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Wine Tasting Tips
1. Wine tasting is an area of wines where
confusion reigns supreme. There is much
mystique and tradition associated with tasting
wines, but there is no need. By following a few
steps, and more importantly understanding
why you’re following these steps, you’ll enjoy
trying different wines more and more.
2. Look at the colour – Try to look through the wine onto a
white background. A sheet of paper is ideal. You can tell a
lot about the age of the wine from the colour. White wines
will develop more colour as they age while reds will
generally lose colour. And if you keep them long enough
they’ll both turn the same colour, brown. As white wines
age they will change through: yellowgreen, straw, pale gold,
deep gold, light amber, yellowbrown, brown. As red wines
age they will change through: purple-pink, ruby, mid red,
dark red, brick red, tawny brown.
Swirl the wine in the glass – The aim is to oxygenate the
wine. This releases the ‘volatiles’ into the air above the wine.
Get as much wine as you can on the side of the glass, this
gives you more wine to air surface area. Decanting a wine
serves the same purpose before serving it.
3. Smell the wine – Straight after swirling the wine, stick your nose right in the glass and
take a few short sharp sniffs. A long sniff will dull your sense of smell. What you’re
looking for here can be summarised in three areas: the grape smell, fermentation
bouquet and maturation odours.
Varietal – the characteristics of the fruit eg: peppery spicy Shiraz, lemony Riesling, blackberry,
raspberry, cherry, plum, black currant, chocolate, coffee, tobacco or cedar in Cabernet Sauvignon,
raisins and grapes in Muscat, apple, peach, apricot, lemon and other tropical fruit in
Chardonnays, raspberry, strawberry, cranberry in Pinot Noir.
Distinct – you can pick the individual wine aroma but can’t identify a single varietal, usual in
blended varieties eg: Cabernet Merlot, rich in blackberry and spice
Vinous – you can pick a wine aroma, but nothing definite, usual in neutral grape varieties eg:
Sultana, Doradillo
Fermentation bouquet – a fresh yeasty smell can be picked up in newly bottled whites, very
distinct in some varieties, difficult to pick up in others
Maturation characteristics – are the result of ageing in oak and natural bottle ageing eg: the
vanilla cinnamon from oak maturation Some of the more common problems you can pick up on
the nose include: sulphur - too much preservative, vinegar – excessive acetic acid, probably
oxidised, sherry – wine has oxidised, probably a leaky cork, musty – bad cork.
And, the question everyone asks, do you sniff the cork?
No. The tiny amount of wine you can smell on the cork is not very helpful. Instead you should
look at the cork. Has the wine leaked past the cork, it may be oxidised. Are there little crystals,
sometimes white wines precipitate tartrates (not a fault, just doesn’t look good).
4. Taste – Many of the tastes are really smells. Try holding your nose
while tasting a wine. You’ll find there’s a lot less ‘taste’ in the
wine. There are four primary tastes you can identify:
Sweet – typically sugars, but alcohol and glycerol (the stuff you see
running down the side of the glass, also called ‘legs’) can contribute to a
sweet taste. If there is no sweetness in the wine, it’s referred to as a ‘dry’
wine. You’ll taste sweet on the tip of your tongue.
Sour/acid – usually the taste of acids, you’ll feel this as a ‘softness’ on your
teeth. Acids give the wine crispness and freshness. Without acids the wine
will taste flat and dull. You’ll taste sour on the back inner sides of your
tongue.
Bitter – is usually found in oxidised wines. Easily confused with tannins.
Tannins you can identify by having ‘squeaky’ teeth. The tannins come
from the grape skins and seeds. Bitter you can taste across the back of your
tongue. Tannins will soften with age particularly with the help of good
oak.
Salt – Not really an important tasting flavour in wines. Usually present as
a salt of the acids in wines. You’ll taste saltiness on the front outer sides of
your tongue.
5. Finish or persistence of taste – what does the
taste the wine has left in your mouth feel like?
A wine can have a short, medium or long
aftertaste or palate. As a rough guide: short
means the taste is gone in less than 10 seconds,
medium is up to around 60 seconds and if
you’re still tasting the wine after 60 seconds
then it’s a long palate. If there’s an unpleasant
acidy aftertaste then you probably won’t like
the wine. If the long aftertaste leaves you with
a pleasant taste then it’s probably going to be a
wine you will buy again.
6. Think of flavoring a recipe with wine in the same light as you would
adding a spice. The flavors tend to mellow the longer you cook the wine
in the dish and it is recommended that a young, strong red wine is
allowed to cook for at least 45 minutes. The next question, is typically
should I use a red or a white wine? Reds tend to bring color, clarity and a
distinctly dry characteristic to the foods they flavor. White wines are
known to bring an acidic quality with a bit of pucker power. Use reds for
flavoring red sauces with red meat. For example, a bold red wine would
be perfect for a meatball marina or stout stews with lots of heavy
vegetables. Steer towards white wines if you are making cream sauces or
emphasizing white meats or seafood.