Let’s start with… Tasting is a personal experience (and more fun in groups) , so find what works best for you. Here are a few tips to get you started.
Did you know that most wine experts just follow a set of rules when they taste wine and write reviews? The truth is that most of the time they recycle the same “description” words and use them over and over again for similar varieties of wines!
Now…I am not putting them down. I actually think there is an inherent gift to being able to get so much details about the different flavors and aromas of wines.
I am getting there, but only recently have I learnt the right process when it comes to tasting, which is only the start of me being able to talk up a storm when I taste my next wine.
The Process
The process to follow whenever you taste wine whether it be in the comfort of your own home, at a winery, or even at a restaurant is:
The 5 S’s. Which are: See, Swirl, Smell, Sip, Savor.
See – Basically note the color of the wine. Put the glass on a angle, against a light back ground if possible. As a general rule, heavier wines will be deeper in color.
Swirl – I’m sure everyone has seen this done a myriad of times. If you are a beginner and find it really hard to swirl fluently – place the glass on the table, hold it at its stem and make small circles on the table. This is the cheats way to get nice swirl.
The swirl has two main purposes. 1. Allow the wine to breath, which opens up the smell and taste of the wine and 2. To see how viscous the wine is by the “legs” that will run back down the side of the glass.
Smell – pretty self explanatory. I won’t get into too much detail here, but this should be about enjoying the scent of the wine.
Sip – Finally, we get to drinking hey? It is a good idea to hold it in your mouth for a few seconds, to allow your taste buds to fully absorb the flavor. During this step you are basically trying to govern the texture, flavors and weight of the wine.
Savor – This step basically is to explain/note the aftertaste that you get of the wine.
If this process is new to you, depending on who your drinking the wine with, it is probably best to stick to very broad and generic terms when describing both the smell and taste of the wine.
Things such as: “fruity”, “sweet”, “dry”, “strong” (heavy), “smooth”, even things like “nice” or ” not very nice” still will give perception that you have done it before.
At the end of the day, If you don’t think the wine is nice and drinkable it does not matter what an expert has once said about the wine. So don’t be afraid to have confidence in your own palate.
If you feel like getting adventurous. There are actually some tools which can help you in the tasting description process.
A really handy tool when learning a lot of the descriptors of wine is the Aroma Wheel. This really simplifies the your description database.
Also, check out here for an extensive list of common descriptors and what they mean when they are used in wine circles and on the back of labels. Finally some sense to the descriptions on the back of bottles!
Take Action
Next time you have some wine, whether it is at home, at a friends place or in a restaurant, remember the 5 S’s and go through the process. Remember to take your time going through the process even if your friends don’t. They will be asking you questions in no time, which is never a bad thing. Taking time is the key, which will allow you to consciously taste the wine and remember it in the future.
Most wine experts just follow a set of rules when they taste wine and write reviews.
The Process
The process to follow whenever you taste wine whether it be in the comfort of your own home, at a winery, or even at a restaurant is:
The 5 S’s. Which are: See, Swirl, Smell, Sip, Savor.
See - Basically note the color of the wine. Put the glass on a angle, against a light back ground if possible. As a general rule, heavier wines will be deeper in color.
Swirl - I’m sure everyone has seen this done a myriad of times. If you are a beginner and find it really hard to swirl fluently – place the glass on the table, hold it at its stem and make small circles on the table. This is the cheats way to get nice swirl.
The swirl has two main purposes. 1. Allow the wine to breath, which opens up the smell and taste of the wine and 2. To see how viscous the wine is by the “legs” that will run back down the side of the glass.
Smell - pretty self explanatory. I won’t get into too much detail here, but this should be about enjoying the scent of the wine.
Sip - Finally, we get to drinking hey? It is a good idea to hold it in your mouth for a few seconds, to allow your taste buds to fully absorb the flavor. During this step you are basically trying to govern the texture, flavors and weight of the wine.
Savor - This step basically is to explain/note the aftertaste that you get of the wine.
If this process is new to you, depending on who your drinking the wine with, it is probably best to stick to very broad and generic terms when describing both the smell and taste of the wine.
Things such as: “fruity”, “sweet”, “dry”, “strong” (heavy), “smooth”, even things like “nice” or ” not very nice” still will give perception that you have done it before.
At the end of the day, If you don’t think the wine is nice and drinkable it does not matter what an expert has once said about the wine. So don’t be afraid to have confidence in your own palate.
If you feel like getting adventurous. There are actually some tools which can help you in the tasting description process.
A really handy tool when learning a lot of the descriptors of wine is the Aroma Wheel. This really simplifies the your description database.
Also, check out here for an extensive list of common descriptors and what they mean when they are used in wine circles and on the back of labels. Finally some sense to the descriptions on the back of bottles!
Take Action
Next time you have some wine, whether it is at home, at a friends place or in a restaurant, remember the 5 S’s and go through the process. Remember to take your time going through the process even if your friends don’t. They will be asking you questions in no time, which is never a bad thing. Taking time is the key, which will allow you to consciously taste the wine and remember it in the future.
Tags: wine tasting
