How to taste wine
How to taste wine:
- Marvel at the Color!
- Swirl that drink!
- Smell that bouquet!
- Sip and Savor!
- Write that $#^* Down!
Marvel at the Color!
Most wine experts recommend the first step in tasting wine is to take note of its color. The best way to do this is to drink from a clear glass , not some fancy red tinted stemware with swirls. Put the wine glass up against a white background- A good choice might be a white kitchen towel or a sheet of paper. Wine color chart gives away tips on the age of the wine and how it was made.
Typically you also want to look at the opacity of the wine (meaning, is it clear or muddy). If you can see through the wine, that’s a good indication that it is ready for drinking! If the wine looks like water- That’s a clear indication you poured it out of a box… don’t be so cheap!
Swirl that Drink!
You’ll want to swirl the wine in the glass a little. Don’t make a hurricane out of the thing, just spend a few seconds getting the oxygen in the air to mix with the wine. This helps open up the wine bouquet for you to smell it in the next step. It also helps open up the flavor.
Smell the Bouquet!
Ya we know, it’s not a bouquet of flowers- It’s a glass of wine. You will be surprised just how many smells can come out of that little glass. The human nose can differentiate between thousands of different smells. And don’t just smell the wine one time- Smell it a few times. Smell it with one nostril, tilted into the wine glass, and then switch. Did you know that each of your nostrils is better at picking up different smells? Really enjoy that wine bouquet! You can also use a wine decanter to do this for you before you pour your glass.
Sip and Savor!
Did I say tilt and chug? No! Take sips of the wine, letting it sit in your mouth a little, and savor it. The purpose of drinking good wine is not to be gone in 60 seconds. Give it a chance to move you. You may even like to suck in a little air through your mouth while the wine is still in there to provide more oxygen and open up the flavors further (careful not to spill on yourself).
Write that $#^* Down!
I hope you were taking mental notes of the wine color you saw, the wine bouquet you smelled, and the wine flavors you savored. In order to get better at wine tasting you need to write all that down. This will help you remember what wine you enjoy and what wine you don’t. It will also help associate words with the sensations you just experienced so that you can explain them to others. Wine, after all, is a social hobby!
God, I feel like I shulod be takin notes! Great work