Tips to Tasting Wine Like a Pro Even if You're a Beginner

GraysOnline · DishWasher Joined: Apr 13, 2011 Posts: 1

In the world of wine, there's drinking wine and tasting wine. For some, that might not be a very significant differentiation, but there's a big difference between the two.

How do you properly taste wine so you can look cool and make a great impression? Here are some guidelines to follow that will give you a great head start.

Observe the Composition of the Wine - The Clarity and Color

Pour your glass of wine in the proper wine glass. Just enjoy and give it a real good look. You can do this by tilting the glass and observe the wine color from the edges of the rim to the middle of the glass. Also, a good tip to really get a good look at the wine, is to place the glass in front of a white background like a tablecloth, napkin or even a piece of paper.

Look at the color of the wine. It's important to look past just red or white. Look for shades of red as well as the variations of white like clear, yellow, amber etc.

There are so many more factors you can observe. How translucent or opaque? Also look for sediment, cork in your glass or any other floaters. This process is actually about tasting. You want to use all your senses to have the full tasting experience.

Smell the Wine For a Long Time

Just like the visual, smelling is even more important to successfully taste your favorite wine. The smell is such an integral part of taste that it's impossible to really taste wine without smelling it. If you doubt this, try to enjoy the taste of any food or drink when you have a head cold.

So when you smell your wine, swirl your glass for a continuous 10-15 seconds and then take a short sniff to get the very first impression. Then, go ahead and stick your nose inside the glass right by the wine and sniff it for a long time to get a good impression of the whole bouquet of aromas.

Taste the Wine

You would think this all that goes into tasting wine, but surprisingly it's only one component of successful wine tasting.

So, when it's time to take a taste, take a small sip and let it roll around in your mouth for awhile. This gives you the first impression of what you're tasting. Use this time to get an overall impression of the wine. Then, take another sip and this time direct the wine to the different parts of the tongue. Every part of your tongue has different receptors for taste. By taking multiple sips and directing the wine to each area, you'll be able to discern the different flavors of the wine.

Just remember, this isn't rocket science and it's not time to try to over analyze the wine. Just have fun and know that as you continue, you'll become much better at this favorite wine taster's pastime.