Wine Tasting – The Art of Tasting Wine

Part of the art of wine tasting is learning how to identify and enjoy a bottle of fine wine. The best wine is typically one that suites your taste and enhances the enjoyment of a good meal.
The first step with wine tasting is to pour about one ounce of wine into a wine glass. The wine should then be swirled in the glass. This oxygenates the wine and releases the bouquet (overall smell) and aroma (the smell of the grapes). A wine glass is designed with its unique shape in order to make it easier to swirl and oxygenate the wine.

The second step is to smell the wine. As you sniff the wine, take a slow, deep breath. Do this three times. By the third time, you should fully experience the “nose” of the wine. The type of nose that a wine has refers to both the bouquet and aroma. Take your time and enjoy this step. It will tell you a lot about whether or not you will enjoy this wine selection. Learn how to identify the particular wine scents that you find in the wines that you enjoy most. 90% of a wine taste is related to the smell. If you enjoy the smell, you will likely enjoy the wine.

Defects or bad wine can easily be identified through the smell test. A wine that smells like vinegar is too acetic. Dank, moldy or wet-smelling wine may have been contaminated by a defective or rotting cork. This is a called “corked wine.” A sulfur smell is due to too much sulfur dioxide.

The third step is to taste the wine. Do not just drink the wine and swallow it. Take a sip and hold it in your mouth for four or five seconds. Some people gently swish it around to cover a range of taste buds. Holding wine in your mouth warms it slightly, which releases more of the bouquet and aroma.

How does the wine taste?

• Is is bitter? Bitterness is related to high alcohol and tannin.
• Is is sweet? Sweetness is related to the sugar content.
• Is it sour? A sour or tart taste is related to the acidity in the wine.
• What type of body does it have? A wine’s body can be light, medium or full-bodied. The body of a wine is the fullness, weight and feel of the wine. Body is related related to the alcohol content. Fuller wines have a higher alcohol content. A light-bodied wine is thin and watery, like skim milk. A full-bodied wine feels and smells thicker, like cream.
• Is there an aftertaste? A high-quality wine has a pleasant, lingering aftertaste that may last several minutes.

The last step is to savor the wine. Think about it for a minute or two. Did you enjoy the flavor? Was there anything that you did not like about it? Is the aftertaste pleasant and lingering?

A good wine is something to be enjoyed. If you follow the simple steps we have presented, you should be able to more easily differentiate a good quality wine from a poor quality wine, and should now know how to properly taste and enjoy your wine selections.