For some people who are new to the wine world the art of wine tasting can be a bit intimidating. We’ve broken up the complexities of wine tasting into simple steps to help you conquer this flavorful feat!
According to Winefolly.com, here are some basics for all the wine tasting beginners out there!
First off, you should always make sure to have a clean mouth and a hydrated body. The soul purpose of wine tasting is to be able to detect minor nuances in each wine that you taste, so naturally you do not want cheese doodle crumbs in your teeth or the peppermint explosion taste left over from a recent session with your toothbrush. Although you might be wine tasting on a hot first date, you want to make sure that you do not brush your teeth before a tasting. This can actually increases your chances of staining your teeth and can greatly alter the taste you get from each wine. Once you’ve chugged down a bottle of water and fasted for 30 minutes you want to start considering the five steps in basic wine tasting; look, smell, taste, swallow/spit, and think! When looking at your glass of wine you want to make sure to analyze its shade of color and amount of opacity in order to compare those characteristics to other wines with the same varietal.
Your next step is to lightly swirl the wine around in your glass in order to pull aromas out of the wine. Try and detect each fruit that makes up the wine and pay attention to the wine’s “legs” that are left running down the sides of the glass. Next, is the step you’ve all been waiting for…taste! As stated on Winefolly.com you want to “take a mouthwash size sip and briefly swish it around your mouth to make sure it coats your entire tongue before you swallow. Think about the flavors, textures and body of the wine.” This step will help you form your opinions about the wine as well as help you to compare this particular wine to others. It is up to each individual whether they would like to spit or swallow each wine. Some people swallow each mouthful simply because they don’t want to waste the wine and others prefer to spit their wine in order to stay sober for driving or tasting purposes. Lastly, you want to form an opinion about the wine. Did you like it? Why were other wines better? Don’t be afraid to sound like a pro when you’re issuing your opinion.
So there you have it! Wine tasting shouldn’t be intimidating or looked at like a sophisticated science… just enjoy yourself and taste away!
