Holding the glass by the bulb will heat up the wine and distort the flavor. The reason for the stem is to prevent adding excess heat, so hold the glass lightly by the thin stem. Wine needs to "breathe," or rest in exposed air, after being opened to get the best flavor, so take your time examining the wine before starting to drink. This is a good time to catch a preliminary sniff of the wine so you can compare its fragrance after swirling. This will also allow you to check for any off odors that might indicate spoiled (corked) wine or some other biological or chemical imperfection, which will smell stale or rotten. Smells to note include:  A musty, wet, attic-like smell means the wine was improperly bottled and cannot be salvaged. The smell of burnt matches is a product of bottling, but it should fade after exposure to air. Nail polish or vinegar-esque smells are indicative of a wine that is too acidic. Brettanomyces, or "Brett," causes a yeasty smell that is natural in red wines. Too much of this yeast smell can, however, ruin the other flavors of the wine and point to a mistake in the wine-making process. Tilting the glass can make it easier to see the way the color changes from the center to the edges. Hold the glass in front of a white background, such as a napkin, tablecloth, or sheet of paper, to make out the wine's true color. For the wine professional, this is the first clue to how old the wine may be and how well it is holding up. Look for the color and clarity of the wine. Intensity, depth, and saturation of color are not necessarily consistent with quality.  The wine should not be murky or cloudy in color. White wines get naturally darker with age, but should not be brown. Red wines tend to lose their color with time, turning brownish, and have a small amount of harmless, dark red sediment in the bottom of the bottle or glass. Sediment formation, which looks like dirt at the bottom of the glass, is a naturally occurring process in which polymerization causes the precipitation of colloids of pigmentation, among other things, to fall out of solution and form small grainy sediment. Long story short: this is not a fault in the wine, it is a natural part of winemaking. This is to increase the surface area of the wine by spreading it over the inside of the glass, allowing the aromas to escape from solution and reach your nose. It also allows some oxygen into the wine, which will help its aromas open up.  Lightly twirl the stem of the glass, keeping the bottom of the glass on the table if you are worried about spilling. Viscosity is how quickly the wine slides back down the glass. More viscous wines are said to have "legs," and are likely to be more alcoholic or contain more glycerol (for sweeter, dessert wines). Outside of looking pretty, this has no relation to a wine's quality, but more "legs" may indicate a full-bodied wine. Initially, you should hold the glass a few inches from your nose. Then let your nose dive 1/2 inch or so into the glass. What do you smell? Keep gently swirling your wine if you can't smell much -- swirling allows the evaporating alcohol to carry the aromatic molecules toward your olfactory sensors. If you don't think a wine smells good, it likely won't taste good. Great wine is enticing on the nose and gives you a hint of what is to come. Common scents include:  Fruits: berries, cherries, and richer fruits for reds and citrus for whites. Floral or herb scents in whites and lighter reds, like Rhône region reds. Earthy scents, like soils, minerals, or rocks, are possible in nicer whites. Spices and unique smells like vanilla, toast, pepper, chocolate, and coffee come from the wooden barrels used to age the wine, usually oak.  Older wines often have nuanced, subtle smells that are hard to place, so don't worry if you can't pick out a smell.

Summary: Fill a quarter of the glass with wine and hold the glass by the stem. Take a small sniff of the wine right after opening. Look at the edges of the wine and note the colors. Know that red wines have natural sediment at the bottom. Swirl the wine in your glass. Sniff the wine.


Part of being obedient is showing respect to your parents, honoring their ideas about what's best for you, and showing that you think they are worth listening to. Make sure that you listen when they talk and respond when they ask you to respond.  Don’t ignore them in public. When you are out with your parents you might feel a bit embarrassed by them, but pretending that you don't know them or that you aren't with them is rude in the extreme. It also has the potential to hurt your parents. They don't say that you embarrass them, so why think that way towards them? Don’t roll your eyes when they ask you to do something. If you don't like what they are asking you, the polite way to respond is to ask them to present your feelings on why you don't want to do what they want you to. Think of all the times when you were a child and you asked your parents to do something for you and they did it without complaining. Parents tend not to ask you to do a ton of chores. In fact, they probably work a lot harder than you do. Obedience means doing what you see needs to be done without your parents even asking you to.  Avoid making your parents ask you to do something more than once. Everyone gets distracted occasionally, so you might not always remember to do a chore without being asked. Try to avoid having this be a typical thing. Do what you can to help out around the house without being specifically ordered. For example: offer to babysit your younger sister so that your parents can have a night off. Or find out when garbage day is and take the garbage out before your mom has to. Parents can have all kinds of rules about what they think you should or shouldn't be doing. You might not always like or agree with these rules, but an obedient child considers their parents' point of view instead of fighting about it.  Don’t give in to the knee-jerk reaction to argue with them or express your disappointment or displeasure. If you really need to respond with an argument, make it a debate and not a dispute--try writing or emailing them a letter or message explaining your point of view, rather than shouting and being uncompassionate. If they say no to you hanging out with a friend on a Thursday night, they might be concerned about you not completing your homework on time or that you'll be too tired in school the next day. There are times when your parents might ask you to do something unreasonable, or place unreasonable restrictions on you. In many cases calmly discussing why you feel their demands are unreasonable, or offering alternatives or a compromise, can go a long way towards getting you what you want without being disobedient.  Calmly explain your side of things. Give facts and don’t rely only on feelings. Obedience doesn’t mean that you don’t have a mind of your own and it certainly doesn’t mean that you will always need to agree with your parents. But if you disagree and want to express your disagreements, you will have to do it politely but firmly. Being polite to your parents is a sign of respect and obedience. You also want to be polite to other people: strangers, family members, friends. This way you'll be demonstrating how well your parents raised you.  Make sure that you ask permission to be excused at the dinner table. Say “please” and “thank you” even for basic things. Hold doors open for people, offer to help people with their groceries. You can disagree with them, but if they give you a reasonable instruction and you go against them simply to infuriate or upset them, this is not only immoral, but completely sinful. Think of the consequences before you decide to make a decision.
Summary: Be respectful. Be attentive to your chores. Consider why your parents say no, instead of arguing. Express your disagreement in a polite manner. Be polite. Never rebel against your parents.