How To Taste Wines.

Learning how to taste wines is an easy adventure that will increase your appreciation for both wines and winemakers. The look, the smell, the taste – start with your basic senses and expand from there and you’ll be tasting wines like a pro in no time!

Bear in mind that even though you can smell thousands of unique aromas, your taste perception is actually limited to sweet, salty, bitter and sour. It’s the combination of smells and tastes that allows you to discern flavor.

Look

Check out the Color and Clarity. Pour a glass of wine into a wine glass. Take a good look at it. Tilt the glass away from you and notice the color of the wine from the rim to the middle of the glass.

What color is it? Look beyond the obvious red, white or blush.

If it’s a red wine, is the color purple, red, brick, maroon, ruby, garnet, or even brownish?

If it’s a white wine, is it clear, straw like, golden, light green, pale yellow, amber or brown in appearance?
What about the wine’s opacity? Is it dark or watery, opaque or translucent, brilliant or dull, clear or cloudy? Can you see sediment? Tilt the glass a bit, swirl it a bit and 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

Your sense of smell is critical to correctly analyze a glass of wine. To get a good impression of the aroma, gently swirl your glass to help vaporize some of the wine’s alcohol and release more of the natural aromas, and then take a quick sniff to get a first impression.

Now stick your nose down far into the glass and inhale deeply. What’s your next impression? What do you smell? Vanilla? Citrus? Berry? Oak? Flowers?

The aroma is an excellent indicator of the quality and unique characteristics of the wine. Continue to gently swirl the wine and let the aromas mingle, and keep sniffing until you define your impression.

Taste

Finally, taste the wine. Start with a small sip and let it roll around on your tongue. Pay close attention to the alcohol content, tannin levels, acidity and residual sugar. These four pieces to the puzzle cause sensations to your palate. Ideally, these four components will be well-balanced. Each piece will not be more prominent than another.

These four pieces do not display a specific flavor. 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.

Next, discern the flavor profile of the wine. If it’s a red wine you might notice fruit – berry, plum, prune or fig. Or perhaps some spice – pepper, clove, cinnamon, or maybe a woody flavor like oak, cedar, or even a bit of smokiness.

If it’s a white wine you may taste apple, pear, tropical or citrus fruits. Or the taste may be more floral in nature or consist of honey, butter, herbs or a bit of earthiness.

And now, for the finish. How long did the flavor last after the wine was swallowed? This is where the wine culminates, where the aftertaste comes into play.

Did it last several seconds? Was it light-bodied like water or full-bodied like milk? Can you taste the remnant of the wine on the back of your mouth and throat? Do you want another sip or was the wine too bitter at the end? What was your last flavor impression – fruit, butter, oak? Does the taste persist or is it short-lived?

After you have taken the time to taste your wine, you might record some of your impressions. Did you like the wine overall? Was it sweet, sour or bitter? How was the wine’s acidity? Was it well balanced? Does it taste better with cheese, bread or a heavy meal? Will you buy it again? If so, jot the wine’s name, producer and vintage year down for future reference.

Because, after all, the most important thing is how it tastes to you!