Wine and Candle Pairing

Wine and a candle making party is a match made in heaven, and thanks to Bougie Bar, you can sip wine with your friends while having the perfect candle making experience. To add even more excitement and fun to the event, try pairing your wine to the scent of your choice. Have each friend bring a different type of wine so that you can taste and smell multiple pairings.

Smelling and Tasting Wine

A candle's scent will change how you experience the wine you are drinking, similar to food. While some fragrances will enhance your wine drinking experience, some will clash. To truly taste everything your wine has to offer, you should smell it first. Wine is complex and has hundreds of aroma compounds, and by identifying smells before you take a sip, you give your nose a chance to practice. The process of smelling wine may seem silly at first, but you'll start to notice that you'll pick up aromas and different tastes that elevate your experience with wine.

How to smell wine:

1. Keep your glass on the table and rotate it three or four times so that the wine swirls around inside the glass and mixes with the air. It's best to keep your glass less than half full to avoid sloshing your wine on your favorite candle.
2. As you swirl, the aromatic compounds in the wine vaporize so that you can smell them. Quickly bring the glass to your nose, stick your nose right into the airspace of the glass where the aromas are captured, and smell the wine.
3. Free-associate — think of what the aroma brings to mind.

Wine has so many of these compounds that whatever scent you detect probably isn't your imagination. Examples of typical notes or aromas:

• Fruit: blackberry, strawberry, cherry, etc.
• Herbs: pepper, espresso, balsamic, beeswax
• Oak: vanilla, cedar, cigar
• Earth: mushrooms, soil, slate, rocks

Finally, take a taste. Start with a small sip and let it roll around your mouth by swishing it. You can pick up on the wines' difference by questioning if it's light or bold, smooth or dry, sweet, or acidic. By tasting different wines, you'll notice the difference between types of grapes, the region it was grown in, and even how long it's aged.

Pairing Tips

Now that you know how to taste and smell everything your wine has to offer, it's time to pair your candle scent with your favorite glass of vino.

• Full-bodied red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Merlot: cedarwood, leather, and fir needle scents
• Medium and lighter-bodied red wines like Pinot Noir: rose, jasmine, and geranium scents.
• Medium to full-bodied white like Chardonnay: caramel and lemon scents.
• Medium-bodied white wines like Sauvignon Blanc: Honeydew melon or minty notes.
• Light-bodied white wines like Riesling and Moscato: fruity scents like sweet orange, tangerine, and pink grapefruit.

DIY candle making at Bougie Bar is always a good time, especially when it involves wine and your friends. A wine and candle pairing at your next private or social party at Bougie Bar is a way to explore your senses of smell and taste while having the best candle making experience.