How to taste wine is the topic of this installment of our wine guide…
There are four stages to properly tasting wine: appearance; smell; taste; finish. We’ll look at each of those individually.
It’s worth taking a good look at the wine, as it’s appearance can yield a lot of information. To do so, it’s best to view the wine in a plain, clear glass and against a white background (a white plate or tablecloth will do).
The colour of a red wine will give a clue as to the age of the wine. Many red wines start life as a deep purple colour, sometimes almost opaque. With time, however, the wines lose this youthful intensity, and begin to take on a paler, tawny, brick red hue. The color of a red wine may give a clue not only to the age of the wine, however, but also to the grapes which have been used. This is because different grapes produce wines of differing intensities of color.
Similar information may be gathered from inspecting a white wine, although the pattern of color change as a white wine ages is different, often more gradual, occurring over many decades. As with red wines, the color of a white wine will also give some clue as to the grapes used, and also from where the wine originates.
As for smelling the wine, you should steadily swirl the glass to throw the wine up onto the side of the glass (thus increasing the surface area of wine in contact with the air) as this causes the wines aromas to be released. To swirl effectively, don’t fill the glass too full - in fact less than half full is recommended.
As you’re swirling, place your nose in the glass, inhale, and think about what aromas are coming up from the glass as you do so. Young wines will have primary aromas, relating to the grape variety (such smells are often fruit related). As wines age more secondary aromas develop, which may be more earthy or animalistic. Remember that a wines aromas can take on many different forms, and very rarely will it simply smell of grapes.
When you taste wine, it’s important to realize that little of the flavor that can be sensed actually involves the tongue. Aromas from the wine in the mouth pervade the upper airways, and it’s sensations from the nasal receptors that we use to ‘taste’ the wine. So, breathe in and out through your nose whilst the wine is in your mouth; paying attention to the way the wine changes as you hold it there. Your first impressions on taking the wine into your mouth may be referred to as the fore-palate, which are followed by the mid-palate and the end-palate. Each of these will be different so look out for the changes in taste.
The finish describes the sensations derived from swallowing the wine. It will often be different to how the wine came across on the palate. The flavors may linger for a while on the palate after the wine has been swallowed, and this is referred to as the length. The more length a wine has, the more time you have to enjoy it, and it’s probably true to say that such wines are generally of better quality.
Want to know more about wine? Take a look at our free guide: Wine 101