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Qwoff Faker's Guide to Wine TastingA prominent winemaker (who wishes to remain anonymous!) once said that wine tasting is 30% skill, and 70% confidence. So keep that in mind and go forth boldly!The wine tasting ritual generally involves assessing the site, smell and taste of a wine, or in winespeak: colour & clarity, aroma or bouquet, and palate. 1. Site (Colour & Clarity) What does the wine look like? Is it clear and brilliant and what is its colour? The best way view a wine is to tilt the glass and view against light or a white background. 2. Smell (Aroma or Bouquet) Swirl the wine in the glass vigorously, put your nose to the top of the glass and breath in deeply. Now let your imagination run free and see what scents the wine reminds you of. 3. Taste (Palate) Take a sizable sip, roll the wine around in the mouth with your tongue and suck some air through it. This step takes some getting use to but really does help maximise the flavour of the wine so slurp away! How does the wine feel in the mouth and what flavours do you taste. After deciding whether to spit the wine out or swallow think about how long the flavours linger. Here are a few tips you might find helpful: White wine colours generally range from very pale with green tinges to deep gold. Look for browning at the rim as this will tell you the wine is oxidised and past its best; Rose colours include pale pink, orange pink and copper; Red wines often start as youngsters with a purple colour and move through to ruby, garnet, red and finally to brick red in old age. Older wines will start to fade at the edges with this colour taking on slightly browner shades. As for clarity, a wine should be brilliantly clear and rarely dull or cloudy. There are a few exceptions. Some common smells associated with wines include lime, apricots, gooseberries, passion fruit, pineapple, peaches, melon, butter, vanilla, strawberries, plum, prunes, blackberries, blackcurrants, raspberries, pepper, spice, truffle, coffee, chocolate and cigar box; Some things you don’t want to smell: Vinegar (Volatile acidity), rotten eggs (hydrogen sulphide), nail polish remover (Ethyl acetate) and just struck match (sulphur dioxide). When tasting a wine look for the following 5 things: Fruit (the lovely flavours that are derived from the grape. Once again let your imagination run wild, what flavours can you taste?); Oak (this imparts flavours such as vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon and textural characteristics such as a creamy mouth feel to the wine); Sweetness (this can be sensed on the very tip of the tongue. From bone dry to luscious); Acidity (tasted on the sides of the tongue. It provides a sense of freshness and balance to a wine. Too much and the wine will seem sharp or sour and too little results in a flat or flabby character); Tannin (This gives the drying, furry mouth feel. It is an astringent acid derived from the stalks, pips and skins of the grapes and also oak barrels. It is an essential preservative for quality wines and softens with age. In moderate levels it is a pleasurable characteristic in red wine). This is just the tip of the iceberg, and if you’re interested in learning more, feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to steer you in the direction of the real experts. But most of all, have fun with it. It’s only wine, after all! |
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