Is there a bad time to taste wine?

I am not talking about Maria Thun’s biodynamic wine tasting calendar. It is not the cosmic influences I am concerned with. I am thinking of more mundane earthly things like time of day and what and how much is in your belly when you lift your Riedel glass. Apart from the presumed influence of the heavenly bodies, I am convinced the time of day the precious liquid passes your lips is crucial. You wouldn’t taste wine before breakfast and I am sure you wouldn’t want to do it soon after your cornflakes either. What about after lunch? Good only for sweet wines or port and a siesta!

After the evening meal is probably the worst time to taste wine. I don’t think that one can critically assess wine on a full stomach and with a postprandial knackered palate. But there are many who pretend that they can do it. Can you really trust the wine notes and comments of tasters who try to asses wine after food?