Are you swirling your wine in the correct direction?

[Mark_C]

@jcfones

A few years ago, we tasted with the owner of a Napa winery in the Stags Leap area. He insisted we swirl clockwise and sniff through our left nostril. He was adamant that there were distinct differences between counter-clockwise swirling and sniffing through your right nostril. Hey, whatever floats your boat, right?

Ah, yes, the pranayama nose!

[Paul_Jaouen]

I synch to the direction of the swirling water in my toilet,

[Bob_Paul]

@Chris Seiber

I assume people swirl counterclockwise when holding the glass in their right hand, and clockwise when holding the glass in their left hand. That motion is just more natural. It’s like the difference between hitting a forehand and a (one-handed) backhand in tennis.

+1

[Doug_Lee]

Paul,

You must be pretty flush with wine.

Cheers,
Doug

[Cam_Wheeler]

Hopefully I’m rolling my eyes in the correct direction.

[Randy_Bowman]

Okay, just in case, I tried it out last night. There was a bottle of Argentina Malbec at home that was opened the day before and we took home a McPrice Myers Beautiful Earth for dinner. I opened the McPrice Myers to allow it to breathe and poured two glasses of the Malbec. I swirled one clockwise and one counterclockwise then had the expert, WWOTW, check the aromatics of both glasses. Bingo. Clockwise had the better aromatics. Swirled them both again and had her taste them. She said they both tasted horrible. I tried both, same results. Obviously I used the wrong wine.

So, I pour two glasses of the McPrice Myers, do the swirls and WWOTW says they smell the same. I try it and I can’t smell a thing. “See,” she says, “They smell the same.” More swirls and the taste test. Carrie tried counterclockwise first and I tried clockwise first. We had identical notes. Swirled and switched glasses, no difference noted. Blackberry, briar and hints of cinnamon with tart black cherry on the finish.

Thirty minutes, four glasses, two sheets of paper later and we are looking for the “sucker” emoticon here. Then we remember the night we went through 16 glasses and two bottles of wine to determine whether leaded glass makes wine taste better or not and which glass/lead percentage was the best. If there was one that was better, we don’t remember.

[Beau_Carufel]

Isn’t it easier to just violently shake your glass with one hand covering it?

[Bob_Wood]

@Beau Carufel

Isn’t it easier to just violently shake your glass with one hand covering it?

Even easier to put the wine in a VitaMix.

[Beau_Carufel]

@Bob Wood

@Beau Carufel

Isn’t it easier to just violently shake your glass with one hand covering it?

Even easier to put the wine in a VitaMix.

Way to go and be classy.

[Bill_Boykin]

I swirl Barolo CCW,red Burgundy CW,single malt 1st horizontally,then vertically and Madeira,not at all…

[TimF]

Can someone explain to me how a fluid that is being rotated perpendicular to the rotating Earth is impacted by that rotation? I would think it would only matter when drinking at one of the poles. Wine must taste like crap at the equator because who would know which way to swirl?

[Nigel_Bruce]

I’ve seen some people lightly grasp their glass by base of the stem, while it’s still on the table in front of them, and rotate the glass counterclockwise - to achieve the swirling effect but with greater stability, less risk of spillage. I tried this but noticed that, while the wine did swirl counter-clockwise, the glass itself turned clockwise. I’m sure physics has a simple explanation for this, but intuitive it’s not.

[Joe_Webb]

I am kind of ambidextrous so I swirl both directions with both hands. I have only ever spilled swirling the opposite of natural for each hand.

If it makes a difference do I need to rewire my blender to spin the other direction for aeration?