Wine Whispering

A few years ago, I was at the Greystone Restaurant in upper Napa Valley with a group of friends.  As the bottles of wine were consumed at the table, I wondered if the characteristics and taste could be changed by toning.  I mentioned the idea to the table, and everyone, already in a festive mood, loudly agreed to the experiment.  We set out two glasses on the table and sent two volunteer tasters away.  I picked one glass at random and began toning.  I felt the energy of the wine and what it was calling for, then toned until I felt that the wine was energetically complete.  I had no idea if the wine would be different or not.

The tasters were called back and asked to blind taste glasses.  Amazingly, they both selected the glass I had toned as the better wine.  It was smoother, deeper, and richer.  Skeptics thought that I had oxidized the wine by blowing into the glass as I toned, so we did another experiment and two different tasters left the table.  This time, with everyone witnessing, I toned a glass again from underneath, making sure the wine was not disturbed by rolling the glass or breathing into it.  The tasters came back, tasted the wine, and voila --- same results.

Interesting. The next day we visited a few tasting rooms.  If the rooms were not too busy, I toned the wines.  Again, blind tasters reported a marked difference in the toned wine.  The pourers were agog --- they thought they had seen everything around wine. Only in California could someone "tone" wine with sound healing.

Since then, I have played around with toning various types and qualities of wine.  I find that I can take Two Buck Chuck and turn it into something drinkable.  I have toned a high-end Cabernet Sauvignon that has a little edge and the toning softened and deepened the flavor.  I try toning whenever I visit wineries or tasting rooms.  The comments are always interesting and the effects predictable.

I can travel around California and tone barrels of  wine that need a little love.  I am open to talking to any winemaker that would like to explore and experiment.