What actually happens, and what the bucket is for.
Written by Missy WineSydney · 4 min read
There’s a bucket on every table, and nobody tells you what it’s for.
It’s there so you can taste a lot of wine without drinking a lot of wine. That one idea explains most of what happens at a tasting.
Here’s how a first tasting usually goes, from what to do before you walk in to how you get home.
Your first tasting in five steps
Eat first
Start light
Ask
Use the bucket
Plan home
One
Know which kind you’re going to
Walk-around, guided or drop-in
At a walk-around tasting, producers stand behind tables and you wander between them with a glass in hand. A guided tasting or masterclass is seated: a line-up of glasses in front of you and someone talking you through each one. A drop-in is a few bottles open at a shop counter, usually free or a few dollars, and over in ten minutes.
Worth knowingA walk-around is the most relaxed first go. You set the pace, and nobody minds if you skip a table.
Two
Before you go
Eat something and go easy on scent
Have a proper meal first. Tasting on an empty stomach is the quickest way to feel it halfway through. Skip strong perfume or aftershave too. So much of tasting is smell, and a cloud of scent gets in the way for you and the people next to you.
Try thisTake a photo of any label you love. Lesson 3 shows you what to look for on it.
Three
At the table
Small pours, start light, ask anything
Pours are small on purpose, just a mouthful or two. Hold your glass out, say hi, and taste. Go from lighter to fuller, like a crisp white before an oaky one or Pinot Noir before Shiraz, and dry before sweet. Sugar coats your palate, so a dry wine tasted straight after a sweet one can seem sharp. At a walk-around, each table usually pours in the right order, so just follow along.
Easy questions to askWhich one should I start with?What makes this one different?What would you eat with it?
Four
What the bucket is for
Tipping out, and spitting
The bucket, or spittoon, has two jobs. First, tip out whatever you don’t want to finish. It isn’t rude, and the people pouring expect it. Second, spit. At a tasting it’s completely normal, and nobody will think twice. Decanter’s advice is blunt: “Do spit and don’t drink at the tasting.”
Take a small sip, taste it properly, then lean in close and spit in one firm stream. It feels awkward the first few times and then it doesn’t. Too shy to use the shared bucket? Ask for a cup, spit into that and empty it later.
HandyDrink water between tables. Most tastings put it out. If you can’t see any, just ask.
Five
Plan how you’re getting home
Sort it out before the first pour
Small pours are easy to lose count of, and you can’t really judge how much you’ve had by how you feel. So leave the car at home and take the train, a bus or a rideshare instead. If someone in your group is driving, they’re better off skipping the wine that day and joining you next time.
Try thisBook your ride home, or check the last train, before you arrive. It’s one less thing to think about at the end.
