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Wine Tasting – The Basics
The point of wine tasting is simply to find wines that you will thoroughly enjoy. There’s no right and wrong when it comes to wine tasting. That said, here are some basic tips that will help you evaluate a new wine to see if it suits your taste.
- Start with a clear wine glass. The rim of the glass should bend inwards to help funnel aromas to the nose, and allow you to swirl without spilling.
- Now pour a little wine into your glass. An inch or less is best. If you are tasting several wines, begin with the lightest (sparkling wines, roses, then light whites followed by full-bodied whites) and progress to the heaviest (light reds to more full-bodied reds followed by dessert wines). This will help keep your taste buds more sensitive so you can better appreciate each wine in the series. A sip of water between wines can also help preserve your palate.
Notice the color of the wine. It often helps to hold the glass up to light or hold it against a white background, like a white napkin. The color can give you a clue as to the age of the wine. White wines generally gain color as they age. Red wines lose color. That is, young red wines are more red or burgundy while older wines tend to show a hint of tawny brown around the rim. Regardless of age, the colors of wine are just fun to see, ranging from pale yellow-green to ruby red to brick red-brown.- Swirl the wine a couple of times by moving the glass in a circular motion.Holding the glass by its stem, instead of the bowl, allows you to swirl more easily. Swirling is done to aerate the wine and release vapors, evaporating from the sides of the glass, for you to smell.
- Then put your nose right over the rim of the wine glass and breathe in. Take note of the wine’s aromas and bouquet (more details below).
- Take a sip, letting the wine spread across the tongue from front to back and side to side before swallowing. Notice the flavors and acidity of the wine.
Swallow a small amount if you wish to note any lingering “finish”. But if you are tasting a number of wines—in a winery tasting room, for example—your host will usually provide a large container for you to spit out the wine instead of swallowing. (It is not rude.) Everyone in the wine trade is accustomed to the swirl-sniff-sip-slosh-and-spit routine.
The bottom line is that a good wine should always give pleasure. It should smell good, taste even better, and be smooth and satisfying by itself or with whatever you’re eating.
