Wine tasting is not drinking. Although wine is made to drink and enjoy, there are also times when it has to be judged and assessed. Mastering the art of tasting is essential in order to get the most out of your wine drinking.
Examining a wine
Just looking at a plateful of delicious food increases our enjoyment
and appetite – and it’s the same with wine. Apart from the
fact
that our appetites are whetted by the anticipation of what
is to
come, looking can also tell us an awful lot about what
we’re about
to put in our mouths. You should tip the glass away from
you at
an angle of 45 degrees and hold it against a white
background –
a piece of white paper is fine – to see the true colour of
the wine.
Perhaps the most obvious characteristic of wine is its
colour.
Is it white, red – or a rose? Having determined the
basics, take
a closer look. The colour of your white wine could range
between
pale straw and rich golden yellow, depending on its age,
its sweetness,
its degree of oakiness and, of course, the grape variety
from which
it was made. As a rule, lighter wines such as Sauvignon
Blancs tend
to be paler than heavier Chardonnays, and the gold tinge
of an aged
Chardonnay will be more pronounced than that of a younger
one.
Red wines can also be analysed in a similar way. The
deeper the
colour, the more concentrated the flavour. Stand a glass
of Pinot
Noir next to a glass of Syrah and you will easily see the
difference
between the two – the Pinot will be an almost transparent
light
ruby red, while the Syrah will verge towards a dense
purpley red.
A mouthful from each glass is bound to confirm the visual
impression.
Tilt the glass a little and take a look at the meniscus
(the curved
upper surface and rim) of the fluid – as a red wine ages,
it will
take on an amber-brown tinge, and this is most easily
discernible
at the rim.
As you tip your glass back towards you, you may notice
clear traces
of liquid sticking to the side of the glass as they slide
slowly
back into the body of the wine – these are called tears or
legs,
and indicate high alcohol or residual sugar content.
Finally, looking at your wine will give you advance
warning of
any major defects – if you find white filaments floating
in your
wine, reject it outright as these are almost certainly
present due
to unclean bottling.
