Wine tasting.

Introduction

Wine tasting is all about wine appreciation and when you can appreciate a wine then you can get the best out of it. Rather than just being a ‘glugger’ of wine you will begin to appreciate wine more:

You will learn about:

- the best time to drink a wine

- the best foods to eat with certain wines

- which wines best suit your taste

So, first of all forget the idea that anyone who swirls a glass of wine under their nose, sniffs at it then merely tastes, without swallowing, the wine is a wine snob. What they are doing is testing the wine, sensing how good it is, if they like it and how much they like it. A good wine merchant will, of course, allow you to sample a wine before buying a case of it. You should be aware of the special terminology that is used for describing wines. It is crucial to understand this wine language in order to communicate with your wine merchant and also to be able to order a wine that fits your taste in good restaurants. Of course, for ordering wine at an online wine merchant this isn’t always feasible. So here are some tips to get you started:

Colour

Pour some wine into a clear glass and hold it against a white background. If it’s a red wine, the darker the colour the younger the wine is. Red wines actually lose colour with time. They might start off as an opaque purple but then, starting at the rim of the bottle, will slowly get paler with age fading to a brick-red or brown. You’ll also need to know something about different grapes as they will produce different colours. A Pinot Noir, for example, can be relatively pale to begin with, but you shouldn't be deterred by that. White wines generally become darker with age. For example the desert wine Sauterne from Bordeaux goes from a lemon-gold colour to an amber-gold one.

Legs

Next you should swirl some wine around the inside of a wine glass and you will see oily droplets running down the sides of it. These droplets are called ‘legs’ and reputedly demonstrate the alcoholic or sugar content of the wine. A weak wine would form watery legs whereas a stronger one would have more robust legs. As a rule of thumb testing the legs of a wine is OK. However, these days it has largely been superseded by testing with the palate.

Bead

Of course, examining the bead is only applicable for sparkling wines. You actually describe the size of bubbles that arise from the wine. So, if you have received a Champagne gift, the smaller the beads the better the quality of the Champagne.

Smell

Whilst many people will have a look at the wine in a glass before tasting it, even if they’re not sure what they’re looking for, few people will also have a sniff of it. Taking less than half a glass of wine swirl it around the glass make sure some gets thrown onto the side of the glass. This agitates the wine and increases the surface area over which it is exposed, which in turn will make it easier for you to sense the aromas arising from it. Next, this is the important bit, literally stick your nose in the glass and take a good sniff of it. In a young wine the primary aroma you’ll be aware of is the grape variety. This will manifest itself is the smells of fruits like blackberries, raspberries etc. An older wine will develop a more earthy or organic aroma, which is why some people use terms like oak or even tar when describing the aroma of a wine. The more complex the aromas, the more likely you’ll be tasting a fine wine from a fine wine merchant.

Tasting the wine.

The palate of the wine is the term used to describe the actual taste of the wine in the mouth. For most this of course is the most important part of wine tasting. The taste of wine  is more to do with your nasal chemoreceptors inside your mouth, than with the taste buds on your tongue.  On entering your mouth the aromas rise up into the nasal airway, giving the sensation of the wines taste. This is where the ‘slurping’ of the wine in your mouth comes in. By breathing through the nose you can slurp air in through your mouth and let it agitate the wine, which in turn will release more of the wine aroma. You’ll probably experience three distinct changes in the flavour from when you first taste it, to half-way through to a final taste before spitting it out or swallowing it. With time you will even be able to tell about the ingredients of the wine just by tasting it.

Another measure of a good wine is how long the flavour stays on the palate.  This length, as it is known, also gives you more time to enjoy the wine. It’s worth not being in too much of a rush to try the next wine, really give it time to see what length the wine truly has.

Finally, if you intend tasting several wines at a wine merchant or even at your own dinner party, it might be best to spit out the sample you’ve tasted. There are basically three reasons for this:

1. to remain sober so you can enjoy all the wines

2. to help protect your liver

3. to ensure you don’t lose your driving licence if you traveled by car

Although as yet you can’t taste wine online, you can at least learn how to start tasting it. If you are still not feeling comfortable, just look for a wine tasting course in your region or ask your local wine merchant for help.