Of Wine Quaffing Part 1

I was a a wine quaffing course last night; the first class or a series of six. As I was driving, most of the wine ended up in a spittoon but note I said most, not all. For some wine tasted that good that I felt I had no option but to employ what the lecturer called "The Irish Spit" and swallow it and commit it to the body (and brain for that matter).
I'm learning a new language for this course and lots of new vocabulary. I now know that a good wine has both balance and length. It may be "off dry" or taste oaky or even vegetal. I've learnt a few new tricks too. Put your hand over the top of the glass, shake it furiously and it's much easier to smell the wine. Uncork a red a good 24 hours before you drink it and it will taste very different (and many would say very much better) than the same red just uncorked. The size of a cork can also determine the taste of a wine. Something to do with the amount of air that gets into the bottle.
It's amazing what the mind can hold when having to decide whether a wine merits swallowing or projecting outwards.