The Spring Tasting may have been our best ever.  Great turnout and great wines.  Thanks to all - customers, vendors and employees.  What was your favorite wine?

I started writing a column for the News Sun on wine - and will put a copy of the 1st one here.  The basics of tasting:

A new column.  Blank page.  Where do I begin?  I’ll quote from King of Hearts in Alice and Wonderland and “begin at the beginning…then go on till (I) come to the end, then stop.”

I was a lawyer and worked five years at a large firm in Chicago.  My father had been in the beverage business since the 1950s and opened his store in Antioch in 1966.  I suppose it was inevitable – and I’ll tell you, it has been a great ride.

You see, unlike legal fights, beverages are fun.  They are a great meal with friends.  They are a special dessert with your sweetheart.  They are a football game on Sunday afternoon.  They are a fall day, sitting in your driveway, watching your kids play.  There is no right or wrong.  If you like it, then it is right for you.

I hope that in reading this column, you learn more about beverages and the beverage industry.  And, if you have questions about beer, wine, liquor or the industry in general, please send them to me at antiochwine@ameritech.net, and I’ll try to answer them in future columns.

So, let’s start at the beginning with wine and the basics.  There is a tried and true formula for tasting wine known as the Six S’s.  Pour your wine into a glass (not too full) and off we go:

The first is See.  Hold your glass up to the light.  What does the wine look like?  If red, is it bright red, purple or some lighter color?  The colors should be reddish and not brown.  If white, is it foggy or cloudy?  Again, a brown or orange tinge indicates the wine may be bad.

The second is Swirl.  Hold the stem and swirl the wine around the glass.  This adds oxygen to the wine and helps release flavors.  The wine left trickling down the side of the glass is called its “legs” or “tears.”  This is not really related to flavor, but the more “legs” the higher the alcohol content of the wine.

The third is Smell.  Get your nose deep into the glass.  Each wine will have its own smell – which can be picked up from the wine-making process, as well as the environment.  You might smell flowers that had been growing near the winery.  The bouquet can be sweet, smoky, oaky, citrus, or smell of cherries, vanilla and even a barnyard.  If it smells like a wet dog, the wine is probably “corked,” a term which I will explore in future columns – but is essentially a chemical that infests some corks and ruins the wines.

The fourth is Sip.  Take a small sip of the wine into your mouth.

The fifth is Swish.  Roll the wine around in your mouth so that it hits all of your tastebuds.  This gives you a better sense of flavor than simply draining the glass quickly.

The sixth, and final, is Swallow or Spit.  Alright, how did the wine taste to you?  You can repeat these steps with different paired foods to intensify the experience.  Chocolate and a sweet dessert wine sound really good right now.

There it is – See, Swirl, Smell, Sip, Swish and Swallow, the Six S’s of wine tasting.  Stop at our store and try them at one of our many weekend tastings.  A listing may be found at www.antiochwine.com.

The King of Hearts says I am out of space, so I guess I have come the end and it is time to stop.  Cheers!!!

Adam Kosh worked as a lawyer prior to joining his family’s business, Antioch Fine Wine & Liquors (formerly Armanetti Antioch), thirteen years ago.  You may contact Adam by e-mail at antiochwine@ameritech.net, phone at 847-395-3540 or stop in the store at 1180 South Main, Southwest Corner of Route 83 and 173, Antioch, IL  60002.  Upcoming tastings may be found at www.antiochwine.com.