Professional tips for surviving Wine Shows

At wine shows, there are hundreds of wines to try but little time to taste them all. Here are some useful tips to have a meaningful day to survive a 100 wines day.

Survival pack:
1) White bread. The bread keeps your stomach filled and clenses your mouth.
2) 500ml of water
3) A notepad to write down notes or names of wines your like.
4) A map of the exhibition layout.

Increasing your stamina: Most people can do about 30 wines a day before they are exhausted. With practice and strategy, you can do more.
1) Keep the wine on your tongue. Do not let the wines get onto the sides of your mouth or gum. Have enough wine to cover the surface of your tongue. You need only about 15 ml of a wine.
2) Always spit to avoid getting drunk faster.
3) Be selective. Taste wines from the top range. If you like them, work your way down to the winery's entry-level range. You may find good wines at bargain prices.  
 
Narrowing  down options and reducing time by research:
1) It is always useful to know who will be at the wine shows. Select wineries or wines that you are curious about.
2) If possible, know where their stand is so that you can work out a plan to cover your desired wineries with minimal travel.
3) Prioritize which winery to visit first. Make a list of must-does and optional. Remember that the more you taste, the more fatigue sets in so seperate your must-does as well.
4) If there are too many customers being served at a stand, move on to another one so that you will not waste time by waiting till you get served. Go someplace less crowded and return later.

Maximising your learning: Many people taste wines at a show in the order of whites, reds and desserts. That means they will go to each winery for only the whites and then start over again with the reds. This makes the learning process confusing. My suggestions:
1) Taste by wineries. This allows me to understand the winemaking style of the winery better and I get more talk-time with winemakers.
2) Taste only certain grapes. This enables you to build a profile of how the same grape expresses itself in different regions.
3) Taste by style. For example, you only want to taste port styles or sparkling wines.
4) Ask the right Questions. This will allow you to understand more about the winery's devotion to quality. More on this shall be elaborated.