How to Taste and Judge Wine
When I teach wine classes, I usually poll the students to learn their reasons for
taking the class. Year after year, almost every student mentions the desire to become a
better wine taster. While it's true that the best way to improve your wine-tasting skills
is by tasting wine in a classroom setting — where you can get feedback from someone
more experienced than yourself — you can also improve your wine-tasting skills at
home.
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| Rule One: Don't gulp wine,
it's not O.J. |
The first rule for becoming a better taster is to pay attention to what you're tasting.
Don't take wine into your mouth and swallow it down quickly, as you would your morning OJ.
Instead, hold the wine in your mouth for a moment or two and notice how it feels and what
it tastes like. At first, you might not be able to put words to these sensations, but with
experience you'll begin to notice that a wine feels particularly smooth, or rough, or that
it has intense berry flavor, for example.
Actually, paying attention to the wine begins even before you put the wine in your
mouth. Fill your glass no more than half-way, then rotate the glass a few times to swirl
the wine. (Keep the bottom of the glass on the table to avoid spills.) The swirling motion
incorporates air into the wine, which releases its aromas.
As soon as you stop rotating the glass, bring it to your nose and take a deep,
thoughtful smell. With practice, you'll be able to identify fruity aromas, spicy aromas,
smoky or toasty scents, earthy notes or vegetal character, depending on the wine. Also
notice how intense the wine's aroma is. Generally, the easier the aromas are to perceive,
the more flavorful the wine will be.
When you taste the wine, draw some air into your mouth, as if you're whistling
backwards. The result is equivalent to swirling: The air releases the wine's flavors and
helps you to notice what they are. You'll discover that some wines have lots of different
flavors (that's called "complexity"); some have a lot of flavor but not many
flavors; and some have a fairly subdued flavor that's not so easy to perceive.
The intensity and nature of a wine's flavors govern what types of foods you pair it
with: A wine with subtle flavor will usually go well with a wide range of foods, while a
very flavorful wine will overpower mild foods and will be best on its own or with
flavorful dishes that complement the flavors of the wine.
You don't have to follow this tasting procedure for every mouthful of wine. Just
practice the technique when you take your first taste or two. You'll get more out of the
wine, and the wine will become more interesting to you. After you master this technique,
you'll be ready to take your tasting to the next level, which I'll discuss in a future
column.
By MARY EWING MULLIGAN
(Source: Daily News: 01/14/2000)