An Introduction to Wine Tasting
By: winelines@gmail.com | Posted: 07th April 2008
Wine Tasting
Wine tasting is the sensory examination and assessment of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onwards. Wine tasting is an art, and not every person can be a perfect wine taster. One needs to have a very fine sense of smell, taste, and appearance (vision to distinguish different colours) along with experience of tasting several wines of different aroma, blend and ingredients.
Learning Wine Tasting
It's not tough to learn the art of wine tasting. You don't need to be an avid drinker, but you should have the three basic qualities as stated above, 1) appearance, 2) smell, and 3) taste. If you are having these three qualities then you only need some dedication and extra bit of interest in this art. If you have knowledge of different wine varieties, their areas of production, the wine making process along with the ingredients used in making wine, then that will surely be a helpful factor in judging the quality of wine as well as their comparison with other popular varieties available.
It's very easy to learn the practice of wine tasting, and if you already enjoy wine, learning the gradation will increase the delight you get from tasting wine.
Appearance - The colour of wine is a great decision factor, it varies tremendously even in same type of wines. So the wine should be poured in a clear transparent class in front of a plain background to get actual colour of wine. The fact is that, a white wine is not actually white. Its colour can be green, yellow or brown. More colour in white wine usually indicates more flavour and age. Similarly, Red wines are not just red. They can be pale red to deep brown red, usually becoming lighter in colour with growing age. Along with time many red wines improve, but it ruins most white wines.
Smell - Move the glass of wine in your hands in a circular motion, this releases molecules in the wine allowing you to smell the aroma. Take a light smell first and feel the aroma of wine properly, after then take one deep whiff and concentrate the feel of aroma, don't try to taste it too early. After trying several wines you will notice similarities and differences between them.
Taste - The most important decision factor of a wine is its taste. The balance between sweetness and acidity is a vital factor. Initial taste, and after taste both are important. Give proper attention to both and notice that, is it light or rich? Is it smooth or harsh? After swallowing wine feel that how long did the taste last? Was it pleasant?
These are three decision factors in wine tasting. The more diverse set of wines you try, and the more attention you pay to each wine, the better you will become at ascertaining and describing each wine's characteristics. If you really want to be an expert in area of wine tasting, you should visit wine tasting events in your area.
Winelines is a UK based wine seller, which aims to expose the mystery that surrounds wine tasting as well as wine making, storing and serving. Winelines have presented an array of wine tasting events, from private tastings entertaining friends in the Home Counties, to Corporate Wine Tasting Competitions.
For more information on wines and wine tasting events in and around London, visit: http://www.winelines.co.uk
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Tags: colours, methodology, aroma, plain background, white wine, molecules, glass of wine, sense of smell, 14th century, circular motion, white wines, red wines, drinker, flavour, gradation, smell taste