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Appreciate
all the wines of Italy by picking up some basic
wine tasting tips. Then choose your favorite.
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Wine
tasting can be broken down to five basic steps:
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Wine
Color
Wine colors vary due to the type of grape used,
the age of the wine, and the aging process.
In
general, white wines take on more color as they
get older while red wines lose color. Wines aged
in wood (like oak barrels) can also take on more
color.
The
best way to determine the color of a wine is to
use a white background. Hold the well-lit glass
in front of the background and evaluate it by
using the following color scale. *(Colors
on monitor are not exact)
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Whites
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Reds
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Yellow-green
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Purple
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Straw
Yellow
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Ruby
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Gold
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Red
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Deep
Gold
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Brick
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Yellowish
Brown
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Reddish
Brown
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Brown
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Brown
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Swirl
 Swirling
wine in the glass has one purpose, to oxygenate the
wine. The addition of oxygen releases the chemical components
that produce those heady aromas we search for, and frequently
smooth out the taste of the wine.
Everyone's heard about letting a wine breathe, that
is, uncorking the bottle and decanting it or letting
it sit open for a while before drinking. The purpose,
again, is to allow oxygen to do its work. Swirling does
the same thing, but in a more interactive way.
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Nose
Once
the bouquet of the wine is released through skillful
swirling, smell the wine to help you determine its characteristics.
Hundreds of words have been used to describe the scents
and tastes associated with wine and, unfortunately,
many of them do not immediately call a particular scent
to mind. Fruity, nutty and corky are pretty apparent,
but what about austere and short?
Even if you can't put your nostrils on a specific word
to describe the wine you're smelling, you should be
aware of some odors that warn you that the wine isn't
up to par.
Smells
to warn you that something's wrong
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Smell
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Cause
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Sulfur
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Too
much sulfur dioxide used
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Vinegar
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Acetic
acid; wine's gone bad
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Sweet
Sherry
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Wine
has oxidized; leaky cork
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Corky
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Bad
cork
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Is
it necessary to sniff the cork when it is placed next
to you in a restaurant?
No,
you can get the same scent from the wine in the
glass. But look at the cork for signs of leakage,
sugar crystallization (common in very sweet wines),
and cork degradation.
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Taste
 Take
a small amount of wine into your mouth and hold it there.
Let it flow over your tongue, and all around your mouth.
Think about the sensations perceived by your brain via
your tastebuds.
Is
the wine sweet, fruity, acid, tannic (dry due to wood
aging), and does it leave an aftertaste? Different areas
on the tongue are responsible for perceiving these tastes.
If
you're tasting a wine as a potential purchase, or selling
one to a potential buyer, remember the adage:
Buy
on apples, sell on cheese.
Apples
tend to bring out harsh flavors in the wine, cheese
tends to mellow them out.
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Finish
Once
you've tasted the wine, let the feeling of it sink in.
Run through a mental checklist of what you like in a
wine, and if this particular one meet the standards
you like to see.
Did the wine:
- Have
a distinct and unpleasant aftertaste;
- Where
was it on the scale of light to full-bodied;
- Was
it acidic, tannic, strong, or bitter;
- Did
you like it, and;
- Is
the price worth buying the wine?
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