Many people think that wine tasting is a difficult thing to master; in fact wine tasting is very easy, like most things in life it simply takes practice before you will be able to sip wine and identify its characteristics. You can attend a wine tasting at a local wine store or organize one of your own with friends. Reading a little about the terms used in wine tasting and what they mean can help you during a wine tasting but your own tastes will tell you most accurately what wines you like. Don’t be afraid of the jargon that is thrown about by wine connoisseurs, with a little practice you too will be able to do this at a wine tasting.

When you are wine tasting the first thing you do is look at the wine, this may seem unnecessary since you are there to taste the wine. The color of a wine can help you learn more about the wine you taste, for instance the type of grape that was used to make the wine or how old the wine is. The age and the type of grapes used to make the wine can be discerned from the color of the wine. To be able to clearly tell the color of a wine tilt the glass with a white piece of paper or a white tablecloth behind the glass, you should always use a clear glass during a wine tasting.

Smelling the wine is probably the most commonly associated part of wine tasting, it is actually an important step in learning about the flavors of the wine. A young wine will typically smell fruity, more discerning noses will be able to identify the particular fruit such as raspberry, blackcurrant, or plum for example. As a wine matures there will be other aromas that can be detected, this is called the bouquet of the wine and it can be very complex. It is important to swirl a glass of wine before sniffing it; this increases the surface area of wine that makes contact with air, which in turn increases the aromas being released.

Now you can finally taste the wine, which is after all the object of a wine tasting, make sure to sip first rather than taking a big gulp. On your second sip you will start to taste flavors such as a specific fruit, spice, or other notes that were not apparent on your first sip. After these initial sips you will start to notice the aftertaste of the wine in your mouth, such as the body of the wine and your overall impression of the wine. Following these simple steps and developing a consciousness of what a wine tastes like will help you to develop a better understanding of wine.

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