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Tasting Lesson
One thing people new to wine drinking tend to forego is a simple wine tasting lesson. It is amazing how difficult the average person wants to make wine tasting. I started drinking wine in college because I could not stand the bitter taste of American beer. Admittedly my early preference was for the inexpensive, sweet stuff, but I soon grew out of that phase and moved to the standard of those days – Chardonnay. Since then, I have grown to like all varieties of the grape.
There really are only three basics elements to tasting wine. 1) The look; 2) The smell; and 3) The taste. Some of these steps may seem pretentious, but they do add to your ability to put your own stamp of approval to your favorites. Here is a brief look at each step.
First, how does the wine look? Hold the glass up to a light or to a white background. Can you see through it? Does it look cloudy? If a white wine is cloudy, that could be bad. On the other hand, a red wine that looks cloudy could just mean that it is unfiltered (it will probably say so on the bottle). All you are trying to do here is see that the wine looks normal. The light or background allows you to see if the wine generally appears to have been kept properly. You don’t need to spend a lot of time with this step.
The next step is to smell it. This entails putting your nose in the glass. This is typically the hardest part of a tasting lesson. Don’t be shy – get your nose in there and take a big whiff. What you mostly want to do is to see if there are any odd odors. Of course if you come across some familiar fragrances, you should keep those in mind. Different wines, made in methods will probably give off different aromas, but that knowledge is for a different and more in depth lesson. As a beginner, just make sure it does not smell so bad that you don’t want to drink it.
Finally, taste the wine. Take a small sip and hold it in your mouth for 10 to 15 seconds. Now here is the easy part – what flavors does it remind you of? Take the first things that come to mind. Don’t try to find the flavors you read about or the ones the person next to you speaks about. Use your own words. The truth is that whatever you taste is the correct taste. If you are with a friend or the winemaker or among strangers, feel free to compare tasting notes, but remember it is your palate. Own your taste buds.
These are the first steps of a simple tasting lesson. As you get better, you may want to enhance the experience by adding other elements like the glass or even the temperature of the wine. The language of wine can look and sound intimidating. Just start off making it easy on yourself. It will make the experiences much more fun.