Wine tasting can be divided into two realms – professional wine tasting or leisure wine tasting. With professional tasting, the taster needs to evaluate it thoroughly, addressing things like the wine’s origin, and discerning whether the wine would increase its value with cellaring or whether it should be sold and drunk straight off the shelf.

If you’re leisure wine tasting, you’re tasting purely for pleasure. Wine should be in its most optimum condition such as be chilled if it’s a white wine. Tasting wine for pleasure should also be an educational experience, enhancing your knowledge and overall tasting experience.

Ensure you consume wine in top conditions

Wine tastes its best if it’s served in a certain condition. This condition constitutes temperature, your palate’s state and the time of day it’s consumed. The best temperature to serve wine is in the low 20s Celsius. Your palate should be clear of any strong flavours. Steer away from cigarettes, chilli and menthol flavors, for example. Finally, your palate is most attuned during late morning.

Be in good health

There’s no point tasting wine if you are sick. If your senses are affected, you won’t be tasting the wine at all or in a heavily distorted manner. If you really want to enjoy your wine, make sure you are in a healthy state.

Importance of three senses working together

To have an optimal wine-tasting experience you should ensure that your sight, smell and taste are in great condition and are well tuned to focus on how wine impacts upon them.

Eyes

It mightn’t seem like eyes would play much importance in wine tasting, however, it does hold a place. Using your eyes in tasting helps you slow down and focus your attention on the wine. Eyes also help to distinguish more about the wine. Take time to see if your drink is clear, dark, light, hazy or opaque in appearance before you begin to taste it.

On another level, you might want to try closing your eyes while you are wine-tasting. Closing your eyes can help you to block out any distractions and concentrate on your wine’s taste, helping to pick up any of the more elusive flavors.

Nose

Noses have a large role in wine tasting. In fact, for a large part, the things we think we are tasting are actually what we are smelling. Our sense of smell is also much more sensitive than our sense of taste.

Mouth

If you want to get the most out of your wine, it’s a good idea to slow down. When you are wine-tasting it can sometimes be all too easy to only taste through the act of swallowing. Our tongues are composed of four areas that taste different sensations – sweet, salty, bitter and sour.

When you are tasting wine it’s a good idea to thoroughly swish it around your mouth to make sure that the liquid has the opportunity to cover all four areas, to ensure you taste the full flavor of the wine. You may also want to pay attention to the texture. See if your wine is light, heavy, floury or oily.

What to look for

A good wine has an acidic or sour taste. Often this is balanced well with sweetness. You know a wine is off if it strongly smells and tastes of vinegar.

By: Glen Anthony Brown

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JULIET D asked:


I poured a red wine in a Waterford decanter, and left it there. Forgot to empty it and no drank any and so it has been sitting there for about 6 weeks. I have thrown away the wine, but the decanter is stained and I cannot get the stain out

Cristy P asked:


I know wine is good for your health. But what is the right alcohol content?

Adri asked:


I need suggestions on a good but cheap bottle of red wine. Please explain why you like it.
HELP!