The Basics Of Wine Tasting

The Basics Of Wine Tasting

Many people think that wine tasting is a difficult thing to master; in fact wine tasting is very easy, like most things in life it simply takes practice before you will be able to sip wine and identify its characteristics. When first attending a wine tasting there is no need to know all the terms or the characteristics of what makes a good wine. With a few basic guidelines you can soon talk about wine and learn more about the wines you taste in a very short period of time. This will lead to you being able to select wines that you like and that you will enjoy more rather than having hit and miss experiences with your wine selections.

When you are wine tasting the first thing you do is look at the wine, this may seem unnecessary since you are there to taste the wine. To properly gauge the color of a wine you should tilt the glass away from you against a white backdrop and examine the color from the rim’s edges to the middle of the wine. When drinking red wine look at the shade of red; is it ruby, maroon, brick red, or purple? White wines that may start out a bright yellow will also lose some of that intensity with time.

You have probably seen people swirling their glasses at a wine tasting, this is actually an essential step to wine tasting. You will need to sniff the wine more than once, the first whiff you get should be a short one and the next one should be a deeper inhale. After swirling a glass of wine you should then take a quick inhale, after this initial sniff you can then put your nose into the glass and inhale deeply to get a better idea of the wine. It is important to swirl a glass of wine before sniffing it; this increases the surface area of wine that makes contact with air, which in turn increases the aromas being released.

Now you can finally taste the wine, which is after all the object of a wine tasting, make sure to sip first rather than taking a big gulp. Note how the wine felt to you on that initial sip, roll the wine around on your tongue and see how the taste of the wine changes. After these initial sips you will start to notice the aftertaste of the wine in your mouth, such as the body of the wine and your overall impression of the wine. Wine tasting will help you appreciate wine better and make good selections to pair with almost any food.