Legendary Wines Tasting Set
The Wines in the Set
In this set, we’ve brought together four wines from four of France’s most iconic appellations. From Bordeaux’s classified growths to Burgundy’s legendary wines, discover a piece of history in every sip.
The Tasting
Pro tip: There’s an ideal order in which to taste wines. Start with sparkling wines, then dry whites and rosés, followed by reds from least to most tannic, and finish with medium-sweet and sweet wines. The idea is to build up gradually to excite your taste buds without overwhelming them.
The wines are presented in the ideal tasting order.
Preparing for the tasting
• Our tasting sets are designed to give you the best possible tasting experience. It’s up to you whether to taste all the wines in the set at once or spread the experience over several evenings!
• Our vial size is chosen to allow two people to taste the wines.
• Remember, not all wines should be served at the same temperature. We recommend checking the ideal serving temperature in the leaflet included with the set or in the wine profiles below.
The right glass makes a big difference to how you perceive a wine: its shape affects how aromas gather near your nose at the top of the glass, how much air reaches the wine through the exposed surface, and even the wine’s temperature, depending on how much of it touches the glass.
To start with, we recommend using "INAO" glasses, whose shape was scientifically designed for optimal tasting of every type of wine.
Alternatively, any tulip-shaped glass will work well, allowing the aromas to develop in the glass and concentrate near your nose.
A packet of plain, unsalted crackers will do nicely to cleanse your palate between wines. The flour they contain helps absorb the flavour of the previous wine and refresh your taste buds without leaving a new taste in your mouth.
Alternatively, any neutral-tasting food will work well: bread, pretzels and, above all, water! This helps prevent "palate fatigue", which occurs when too many flavours build up at once.
The stages of wine tasting
• Clues to the wine’s age
Tilt the glass against a white background to distinguish a young wine from an older one.
• Clues to alcohol and glycerol levels, and residual sugar
Keep the glass slightly tilted and swirl it gently to see droplets form and run down the inside. These are the wine’s tears, or legs.
• The first nose
Tilt the glass to 45° and bring it towards your nose without swirling it to smell the initial aromas.
This stage primarily reveals wine faults: cork taint, vinegar notes, oxidation or reduction.
• The second nose
Swirl the wine in the glass for a few seconds to aerate it and release its secondary aromas.
This should bring out other, less volatile aromas.
Take a small sip of wine and move it around with your tongue so it reaches every part of your mouth and you can pick up all the flavours.
The ultimate technique is retronasal olfaction: draw a little air in through your mouth while keeping the wine there, then breathe out through your nose.
You can then swallow the wine or spit it into a small container provided for the purpose.
The connoisseur’s corner
The 1855 Classification
It is the most famous of all French wine classifications. In 1855, for the Paris World’s Fair, Napoleon III commissioned a classification of Bordeaux wines.
More than 160 years later, the 1855 Classification has changed only twice and remains a benchmark despite considerable criticism.