How to taste wine? Want to learn how to taste the wine sample the Sommelier at your favourite restaurant pours before you buy the wine? Want to learn how to taste wine like a professional? You’ve come to the right place. We will take you through a step by step process of how to taste this divine liquid like a pro and enhance your wine knowledge; not to mention, impress your friends. Before we begin the steps of tasting, we must understand the instrument that helps us taste. Yes, that’s right. Your tongue, otherwise known as the palate in wine circles. Every part of the tongue includes receptors for every basic taste as below : 1. The back of the tongue is for bitter tastes 2. The sides detect sour tastes 3. The sides detect salty tastes 4. The tip of the tongue detects sweetness It’s important to have a clean, neutral palate before we taste wine as items like mint, toothpaste, cigarettes, oily or spicy foods can confuse our taste buds. The 4 step tasting process is : See, Sniff, Swirl and Sip : The 4 S’s See The best way is to slightly tilt the wine in the glass and hold it up to the light or look at it against a white or pale background. This is done to know whether the wine is clear or cloudy and to know the colour of the wine, which will vary according to the type of wine you are tasting. Red Wines: Red wines vary greatly in colour. Typically, a young red wine has a bright colour ranging from purple to ruby to red. An older red wine might be mahogany to brick-like in colour. As red wines age they tend to lose colour and develop shades of brown. White Wines: White wines range from pale green/yellow to straw yellow to gold and develop deeper golden / brown colours as they age. White wines that have been aged in oak barrels tend to have shades of gold with some developing even salmon coloured hues. Sniff Tip the glass, stick your nose in it and inhale. DON’T exhale into the glass. The top notes will be that of fruit followed by floral, followed by spicy smells ending with woody / vegetal / gamey aromas. As a wine get older the wine, its aromas become more complex. Different grape varietals will have their range of aromas depending on wine making, storage, age, etc. Aromas of a red wine develop with aeration. Swirl While firmly holding the stem of the wine glass, gently swirl the glass in tiny circles on a flat surface for 10 seconds allowing oxygen to penetrate the wine. The purpose of swirling wine in a glass is to aerate the wine and release vapours, for you to smell. As the wine coats the sides of the glass, it releases its bouquet. Observe the streaks of wine (legs) as they roll down the side of the glass. The legs can help you determine the body of the wine. Sip The best part has just begun! Take a small sip of the wine and with the help of your tongue coat all parts of your mouth and tongue with the wine. If you feel comfortable, draw in some air through puckered lips so that the wine is aerated in your mouth which will help in releasing its flavours.
This step will help you identify the body, acidity, tannin, dryness of a wine including its different flavours. Different areas on your tongue will experience different tastes as mentioned before. You will taste fruit, spice, minerals, oak, vegetal flavours depending on the wine. Knowing the details about the wine, namely : Producer, Country, Varietal, Vintage, etc. will be helpful in determining the taste of the wine. Lastly, there’s always a debate about whether to swallow or spit. Most professional wine tastings that involve tasting hundreds of wines a day, need one to spit it out so as to stay sober. However, at an amateur tasting of 6-8 wines, you might not want to waste the good ones. As long as you can hold your own, you are safe.