To understand how to taste wine we should first look at the meaning of the word taste. It refers to the perception of sensations that we call sweet, acid, salt and bitter. However these four are just the simple sensations you will get from wine. Wine is quite complex but it doesn’t have to be a huge task when tasting a wine. Your nose and mouth together will help you identify quite often, an abundant combination of descriptions that describe the wine.

When tasting a wine it is important to understand various factors contributing to the final taste of the wine. The taste, sight and the smell all contribute to that final assumption. There are three steps to tasting wine. Altogether these three aspects form the true art of tasting and assessing the wine. Using these three rules will help you understand and be comfortable with assessing a wine yourself.

APPEARANCE:

Some say the color has little to do with the quality of a wine, however it can give us a clue to the grape variety, age and quality to an educated taster. When you look at a wine it should have clarity. Brightness of a wine can give you a clue of good health and freshness. White wines should be water white to golden, it should never be brown, it should never be dull or hazy as this will indicate the wine is of poor quality. Red wines should be a regal purple through to brick red to tawny as age persists, the color tends to become pale with age. Rose wines are normally drunk young so color isn’t an indicator to age. The different colors found in rose wines are an indication to how long the grape juice is kept in contact with the skins. The grape varieties can also alter the final color of the wine. Holding it up to the light or to a white background will reveal its color more accurately. When people say viscosity or tears it generally means alcoholic strength and sugar content however it is no indication to the overall wines quality.

AROMA:

The nose of a wine can reveal much more than you think. It will give an indication of its identity, quality and origin. Some of the most seductive smells are found in quality wines that have been given time to mature in the bottle, anything from a couple of years to even a couple of decades. Always swirl before taking a gentle sniff of the wine to awaken any sleeping aromas. The wine’s nose should be free of any obvious offensive odors however it should have several pleasant smells, which would indicate a wines quality. Higher quality wines have increasing superior smells than lower quality wines. But don’t smell it too much as it can decrease your senses.

TASTE:

The wine’s palate is where the fun begins. It can also be somewhat of a negative experience when we taste something that has a fault. One important rule to remember when tasting wine is that balance should be achieved. A good wine should be balanced with fruit and acids or tannins. A wine that has strong bitterness flavor can come from numerous sources normally from unripe tannins in barely ripe red grapes or from new barrels used in the aging process in white wines. If a wine is sweet the tip of the tongue will react. However if you have a sweet tooth then your perception of this sensation will be slightly impaired. If a wine is acidic generally derived from the grape in a cool climate, or added before fermentation, the sides of the tongue towards the back will detect it. If a wine is full of tannin the mouth and gums will have a drying effect. If a wine has high amounts of alcohol there will be a warming sensation at the back of the mouth. Any tasting of a wine will lead to a conclusion of its maturity and state of quality, so trust your taste buds and let them do the talking.

TASTE SENSATIONS:

SWEETNESS:

Is perceived on the tip of the tongue, if you are a sweet tooth you will probably be less aware of low levels of sweetness because you indulge in it more frequently. Therefore if you dislike sweet things you will be more sensitive to it. The sweetness comes from fructose and sucrose sugars in the grape’s juice, which has not been fermented into alcohol and commonly referred to as residual sugar.

ACIDITY:

Is perceived on the upper sides of the tongue. High levels of acidity can thin your saliva and create a feel of astringency. The common acid found in the grape juice is tartaric and malic acid.

BITTERNESS:

Is perceived at the rear of the tongue and can reach the back into the throat. The taste is like strong black tea. Bitterness comes from a number of sources: unripe tannins in barely ripe red grapes, bruising of grape skins and pips during both red and white winemaking, excessive extraction during maceration in red winemaking.

SALTINESS:

Although wines do contain salts the taste of saltiness is very rare but can be found on the front of the tongue after sweetness.

Part 2 will give some common wine faults found in wines.

Part 3 will give you wine serving temperatures and common tasting terms.

Happy Sipping.

Sincerely,

Corey Norsworthy

Winemaker/Marketer

Grande River Vineyards