Tasting Wine

Tasting wine – Everyone’s been down this road: you’ve discovered you enjoy it, but now the question is how to taste wine like a pro. You’ve seen what it’s like. You might have been to a winery or attended a wine function. You’ve seen people swirling and sniffing the glass, and maybe even slurping as they sip.

What’s that all about? Here’s the inside track.

You already know that wines are different from each other. Not just red and white and with bubbles or without. You know wines are made from different grape cultivars and that some are kept in barrels. You may know that winemakers employ different yeasts; or, that leaving wine “on the lees” affects how a wine smells, tastes and even feels. It’s all part of the process.

Why do wines taste different?

All wines are made to be enjoyed, but in many cases, wines are also made to reflect the aroma and flavour typical of where they come from. This might sound strange, but the places where vineyards grow have a particular effect on the way flavour in the grapes develop. It’s the reason some areas are more famous for particular varieties, like Bonnievale Winery’s award-winning success with for example Sauvignon blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.

To show the terroir – the French term that refers to the sum of these vineyard factors – wine growers and winemakers do their best. Amongst others, they plant vines in sites that best suite the grapes; they manage their exposure to sunlight and water; they look after soil health; and, see that the grapes get to the winery in the best possible condition. The winemaker then makes sure that in crafting wine, those flavours, aromas and textures are kept intact and even amplified.

In addition, weather conditions are different every year, which has its own influence on every passing vintage too. Wine grape growing and winemaking is a complex enterprise!

This is the reason many people strive to become better wine tasters and want to learn how to taste wine. It’s like the vineyards and people involved have inserted a message in a bottle that’s just waiting for you.

How to taste wine

Now, to that main question: how does one get to read the message?

Here’s how to taste wine like a pro,

1. Hold the glass on the stem and gently swirl. This encourages aromas into the bowl of the glass. It also gives you a chance to consider its colour.
2. Stick your nose into the glass and inhale deeply, keeping your mouth closed. Try to identify what the aroma reminds you of. Remember, we’re all genetically different and there’s no right or wrong here. It’s about what connects with you.
3. Now, take a sip but don’t swallow. Hold the wine in your mouth. How does it feel on your tongue?
4. With the wine still in your mouth, pout your lips as if for a selfie, and slurp air through the wine. Practice makes perfect! This action adds air to the wine in your mouth and releases flavours. What are the flavours you pick up?
5. Finally, swallow the wine but keep paying attention. What are the flavours and sensations
left in your mouth? If you’re planning to taste a lot of wine, then you may have to spit the wine out. Wine tasting rooms always have spittoons for this purpose. It’s one of the ways you can enjoy wine responsibly.

Savouring wine in this way is essential to discover and explore the immense diversity of flavours and aromas that the wine grape can produce. And everyone who ever embarked on the journey started with a tutorial just like this, on how to taste wine.