If you’ve ever seen a wine connoisseur taste wine, you’ve probably thought to yourself, “What in the world is that guy doing sticking his nose in his glass!?” Well, I’m here to tell you that that wine tasting is a very important art, that is easy and fun to learn! If you’ve ever wanted to develop your pallet and discover new depths to some of your favorite wines, it starts here!
There are five simple steps to wine tasting: Look, Swirl, Nose, Taste, and Spit. First, begin by looking at your wine in the glass. Take note of the color against a plain white background. Tilt your glass to check that the wine is clean and bright. Now time for the first swirl! Place your glass on the table; twirl it around to get the wine moving. (It may be a good idea to practice this move with water first before drenching a fellow taster!)
The way the wine clings to the glass and then trickles down may tell you a thing or two about your wine. For example, if your wine moves slowly down the glass in distinct streams, or “legs”, this indicates high alcohol content, high sugar content or both. On the other hand, wine with an edge that breaks quickly may be lighter, older, and drier. Now, its time to put your sniffer to the test.
Place your nose, down into the glass and sniff. Give your glass a second swirl, put your nose further into the glass and sniff more deeply. The first thing you may notice is that wine doesn’t smell like grapes, it more smells, well….like wine. The wine may smell of, blackberries, currant, or spicy cloves. And this is my favorite part about wine tasting- the smeller is always right! Your brain’s interpretation of any aroma is what counts.
Time for the fun part, take a sip (A generous sip!) Savor the flavors, rolling the wine gently around your mouth so that it reaches every taste bud. If you’re feeling brave, open your lips and draw in some air (Yup, you get to slurp at the table). This will help you aerate the wine, just like when your swirled, and pick up on certain notes in the wine. Then spit, I know it feels weird to spit our something so good, but it is necessary to pick up on the taste that is left (a.k.a., aftertaste, or the finish). The finish should be pleasant and it should linger.
Now you’re an expert in wine tasting! Try tasting some of your favorite wine using this technique. See if you can figure our some of the reasons why this wine is your favorite!
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Northshore WS Tidbits 8.31.10
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