WINE 101 | WINE TASTING & EVALUATION

Wine tasting or more accurately, ‘wine evaluation' involves four of the five senses. Sight, smell, taste and touch. Much consternation surrounds the concept of wine tasting and evaluation. Quite simply however, each of us is fully ‘equipped' to perform the task adequately—even those of us with very little in the way of wine knowledge or experience. Wine is of course a very subjective thing to begin with, however, with a little practice, some of its subjective aspects can begin to be assessed in a more objective manner.

Setting

Before any wine can be evaluated, a relatively neutral setting is required—that is to say, the room in which the tasting is to take place should be relatively odorless (as should those tasting—fragrances are definitely a hindrance), the light in the room should be as close to neutral as possible (uncolored), in addition, a white surface such as a tablecloth or white sheet of paper is necessary in order to provide the taster with a colorless backdrop against which to evaluate each wine's color, hue and intensity.

Palate cleansers provided need to be somewhat bland and unsalted. French bread cut into small pieces will suffice. Spitoons need to be provided so that samples can be discarded. Wine samples do not need to be swallowed in order for an evaluation to be conducted (there is significant debate over this however). A notepad is essential with which to record observations.

Finally, proper stemware is a must . All glasses should be clean, spotless and free of any detergent odors. A standard ISO/INAO tasting glass or reasonable facsimile is recommended. Whatever that facsimile may be, its is important to note that it should be colorless, entirely without etchings, and of a tulip shape allowing for the ‘bowl' of the glass to be wider than the opening. Also, a clean and identical glass should be made available for each wine being tasted. Samples should be from 1 to 2 ounces—no more. Whatever, the amount, it should be virtually identical for each wine and in every glass.

The basic steps in tasting are:

1. visual assessment (clarity, color, hue and intensity)
2. olfactory assessment (bouquet and aroma)
3. taste assessment (flavor, texture and ‘mouthfeel')
4. conclusion (the consideration of all previous impressions)

TOP

These translate into the following procedure:

Sight:

Once samples have been poured, hold the wine glass by its base or stem so as to keep from heating or leaving fingerprints on the bowl. Hold the glass at a 45% angle to the white sheet of paper or tablecloth provided and assess the wine's clarity, color, hue and intensity. The wine should be clear and pleasing to the eye.

Smell:

Next, bring the glass to within an inch of the end of your nose and inhale once and deeply (more than one deep inhalation will provide little in the way of additional aromatic perspective). The aroma should be pleasant and inviting.

The next step involves swirling the sample in the glass to the best of one's ability and before it stops swirling completely—taking a single second inhalation just as the first.

Once again, the aroma should be pleasant and inviting—only more intense than before. Swirling introduces oxygen into the wine by increasing the surface area of wine exposed to it. In turn the oxygen coaxes the ‘volatile' (aromatic) compounds out of the wine therefore causing it to become more fragrant in the glass than it was during the first ‘nosing'. The bouquet from the second nosing should be more intense and reinforce that of the first.

Taste & Touch (Mouthfeel)

Next, take a small sip and hold the wine in the mouth while introducing air—don't be afraid to make rude noises! Keep the wine in your mouth and run it over all parts of your tongue so as to get all of your tastebuds ‘in on the act'.

Again, the flavors/aromas should be pleasant and inviting and representative of the grape variety/varieties and style of wine involved (eventually, you'll become familiar with what to look for in the way of characteristics). You should feel tempted to take a second sip. Then spit out the sample and make your assessment as to flavor profile, mouthfeel and length. The wine should linger on the palate in a pleasant manner after having been spat. A pleasant aftertaste should remain.

Conclusion

When drawing a conclusion about the wine just tasted, take into account all three sets of observations just made and consider them jointly. The final determination is yours to make. The final conclusion yours to draw. As you progress from wine to wine, leave a drop of each in every glass so as to allow yourself the option of returning to a wine previously tasted for comparison. You'll find yourself able to discern more and more with each consecutive tasting session. The learning curve will inspire you to make new and greater discoveries—you'll find yourself becoming ‘expert' or at very least ‘learned' in the matter in no time!

TOP