We often have the opportunity to taste wine on our travels and enjoy using it. Often we discover true treasures, but most of all, we have learned that there are many possibilities for wine tasting. There are wine tastings that involve the sale of the wine. Often, these take place in the sales rooms of wineries or in wine shops, where wines from various winemakers are offered. Here are offered a variety of wines for tasting. Sometimes this happens directly in the cellar, another time in a dedicated room or, as we experienced in Purbach on Lake Neusiedl, in a wine shop, where the wine is served computer-controlled.
But there are also wine tastings, which is simply about getting to know good wines of a region and to drink in a very special atmosphere. Often the food plays a role in the wine, and the wine is selected to match the food being served. An extremely enjoyable wine tasting we have in Loisium Resort & Spa in Langenlois in the Kamptal experienced in Lower Austria. It is already a very special experience, when a specially selected wine is served for each course, which brings the flavor characteristics of the food first and brings to bear. I also find it interesting when we are introduced to the wine with its properties and we are practically tuned to it before the first sip, which taste experience awaits us. Above all, we value the combination of good wines, served in a pleasant ambience, and are therefore more likely to be friends of a pleasurable wine tasting paired with a matching meal. In this blog post we go to the question: How do you taste wine properly?
No hesitation in judging wine
As a newcomer to wine tasting, it is often not easy to determine what is important. I can still well remember how I initially shy away from expressing my opinion about the wines in front of wine connoisseurs who obviously knew a lot more about it than I did. Terms pattered on me like: bouquet, aroma, and it was spoken of the "breathing" of the wine. Back then I had no idea what that was. And when it was talked about whether the wine tasted of blackberries, nuts or raisins, I couldn't do anything with it. For me it tasted of wine. Basta! Only with more frequent tastings did I notice the subtle taste differences in the wines. It takes time and you have to train your taste buds to recognize them. Today I'm looking for the fine notes that make up the taste of a wine. The question of how to properly taste wine is not that easy to answer.
How do you taste wine properly? The eye is involved
Already the color of the wine says something about what we will taste later on the tongue. To do this, hold the glass with white wine at an angle to the light and check whether the wine is more greenish or golden yellow. The lighter and greener the color of the wine, the younger the wine. The darker and more intense the yellow of the wine is, the richer and sweeter it is. So you can get at first glance information about how the wine will taste.
How do you taste wine properly? The nose smells the aroma
Next you put your nose in the glass. You judge the smell of the wine by determining if you like it. With some training, you can already gather the first hints as to which aromas the wine has. Maybe he smells more like lemons? Or more for sweet raisins? How intense the smell experience for the nose depends on the shape of the glass. We were recently to Tasting of ice wines where we were served the same wine in different glasses. The smell intensity varies greatly from glass to glass. The ice wines developed their most intense smell in bulbous glasses that narrow upwards, i.e. glasses that I would have used so far to serve red wine. You can intensify the experience of the smell by swirling the wine glass and adding oxygen to the wine, letting it "breathe". You will see that the wine smells stronger than if you just smell it.
How do you taste wine properly? The tongue tastes the wine
During a wine tasting in the winery Nederburg in Paarl near Cape Town I learned how important the tongue is when tasting wines. Before they let us try the different wines, put a plate with small appetizers in front of us. On it was a piece of gherkin, a pile of potato chips, a biscuit, a piece of cheese, a few olives and other trifles that did not seem to fit together. But that was exactly what it was all about: with every bite we put into our mouths, another corner of the tongue was stimulated, and we learned through practical experimentation how and where to taste sweet, sour, spicy or salty. And I realized what an important role the tongue plays in wine tasting.
To judge the wine, you take a big gulp and whirl it around in your mouth so that all the tongue regions come in contact with it. So you can recognize every taste nuance of the wine and with a little practice to taste the fine aromas of the wine. The best way to repeat this process a second time, because often then discovered only the taste peculiarities of a variety of wine. And if you want to try several sorts of wine, you can spit out the sip of wine. For a professional wine tasting is always a spit cup ready.
What do I do if I want to taste several types of wine?
How do you taste wine properly when testing red and white wine? Here, the best thing to do is to rinse the glass of clear water with some kind of wine to make it tasteless and taste the new variety unaffected by the first. You should do that at the latest when you switch from white wines to red wines. Also your taste receptors in the mouth you should clean or eliminate the taste of the first glass. For a professional wine tasting is usually a plate of dry bread or biscuits on the table, which ensure that your mouth is ready for new wines.
In any case, a wine tasting should be fun and show you how different wines can taste. And the best wine? You can argue about that. Or better: wine is a matter of taste. And everyone tastes a different wine. A wine tasting is there to find out the wine that tastes best to you. Maybe our tips on the question will help you: How to taste wine properly.
Source: own research on site
Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Photos © Copyright Monika Fox, TravelWorldOnline
