Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Tasting Wine Like An Professional: Some Truly Amazing Pointers

By April Kerr

There is a basic format to wine tasting that is utilized by wine tasters all over the world. Wine judges use this wine tasting technique for competitions and the wine tasters that write up tasting notes will use the same method. This method is really easy to learn and the more you practice the better you will be at wine tasting.

There is a set procedure for wine tasting so that you can assess all facets of the wine. When wine tasting it is important to use the right type of glasses. There are wine glasses for all types of wines and they can change how you taste the wine.

Red wine requires a larger bowl to the glass as the mixture of oxygen and the wine is important. White wine tends to have a smaller glass.

When tasting wine you should initially evaluate the color and clarity of the wine in your glass. It can help to hold the glass of wine up to a white surface so your background does not change the color of the wine. The wine should not be cloudy and you do not want brownish tone sin red wine or orange tones in white wine as this means the wine is very old and past its prime.

Then you can smell the wine. Before smelling you should swirl the wine to push the aromas to the air just above the wine still in the wine glass. Then stick your nose in and take a deep breath. There are loads of aromas in each wine and as you taste wine more you will come to recognize and distinguish varied smells.

The next step is to taste the wine. You must take a decent mouth full and swirl it about your mouth. Those that have practice can even inhale a small amount of air into your mouth with the wine. This can bring out more flavors and smells in the wine while it is in your mouth. Though if you have never done this before I would practice at home first.

In conclusion the last section of wine tasting is what is in your mouth after your spit the wine or swallow it. This aftertaste has numerous different facets like length, mouth coating, mouth drying, astringency and more. Loads of these sensations are as a result of the tannins in the wine and red wine will tend to have a much stronger aftertaste then white wine, though this is not always the case.

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