WINE TASTING GUIDE

Our taste-buds can detect sweet, salty, bitter and sour sensations, plus “umami,” the savory
flavor found in mushrooms and meat. And our noses can differentiate between hundreds of
aromas. Please click here to check a few tips to help get your palate into tasting shape

Set the mood For each wine you want to taste, find a clear, stemmed glass that is
comfortable to hold. Choose a well-lit place that’s relatively odor-neutral. It is best not to wear
perfume or scented lotion.

Set the scene Pour just enough wine in the glass so it barely reaches the widest part of the
bowl. This way you’ll have room to swirl the wine without spilling it.

Check the color A light color generally indicates a light-bodied wine; a darker color, a fuller-
bodied wine. Also, white wines deepen in color with age; reds get lighter and take on a brown
hue. If you’re poured more than one wine, compare the colors and guess which wine will taste
more concentrated, young wines that appear browned might be the result of poor winemaking
or storage.

Swirl & sniff Hold the glass by its stem and swirl it gently to release the wine’s aromas. Sniff.
What do you smell? Sniff again. Do you smell fruit?, What sort? The wine might evoke herbs,
flowers, spices, vanilla or wood. Some wines smell like  bell pepper, leather, roasted meat or
even manure. Don’t worry about cataloguing every aroma. Just impressions will help you learn
and remember. Noxious smells like sulfur or must might dissipate with air. If the wine smells
bad, give it a few minutes and swill the glass to bring more contact with oxygen. If the wine still
has an unappealing odor, move on to another one. If a wine smells like wet, moldy cork or
cardboard, it may be “corked” meaning it has been infected by an unpleasant-smelling
compound called TCA that can be found in cork. TCA is harmless, but it makes wine taste bad.

Spin & swish Sip the wine and swish it around in your mouth. Try to suck air into your mouth
while wine is still in it (it takes practice). This allow the wine to release more aromas. How does
it feel? Does it coat your mouth? Is it light, prickly and refreshing? Does it taste bitter or sweet?
Does it recall specific fruits or spices? Smell again. Does it smell like it tastes? Do you like it?
There are no wrong answers; it’s all about you perceive.

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