Wine tasting 101
There's no right or wrong way to taste wine. But you've maybe noticed a few wine nerds swirling, examining the glass or sniffing their wine so here's what you need to know for your next wine tasting event.
Look at your wine
Now swirl it
No you're not herding cattle so no need for lasso movements, just a few small circles with your wrist should be fine. This allows more oxgyen into the wine. When oxygen gets into wine it "opens up" which means the wine breaks down and let's out its aromas. Quick side note: Leaving wine exposed to oxygen...say an open bottle overnight, will cause an unpleasant taste. Remember, it's a balancing act.
Quick tip: After you swirl, look at the glass again. If you see wine "tears" running down on the inside of the glass, you could say that the wine has "good legs" which means there's more alcohol and glycerin, so the wines are bigger and riper.
Ok, smell it
Your sense of smell has an effect on the way your brain processes flavour. Stick your nose into the glass and close your eyes, what smells are you picking up? There are no right or wrong answers. Ten experts could be around a table and all smell different things. What happens here is that your brain draws from memory whatever smells you've experienced - bananas, cherries, grapes, strawberries...basically preparing your tastebuds for that amazing gulp.
Smells funky? Like damp room or wet newspaper? This means the wine could be corked. It'll have an unpleasant taste too.