You can read all the books written on wine (and there are plenty) to become more knowledgeable on the subject, but you should taste wines to truly enhance your understanding. Reading covers the more academic side of wine, while tasting is more enjoyable and practical. A little of each will do you the most good. Believe us, books have been written just on how to taste wine. You are about to learn the necessary steps. You may wish to follow them with a glass of wine in hand.
Wine tasting can be broken down into five basic steps: Color, Swirl, Smell, Taste, and Savor.
1. Color - The best way to get an idea of the color of the wine is to get a white background-a napkin or a linen tablecloth-and hold the glass of wine in front of it. The range of colors that you may see depends, of course, on whether you're tasting a white or red wine. Here are the color for both:
White Wine
pale yellow-green purple
straw yellow
yellow-gold
gold
old gold
yellow-brown
maderized
brown
Red Wine
Purple
ruby
red
brick red
red-brown
brown
Color tells you a lot about the wine. For instance, white wines, as they get older, gain color. Red wines on the other hand, as they get older, lose color.
Since we started with the white wines, here are three reasons why a white wine may have more color:
It's older.
Different grape varieties give different color. (For example. Chardonnay usually gives off a deeper color than Riesling.)
The wine was aged in wood.
2. Swirl - Why do we swirl the wine? To allow oxygen to get into it. Swirling releases the esters, ether, and aldehydes combined with oxygen to yield the bouquet of the wine.
Everyone does a great job swirling wine. You can do it any way you want, with your left hand, with your right hand, with two fingers. It doesn't matter as long as you swirl it.
3. Smell - Now that you swirled the wine and released the bouquet, what does the wine smell like? What type of nose does it have? The "nose" is the word that wine tasters use to describe the bouquet and aroma of the wine. This is another very important step the tasting process that people simply don't spend enough time on. The same goes for looking at the color.
4. Taste - To most people, tasting wine means taking a sip and swallowing immediately. This is not tasting. Tasting is something you do with your taste buds. And remember, you have taste buds all over your mouth. They're on both sides of the tongue, underneath, on the tip, and they extend to the back of your throat. If you do what most people do, you take a gulp of wine and bypass all of those important taste buds.
There's an old saying in the wine industry: "Buy on apples; sell on cheese." Apples bring out any defects you may find in a wine, whereas cheese has a tendency to smooth over them, leaving you with a more pleasing taste sensation.
What should you think about when tasting wine?
Be aware of the most important sensations of taste and where they occur on your tongue and in your- mouth
The Many Tastes of Wine
Sweetness - Found on the tip of the tongue. If there is any sweetness in a wine whatsoever, you'll get it right away_ since the tip of your tongue is sensitive.
Fruit and Varietal Characteristics - Found in the middle of the tongue.
Acidity - Found at the sides of the tongue and check area. It is most commonly present in white wines.
Tannin - Found in the middle of the tongue. Tannin frequently exists in red wines or wood-aged white wines. It dries the palate to excess when the wines are too young.
Aftertaste - This is the overall taste that lingers after you taste the wine. How long does the taste linger? Usually a sign of a high-quality wine is a long, pleasing aftertaste-15 to 20 seconds after you've swallowed it.
Note: Everything we've discussed so far-the color, the swirling, the nose and the taste happens within 30 seconds!
5. Savor - After you've had a chance to taste the wine, sit back for a few moments and savor it. Think about what you just experienced and ask yourself the following questions to help focus your impressions. Was the wine:
Light. medium, or full-bodied?
For a white wine: How was the acidity? Very little, just right, or too much?
For red wine: Is the tannin in the wine too strong or astringent? Is it pleasing? Or is it missing?
How long did the aftertaste last?
Most importantly, did you like the wine? Is the wine worth the price to your taste?
This brings us to another important point. The first thing you should consider after you've tasted a wine is whether or not you like it.
You can compare tasting wine to browsing in an art gallery. You wander from room to room looking at the paintings. Your first impression tells whether you like one or not. Once you decide you like a piece of art, you want to know more: Who was the artist? What is the history behind the work? How was it done? And so it is with wine.
How do you know if a wine is good or not?
