It is a common misconception amongst non wine connoisseurs that wine tasting amounts to merely sipping, swishing, and swallowing wine; this could not be further from the truth for the avid connoisseur. There is a definite art to wine tasting that takes years of studied practice to master.
The art of wine tasting is used to distinguish fine wines and relies on a trained palate, often acquired over many years. If stored properly and aged correctly, wine can be an exquisite experience.
Wine tasting is rooted in our sense of smell with over 75% of the impact on our taste inexorably linked to the food and drink we consume. This would account for the persistent notion that when we have a cold everything is tasteless and our appetite is non-existent. Most wine aficionados will tell you that the experience of a fine wine is more about the smell than the taste, and after that personal preference takes over and it becomes a tossup from that point on.
Proper wine tasting is initiated with the swishing that is most familiar to novices. The purpose of this activity is to circulate the taste of the wine by moving it between the front and back areas of the mouth in order to reach the taste buds contained in the tongue.
Taste buds do not necessarily have a noted taste factor, but they are capable of properly identifying food and beverages that are sweet, salty, and bitter with no problems at all. Therefore, the process of swishing is more about giving the senses an opportunity to extract the aromatic flavors in the wine being tested.
When you attain a basic understanding of the swishing technique and its purpose with a true wine connoisseur, there are three more elementary techniques that need to be taken into consideration when judging the quality of a fine wine – observation, smell, and taste.
When the wine is poured, it should be ideally poured into a crystal, clear glass so that the first step – observation – can take place. With the sample in hand, this step should not be rushed and instead, it should be slow, deliberate and the moment, appreciated. White wines, in spite of their name, are actually not completely white ranging in color from golden, pale brown to a slightly tinged shade of green. Red wine, on the other hand, is usually darker with a pink hue that leans toward a darker brown color.
The second step is closely observing the smell of the wine that is actually accomplished in a two-step fashion. First, you should take a brief whiff of the wine to get a general idea of what you are dealing with. Next, you will take an extended, deep drawn in smell in order take in the full aroma of the beverage.
Wine experts will usually let the aroma waft over them as they reflect on the total experience of the wine up to that point.
Finally, the connoisseur is ready to engage in the actual tasting of the wine and this is accomplished by first taking a sip, swishing to bring out the bold or subtle flavors of the sampling. Only after this step will you then fully savor the overall flavor once you swallow the sip you have taken.
As it is with any skill, practice is part of the overall wine tasting methodology. While wine tasting is considered a skill that can be learned, wine experts will tell you that it is really more of an art.
