Spittoons & Tasting Accessories

Work out in advance how much has to go in. A session with ten participants and eight wines soon produces a couple of litres, so for a group take the 3.7 litre and for a table of four the 1.2 litre is enough. The aluminium spittoon is heavier and stays put if someone knocks into it, so that one goes in the middle of the table where most of the movement is. The plastic versions are light and stackable, which counts when you are driving to a venue with five of them. The funnel shape at the top is not decoration, because it also catches what was not aimed precisely. The 34 centimetre tasting board and the tasting caddy keep bottles and glasses in the order you pour them, so nobody loses track halfway of which wine is in front of them.

When pouring at a tasting, serve about five centiliters per glass and no more, because the rest will end up in the bucket anyway. Place the spittoon in a corner that everyone can reach and put a cloth beside it. Between two wines, rinse not with water but with a small amount of the next wine, a process called rinsing, which prevents you from diluting the next wine. Work from light to full-bodied and from dry to sweet, so white before red and a dessert wine last. If you want to finish the evening with something mixed, a Kir Royal is a classic choice based on white wine.

Empty a spittoon straight after the session and do not leave it standing overnight, because wine residue clings to the wall and starts to smell sour. Rinse aluminium with lukewarm water and a mild cleaner, since strongly alkaline cleaners attack the layer and dull the metal. The plastic bowls can take a good soapy wash. The wood of the tasting board and the caddy you only wipe with a damp cloth, never in the dishwasher, because it swells and then splits along the grain.

The glassware for tasting is in the tasting glasses section, and the broader selection is in the wine glassessection. For opening and keeping wine at the right temperature, there are wine accessories and wine coolers. If you want to let a young wine open up faster, you can do so with a wine aerator or in a decanter. The tools behind the bar can be found on the page about bar tools.