Wine Tasting 101 - The Basics

Talk to some of the “wine snobs” of the world and they’ll make it sound like you need a Ph.D. to taste wine “correctly”.  They’re wrong.  Sure there’s a lot to know and you can make it as complicated as you want, but if you really want to understand wine, the best thing you can do is taste as many different kinds of wine as you can get your hands on and remember a few important points about tasting.

Look at the Color of the Wine: Find a bottle of wine you’ve wanted to try.  Fill your glass about 1/3 full and take a good long look at it so you can see the range of colors from the center to the rim.  Older red wines start to fade at the rim.  Red wines from hotter climates and gutsier red grape varieties have the deepest colors.

Smell the Aroma: Now swirl the glass and get a good motion going.  This releases all the wine’s aromas.  Jam your nose into the glass and inhale slowly.  Your first impressions are the most vivid.  Do this with a few wines and pretty soon you’ll be able to spot the key fruit flavors that indicate the grape variety.  You may not get the same aromas as your friends – that’s perfectly natural because you have different flavor references.

Taste and Take Note: Take a good sip and roll it around to all parts of your tongue.  Note the acidity, sweetness or toughness.  It helps if you suck in some air through your lips to kick start the aromas and flavors.  Think about the weight in your mouth – is it light, medium or full-bodied?  Note the lingering flavors or the finish of the wine.

Things to Take Note of As You're Tasting:

 Acidity – makes the wine taste crisp and fresh.  Too much and it will taste sharp or bitter.  Too little and it will taste flabby.

Alcohol – The higher the alcohol level, the rounder the wine feels in your mouth.  It it’s out of balance with the fruit and tannin then it will feel hot – like Tabasco.

Dryness/Sweetness – This is affected by the amount of natural sugar in the wine.  Sweetness needs to be balanced by acidity or the wine will be cloying.  Don’t confuse dryness with acidity – a very dry wine can be low in acidity.

Fruit – Flavors in wine can resemble a whole garden of fruit, or chocolate, cigars, nuts, coffee, etc.

Tannin – Tannin creates that furry, drying feeling you get after swigging a very young red.  It comes from the stalks, pips and skins of grapes.  Tannins soften with age.