The Art of Tasting Wine!

27 Jul The Art of Tasting Wine!

One of the most intimidating parts of ordering wine at a restaurant or attending a tasting at a local winery is that moment when the world goes quiet and all eyes are staring at you waiting for your verdict on the wine you have just put in your mouth. How do you know if it is a good wine or not?

The following wine tasting tips are practiced by sommeliers to refine their palates and sharpen their ability to recall wines. Even though this method is used by pros, it’s quite simple to understand and can help anyone to improve their wine palate.

Anyone can taste wine; all you need is a glass of wine and your brain.

How to Taste Wine

1. Look
Check out the opacity, viscosity and color (wine legs). You don’t need to spend more than 5 seconds on this step.

2. Smell
Pick out at least two flavors and take your time identifying them. There are three types of wine aromas:
a. Primary Aromas come from grapes and include flower, herb, and fruit notes
b. Secondary Aromas come from fermentation and yeast aromas.
c. Tertiary Bouquets come from oxidation, oak and aging such as baking spices, nutty aromas, and vanilla.

3. Taste
Two elements makeup taste: flavor and structure.
a. Flavors such as lemon, raspberry or coconut.
b. Structure such as the level of sweetness, body, tannin, alcohol, and acidity.
c. Profile The taste of wine is also time-based, there is a beginning, middle (mid-palate) and end (finish).

4. Conclude
Did the wine taste balance or out of balance? Was this wine unique or unmemorable?

Useful Wine Tasting Tips

Getting past the ‘wine’ smell: the vinous flavor can be hard to move past. A good technique is to alternate between small short sniffs and slow long sniffs.

Learn to Swirl: The act of swirling wine increases the number of aroma compounds that release into the air. Watch a short video on how to swirl a wine.

Discover more flavors when you taste: Try coating your mouth with a larger sip of wine followed by several smaller sips so that you can pick and isolate out flavors. Focus on one flavor at a time.

Improve your tasting skills faster: Comparing different wines in the same setting will help you improve your palate faster, and it also makes wine aromas more obvious. Get a flight of ‘tastes’ at your local wine bar, join a local tasting group or gather some friends to taste several wines at once.

Overloaded with aromas? Neutralize your nose by sniffing your forearm.

If you and your friends would like to put your newfound knowledge to use and take a trip to visit some of the local hotspots for great wine, contact charter bus New England and let us help you put a trip together!