(The obvious title for this would have been “Wine Tasting for Dummies.” But you’re all smart people, and I respect you too much… I just couldn’t do it.)
I came up with this week’s post as part of the newsletter for The Vines‘ February wine club, but it’s going to go through a pretty vigorous editing process before printing and I wanted to share it with you in its current form. I hope it helps you get more out of your next glass of wine. I need to find a way to somehow shorten each of these to one line - that should be an interesting challenge for me.
AA’s wine tasting tips:
* First of all, don’t be intimidated by this exercise. The goals are three-fold, and simple: to enjoy a wine, learn about it, and get to know your own palate. Don’t worry about anything else.
*Use all of your senses to explore a wine. Yes, even sound - if you listen carefully enough you may be able to hear what the wine is trying to tell you.
*Look closely at the color – hold the wine under a light, or in front of a white background. It may not affect the flavor of a vino, but it just might change how you feel about it overall.
*Practice swirling the wine in the glass. Start on a flat surface – you don’t have to get fancy. Not only can this be fun (and visually stimulating), but it really does open up the aromas. To prove this, smell the wine both before and after swirling. I promise you’ll notice a difference.
*For the olfactory part of the process, stick your nose all the way in the glass and breathe deeply. Before you beat yourself up trying to think of descriptors for what you’re smelling, just ask yourself two simple questions: does the wine have an expressive bouquet? Does it appeal to you?
*Observe the complete journey that a wine makes as it crosses your palate. Remember that each part of your tongue registers different flavors, and they don’t necessarily compliment each other - a good, well-balanced wine is one that you’ll enjoy from the ‘attack’ (front of your tongue) all the way to the finish (what you taste after swallowing). The pieces should fit together well.
*Don’t just taste a wine when it’s in your mouth – this is where your sense of touch comes into play as well. Note the weight, the viscosity, and if your mouth waters or dries out.
*When you find a wine that really gets you excited, think about a food pairing. Don’t analyze too much, just think: what are you craving after the wine goes down?
*Take notes! No, nobody’s going to test you on them. But if you want to find wines that you enjoy, it helps to figure out what you like about them. Use your own words, and remember that you don’t have to show your notes to anybody. Write down if you love a wine or if you hate it - and transcribe all that you can from the label. Every piece of information can be useful in tracking down similar wines. Or avoiding them.
January 13th, 2008 | vino