Wine tasting is one of the most popular activities in Franschhoek. With its century’s old wine estates and excellent wines, people flock to Franschhoek for the ultimate wine tasting experience.

But what is wine tasting, or, should we just call it what it really is and that is wine drinking. The question to ask about wine tasting is it a spit or swallow affair. Now proper wine tasting is strictly a spit affair.

I am reminded of quite a few episodes of the American sitcom Frasier about wine tasting. He takes a sip, swirls it around his mouth, breathes in through the mouth with short sucking sounds and without choking, and then spits the wine into a bowl, and exhales the breath he took in through the nose to complete the tasting experience. Thereafter, rinse the mouth out with water to cleanse the palette, and on to the next wine to taste. (See Videos Below)

Wine drinking is, of course, a strictly swallow affair. No spitting allowed. Swallowing the wine during a wine tasting is not wine tasting due to the fact that the effects of alcohol tends to dull the senses and one quickly loses the ability of your taste buds to taste anything special about the wine. You won’t taste the hints of blackberries and other subtle flavours in the wine and one wine will start tasting like all the others.

On any wine tasting swallow affair tour, by the time you get to your fourth wine estate, at best you will be rather tipsy or quite drunk; depending on your enthusiasm to swallow as much wine as possible, which is why the Wine Tram and other organized wine tours in Franschhoek are a very good idea. One could imagine quite a few accidents or drunken driving violations by our enthusiastic wine tasting visitors who have simply swallowed too much wine.

So there you have it. Come on down to Franschhoek for a great wine drinking tour. Enjoy the taste of the first wine and thereafter just enjoy the wine. Whatever you do, don’t spit, you’re wasting the wine, just swallow.