Basic Wine Tasting Tips

StarBuzz Weekly, Toronto-By: winecents - Don't panic. Two words to live by, whether you find yourself stranded in the woods or it is that moment when the sommelier pours the first bit sip of wine into your glass. Don't worry, anyone that is unfamiliar with the process feels intimidated by it. Trust me.
The following article will provide you with some basic wine tasting tips that will not only help you to determine if that bottle of wine you ordered for dinner is okay to drink, but it will also help you when it comes time to compare wines during a tasting.


The three senses you use when determining the quality of a wine are sight, smell and taste.

1) Sight
When it comes to the look of a wine you are looking for colour and clarity.

Colour: Immediately after you pour a glass of wine, hold it up and tilt it slightly away from you. At this point you are looking to describe the colour. Typically wines come in three varieties, red, white and blush. When you are looking at the colour, really describe it - it's not just a red, it's more of a purple or ruby or maroon. It's not just a white, it is more of a yellow, or golden, or amber.

Clarity: You are looking for a number of things when it comes to clarity, including the wine's opacity, sediment and the 'legs'. To describe the clarity you would determine is the wine is watery, translucent, cloudy or opaque. Look for any sediment in the glass or bits of cork. Now tilt the glass a little further and give it a swirl, checking again for sediment. The wine that streaks down the rim of the glass is referred to as the legs.

2) Smell
A wine's aroma, or bouquet, is an excellent indication of its quality and unique characteristics. Start by swirling the wine for about ten seconds, taking a quick sniff to get the first impression of its aroma. What do you smell? For the second impression stick your nose into the glass and take a deep inhale. Do you smell oak, leather, or tobacco? Or is it more of a flowery, berry or vanilla type smell? Swirl the glass some more and let the aromas mix and mingle before inhaling the sent again.

3) Taste
Probably the most important sense when it comes to wine tasting is the actual sense of taste. Taste can be broken down into three basic parts: the first is the initial impression, or the way the wine feels. The second part is the actual taste sensations and the final part to describe is the aftertaste, or better known as the finish.

Initial impression: Start by taking a small sip of the wine and let it roll around on your tongue. At this point you are looking to detect the acidity, the residual sugar, the alcohol content and the tannin level. In a well-balanced wine these four components will be in harmony. At this point you would not be looking to describe the taste, but more the feel of the wine. Such as is the wine sweet or dry, light or bold.

Taste sensation: At this stage you are looking to describe the actual taste of the wine. For reds you may notice hints of dark fruits, spices like pepper or cinnamon and possibly even oak or cedar. For whites you may notice more citrus fruits, herbs and floral tastes.

Finish: The final tasting stage is called the finish. This is the description of the aftertaste of the wine. At this stage you want to take note of the length of time the flavours last in your mouth, the type of body of the wine, whether it was light, medium or full, and the final impression.

After going through this three step process, if the bottle of wine you just ordered at the restaurant smells or tastes off in any way, don't feel shy about letting the sommelier know. This is the whole reason you get to try a sample before the rest of your table is poured a glass. Quite possibly the bottle was stored incorrectly and the wine has turned.
Credit: winesensetv.com.

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