Tasting the Wine - Wine Love
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WINE TASTING EDUCATION How to Taste Wine
Step 3: Tasting the Wine After looking, swirling, and sniffing, you're ready to drink the wine, right? Well, not just yet. There is a correct form to tasting wine, a technique designed to break the sip into flavor components that you can identify, contemplate, and eventually recall. A ½ to one-ounce sip is typical for proper tasting, depending upon the size of your mouth. Too much will force you to swallow, but too little won't provide sufficient coverage in your mouth. While holding some of the wine on your tongue, purse you lips and draw in air over the wine (think backwards whistling) to produce a slurping, gurgling sound. While this technique may not make you popular at dinner parties, it is crucial for vaporizing the volatile compounds in the wine, Swirl, sniff, sip, and then swish the wine around your mouth, much like mouthwash. "Chewing" the wine will further break down the flavors and intensify them. Keep the wine in your mouth for about 10 to 12 seconds (less if its offensive). Each area of your mouth recognizes different flavor components. Tannin, the chemical in wine that causes a puckery sensation in some wines, is most prominent on the inside of your cheeks. Alcohol feels hottest at the back of your throat. These two characteristics, along with viscosity, are key determinants of a wine's body. Full bodied wines are intensely flavorful. Soft or smooth wines are low in tannins and acid. "Mouth-feel" is a term often used to describe how a wine "feels" in your mouth. Wine flavors, like aromas, are imparted by the berries (grapes), the fermentation process, and aging. Flavors such as cherry, cassis, chocolate, pepper, (common in red wines) and apple, pineapple, grass, lemon (found in many white wines) are usually associated with the grapes themselves. Fermentation can add flavors such as musk, yeast, jam, and cherry pie. Smoke, oak, or sherry-like flavors often result from cask or bottle aging. Aging also softens the tannins in wine, making it smoother tasting. Slowly swallow the wine, then exhale gently through your mouth and nose. The aromas will linger well beyond the swallow. Better wines will have more complexity and their flavors will last longer. By comparing flavors and texture, you will be able to differentiate between varietals and vintages, and select better wines. That is the true purpose of wine tasting.
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