The basics of wine tasting - look, smell and taste, it's that easy. Learning how to taste wines is a straightforward adventure that will deepen your appreciation for both wines and winemakers. Look, smell, taste - starting with your basic senses and expanding from there you will learn how to taste wines like the pros in no time! Keep in mind that you can smell thousands of unique scents, but your taste perception is limited to salty, sweet, sour and bitter.
Pour a glass of wine into a suitable wine glass. Tilt the glass away from you and check out the color of the wine from the rim edges to the middle of the glass it's helpful to have a white background – perhaps a piece of white paper, a napkin or a white table cloth. If it's a red wine is the color maroon, purple, ruby, garnet, red, brick or even brownish? If it's a white wine is it clear, pale yellow, straw-like, light green, golden, amber or brown in appearance? Still looking, check the wine's opacity. Is the wine watery or dark, translucent or opaque, dull or brilliant, cloudy or clear? Can you see sediment? Tilt your glass a bit, give it a little swirl - look again, is there sediment, bits of cork or any other floaters? An older red wine will be more translucent than younger red wines.
Smell: Our sense of smell is critical in properly analyzing a glass of wine. To get a good impression of your wine's aroma, gently swirl your glass this helps vaporize some of the wine's alcohol and release more of its natural aromas and then take a quick whiff to gain a first impression. What are your second impressions? Do you smell oak, berry, flowers, vanilla or citrus? A wine's aroma is an excellent indicator of its quality and unique characteristics.
There are three stages of taste: the Attack phase, the Evolution phase and the Finish. These four puzzle pieces display initial sensations on the palate. Ideally these components will be well-balanced one piece will not be more prominent than the others. These four pieces do not display a specific flavor per se, they meld together to offer impressions in intensity and complexity, soft or firm, light or heavy, crisp or creamy, sweet or dry, but not necessarily true flavors like fruit or spice.
Hopefully this will give you some of the basics of wine tasting and will give a better appreciation for this wonderful beverage
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