesn’t love an evening of vino and cheese!?

Started by celeb TV-host and winemaker Eddie McDougall, The Flying Winemaker not only sells a wide and unique selection of international vino but aims to take the pretension and stand off-ish nature out of the world of wine through informative tastings, events and classes. Previously located at the top of LKF, The Flying Winemaker made a new home on Wyndham Street back in December and it was here at their Gallery that we popped some bottles for a truly unique and seriously fun evening of wine discovery.

Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by The Flying Winemaker team with glasses of gorgeously light Dal Zotto Pucino bubbles from the King Valley in Australia and enticing boards of cheese and cold cuts (note: these lads definitely know the way to a Sassy girl’s heart!). After seating ourselves around their uber-cool wine barrel bar tables, our Tongue Explorer tasting kicked off. Now, if you’ve been to a stuffy wine tasting event before, you would probably be expecting plenty of pomp with a snifter of B.S here and there, right? Well, Eddie and his team are the exact opposite of that – their educational tastings aim to teach the basics of wine in a simple and approachable way. So, what did we learn?

Firstly, you’ve got to slurp your wine. Ok, so it may not be the most attractive, but Eddie explains that slurping isn’t just reserved for wine snobs. By aerating your sips of wine, the taste is intensified and lasts longer. We discovered this for ourselves after taking two separate sips of the same wine, the first without slurping and the second with. After each sip we had to raise our hand when we couldn’t detect the taste of the wine any longer. For each of us, the taste lingered more than twice as long after slurping. There you go, slurp away and you’ll get more bang for your buck!

Upon perfecting our sipping and slurping skills, we had a bit of a biology refresher by mapping out what flavours the different taste buds pick up – salty, sweet, sour and bitter. Using their blackboard wall, Eddie explained that the tongue is divided into three sections, the front, middle and back palate – each section being associated with the four different flavours. We were surprised to learn that contrary to common belief, wine doesn’t simply move straight from the front to the back of the tongue as you drink. Rather, it can travel through the mouth, hitting different palates and ignoring other sections completely. Again, we tried this for ourselves by mapping how the wine moved across our tongues after sipping slurping a crisp and fruity Daniel Classic Riesling and one of Eddie’s own vinos, the Umami Series Sangiovese.

Not only did we have a blast giggling our way through the Tongue Explorer tasting in true Sassy-style, but I certainly walked away with a better understanding of how my tongue reacts to wine and definitely picked up tips on how to maximise my wine-drinking experience. After honing our tasting skills, we tried a delicious selection of just some of the unique wines available at The Flying Winemaker. I was both surprised and delighted by a delicious white from Hua Hin and a robust Cabernet blend from China of all places! But that’s exactly what The Flying Winemaker is all about, it’s like taking an unexpected vineyard tour of the world.

SPECIAL SASSY OFFER
We couldn’t talk about about all these delectable wines and leave you out now, could we? If you’re keen to try one of the wines mentioned above, or you’re simply looking for something to impress at your next dinner party, click onto The Flying Winemaker website and order a bottle now with the code “sassywine” to get a fab 15% discount. This special offer is site wide and applies to all wines! Valid until 31 March.

The Flying Winemaker, 6/F Yu Yuet Lai Building, 43-55 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong, Tel: 2522 2187, [email protected]