Have you ever thought about spending a day or weekend touring wine country? If that is something you have been considering, here are a few strategies for the beginners out there to take advantage of your experience. Taking a trip out to your local vineyards is a great way to relax and unwind. Learning the basics of how to savor the endless variations of wine will definitely keep you coming back for more.
The fundamental goal of wine tasting is to discover which types of wines you absolutely enjoy as well as the ones that don't exactly suit you. There is no right or wrong when it comes to wine. Now on to the important tips to help you on your journey to locate the perfect wine!
You must always begin with a clean and clear wine glass. Make certain it is a true wine glass and not a champagne glass or some other type. You can easily distinguish a wine glass from others by noticing so it bends inwards. This is to avoid you from spilling whenever you swirl the wine. Another main point is that it helps concentrate the delightful aromas straight to the nose.
Have you ever experienced a restaurant and noticed someone supporting a glass of wine to stare at it? Believe it or not, that is an important step since it provides you with some insight on the age of wine. Hold the glass up to the light or against a bright background. Generally, white wines that are young in age will range from a pale yellow to more of a rich amber. They will darken while they age into a more golden-brown color. Red wines are in fact on the opposite end of the spectrum. They gradually lose their color and be more pale while they age. Red wines that are young in age will range from a lighter shade of red to a heavy dark cherry red, kind of like the color of red bricks.
The basic principle behind swirling your wine would be to allow it breathe or aerate so that it releases the wonderful aromas. Take your glass by the stem and swirl it several times in a circular motion. You can either leave the glass available as you do this or hold it in your hand if you prefer.
Most will judge the quality of a wine by its smell or fragrance if you will. An example of this would be the food we eat. When someone gave you something to eat that you have never tried before and it smelled funny to you, odds are, you would have second thoughts won't you? In the end, our sense of taste is extremely closely associated with our sense of smell. For this reason, it's always frustrating to savor food when you yourself have a stuffy nose. After you have swirled your wine several times, place your nose right within the rim of the glass and take a nice deep breath. Try and see if you can distinguish all the different scents that hit your nose. You can distinguish the different fruits such as berries, apples, citrus, to hints of herbs and spices. This initial aroma may also be followed up with a far more smokey, toasty scent which is because of the way wine gets fermented and aged in oak barrels.
Many people start out with experimenting in the comfort of their very own home. Start by pouring a little bit of wine into your glass; more or less an inch at most. If you have a broad selection of wines to select from, it is generally better in the first place the lightest of them all (Whites) and then progresses to the darker wines (Reds). Maintaining your taste buds fresh and sensitive is the main element here so it's better to be consistent and gradual with the number of wine. You can also help cleanse your palate between each wine tasting with a tiny sip of water. Now, let's take a sip. Bear in mind that we are tasting so no big gulps! Before you swallow, let the flavors of your wine simmer on your taste buds only a little bit. Allow it slide across your tongue several times, try and ingest all the different flavors which can be present.
There are few basic elements you will notice right away with any wine. Is it tart or sweet? Does the alcohol hit you right away? Is it nice and smooth or does it pack a punch? A sensible wine will soon be somewhere in the middle for this kind of characteristics. You can swallow your wine now and take note of any lingering tastes. If you eventually journey to the local vineyards, you will notice there are containers to spit out your wine after it is tasted. Some wine tasters would rather spit out your wine as opposed to swallow it so don't be shy if you are not the latter. This is just a matter of personal preference.
To conclude, it is very important to find the wine that you truly enjoy as opposed to being influenced by others. In the end, no-one will understand what you like better than yourself. I encourage you to try as many kinds of wine as you can. As you become more knowledgeable, your taste buds will lead you to the perfect bottle that suits you. Happy wine tasting!
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