The definition of a good wine is one that you enjoy. Please do not let others dictate taste to you.
When is a wine ready to drink?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions. The answer is very simple-when all components of the wine are in balance to your particular taste.
Wine tasting can be broken down into five basic steps: Color, Swirl, Smell, Taste, and Savor.
1. Color - The best way to get an idea of the color of the wine is to get a white background-a napkin or a linen tablecloth-and hold the glass of wine in front of it. The range of colors that you may see depends, of course, on whether you're tasting a white or red wine. Here are the color for both:
White Wine
pale yellow-green purple
straw yellow
yellow-gold
gold
old gold
yellow-brown
maderized
brown
Red Wine
Purple
ruby
red
brick red
red-brown
brown
Color tells you a lot about the wine. For instance, white wines, as they get older, gain color. Red wines on the other hand, as they get older, lose color.
Since we started with the white wines, here are three reasons why a white wine may have more color:
It's older.
Different grape varieties give different color. (For example. Chardonnay usually gives off a deeper color than Riesling.)
The wine was aged in wood.
2. Swirl - Why do we swirl the wine? To allow oxygen to get into it. Swirling releases the esters, ether, and aldehydes combined with oxygen to yield the bouquet of the wine.
Everyone does a great job swirling wine. You can do it any way you want, with your left hand, with your right hand, with two fingers. It doesn't matter as long as you swirl it.
3. Smell - Now that you swirled the wine and released the bouquet, what does the wine smell like? What type of nose does it have? The "nose" is the word that wine tasters use to describe the bouquet and aroma of the wine. This is another very important step the tasting process that people simply don't spend enough time on. The same goes for looking at the color.
4. Taste - To most people, tasting wine means taking a sip and swallowing immediately. This is not tasting. Tasting is something you do with your taste buds. And remember, you have taste buds all over your mouth. They're on both sides of the tongue, underneath, on the tip, and they extend to the back of your throat. If you do what most people do, you take a gulp of wine and bypass all of those important taste buds.
There's an old saying in the wine industry: "Buy on apples; sell on cheese." Apples bring out any defects you may find in a wine, whereas cheese has a tendency to smooth over them, leaving you with a more pleasing taste sensation.
What should you think about when tasting wine?
Be aware of the most important sensations of taste and where they occur on your tongue and in your- mouth
The Many Tastes of Wine
Sweetness - Found on the tip of the tongue. If there is any sweetness in a wine whatsoever, you'll get it right away_ since the tip of your tongue is sensitive.
Fruit and Varietal Characteristics - Found in the middle of the tongue.
Acidity - Found at the sides of the tongue and check area. It is most commonly present in white wines.
Tannin - Found in the middle of the tongue. Tannin frequently exists in red wines or wood-aged white wines. It dries the palate to excess when the wines are too young.
Aftertaste - This is the overall taste that lingers after you taste the wine. How long does the taste linger? Usually a sign of a high-quality wine is a long, pleasing aftertaste-15 to 20 seconds after you've swallowed it.
Note: Everything we've discussed so far-the color, the swirling, the nose and the taste happens within 30 seconds!
5. Savor - After you've had a chance to taste the wine, sit back for a few moments and savor it. Think about what you just experienced and ask yourself the following questions to help focus your impressions. Was the wine:
Light. medium, or full-bodied?
For a white wine: How was the acidity? Very little, just right, or too much?
For red wine: Is the tannin in the wine too strong or astringent? Is it pleasing? Or is it missing?
How long did the aftertaste last?
Most importantly, did you like the wine? Is the wine worth the price to your taste?
This brings us to another important point. The first thing you should consider after you've tasted a wine is whether or not you like it.
You can compare tasting wine to browsing in an art gallery. You wander from room to room looking at the paintings. Your first impression tells whether you like one or not. Once you decide you like a piece of art, you want to know more: Who was the artist? What is the history behind the work? How was it done? And so it is with wine.
How do you know if a wine is good or not?
The definition of a good wine is one that you enjoy. Please do not let others dictate taste to you.
When is a wine ready to drink?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions. The answer is very simple-when all components of the wine are in balance to your particular taste.