Wine Tasting
About Wine Tasting
Primarily wine tasting should be fun - there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to personal taste. Wine choices shouldn't be guided by price tags or famous names but by flavours and quality. In order to understand and assess a wine in more depth, the three senses of sight, smell and taste are used to evaluate condition, age and characteristics.
1. Appearance
A lot can be judged about a wine simply by looking at it in the glass; from condition, age, intensity and alcohol level. A wine in good condition is clear and bright, not dull or hazy. Young white wines are usually light coloured becoming darker with age, whereas red wines tend to lighten with age. The intensity is described as pale, medium or dark. Light bodied wines are usually lighter in colour. Swirl the wine around the glass and then let it rest. The amount of tears or 'legs' left along the inside of the glass reflect the level of alcohol - the more legs the higher the alcohol content.
2. Nose
Smell is the most important of the three senses for wine tasting as 80% of our sense of taste is actually in our nose. Aromas enter the nose before anything else and so create the first, and frequently, most precise impression. In order to really appreciate the aromas the nose should be right inside the glass and a good long sniff taken. Immediately the taster is able to tell if the wine smells 'right' and most faults in a wine show up on the nose. A wine in good condition should be full of fresh aromas and not smell stale or musty. A corked wine will lack any fruit and smell dull. Wines with fresh aromas are usually still young. As the nose can detect an enormous array of smells it can be hard to put into words the many aromas that are found in a glass of wine. Try and think of aromas within these 6 categories: Fruit, Floral, Vegetal, Spicy, Savoury, or the Natural World.
3. Taste
Tasting wine can be a noisy affair but drawing air in whilst swirling the wine around the mouth is very important as it helps to develop the flavours and awakens the taste buds. Wine will make different parts of your mouth respond to different taste sensations, for example tannic wines will make your mouth water. It is normal practice for professional wine tasters to spit out the wine rather than swallow ensuring they keep a clear head and do not impair their judgement.
The easiest characteristic to ascertain is whether the wine is dry, medium or sweet. Alcohol levels are described as full for high and thin for lower. Cooler climate wines will tend to be crisper whereas warmer climate wines can literally taste warmer, the fruits riper. The grape stalks and skin produce tannin in wine and can be described as soft to hard, even astringent. To describe the wine's flavours think within the 6 categories again: Fruit, Floral, Vegetal, Spicy, Savoury, or the Natural World. The 'length' of a wine reflects how long the taste remains in the mouth after swallowing.
Conclusion
Wine knowledge and a sharp palate take time to develop and to be able to recognise and distinguish a wine's characteristics does take practice. Some may say that it is an art - discovering and remembering new flavours, the bouquet and the subtle differences in colour and body. Over a period of time the three senses can be 'trained' to evaluate and recognise any wine and the practice is the fun part!
Organising a Wine Tasting?
If you would like to organise a formal or informal wine tasting contact us for information..
