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Wine Tasting Step by Step

How do you decide whether you like the wine you drink? By tasting it, obviously. But do you realise that for truly tasting wine (or food) you use more than your taste buds? Before our wine tasting experience in the Barossa valley, I personally wasn't aware of all the aspects involved. Let alone of all the aromas wines can contain and how to name them! But the good thing is: you can train your `tasting memory´. Yay! So if you´re like me in the Barossa; let's explore the basics. On the other hand, if you are a wine professional, please do share your tips & tricks with us :-)


We all have been programmed to associate flavours with things and experiences, since we started eating solid foods. However, describing what we taste exactly is a different ball game. And at the same time this forms the essence of wine tasting.


Essential items for tasting

First things first. Before we get to the actual tasting process, there are some things handy to have around. First of all we need a proper wine glass. Wine glasses come in many shapes and forms, even fancy colours. That may look nice for a party, but for judging the colour of wine it's not very handy.

A proper wine glass {photo by La Experiencia}

So for a proper wine tasting we prefer a wine glass that:

  1. is crystal clear, clean and odorless

  2. is round at the bottom and a little narrower at the top, to trap the aromas

  3. has a stem to hold it, in order not to warm the wine with our hands

Secondly to be able to judge the colour best, we need a white surface or a white paper. And preferably daylight, or lighting that comes close to daylight.


Tasting notes

Furthermore we need something to make notes. If you google ´wine tasting form´ you'll find different examples of standardised tasting forms that you can use. But you can also get creative and make your own tasting notebook. Or if you prefer digital gadgets, there are several apps available to record your tasting notes.


Useful apps

Again if you google ´wine tasting app´, you´ll find many lists and links. During our wine tasting journey so far, we have tried several. Don´t worry, in this blog I´m not going to review all of them ;-), but in conclusion I like Vivino and Tipple best.


Wine tasting apps Tipple & Vivino

Vivino I find handy to compare the aromas I detect with the opinion of other wine tasters. The downside for me is that Vivino is a wine selling app. Therefore I prefer Tipple to write my notes.


This app has a friendly and clear layout and a logical step by step approach to tasting.


In addition it contains a colourful aroma wheel to help you identify aromas. As I am a visual person, I really like this particular feature ;-) But to each his own. So choose whatever suits you to note your findings.


Wine tasting basics

Okay, now we've gathered our necessities, let's move on to the practice of tasting. :-D

Like I mentioned before, naming what you taste specifically forms the essence of wine tasting. But what exactly does that mean? Let's start with the basic elements:

  1. basic flavours: sweet, acidic, bitter

  2. intensity: light, medium, bold

  3. structure: smooth, medium, tight

  4. flavour type: aromas

Dry, semi sweet or sweet

Growing up you´ve learned to recognize the basic flavours; sweet, sour, bitter, salt. In wine the basics are a little bit different. For instance wines can taste more or less:

  • dry

  • semi sweet

  • sweet

  • acidic

  • bitter

A dry wine can never be sweet. Because all of the sugars of the grapes have been converted into alcohol. To complicate matters a little bit though; a dry wine can contain floral aromas, giving it a hint of sweetness.

In semi sweet and sweet wines a part of the sugars has not been fermented, giving the wine a truly sweeter taste, as it still contains sugar. Therefore demi sweet and sweet wines also contain more calories than dry wines.


Acidity vs freshness

The next flavour, acidic or acidity, sounds negative, but in wine this does not always equal sour. On the contrary, a wine high in acidity can be young and fresh from a cool climate f.e. Acidity depends on the type of grape, the wine region and the climate in which the grapes have grown. In general we can say the cooler the climate, the higher the acidity level will be and vise versa.


Bitterness vs tannins

The same goes for bitterness. It sounds negative, but this usually is not the case when it comes to wines. A little bit of bitter can make a wine -or food for that matter- very interesting. Although most people perceive too much bitterness as unpleasant.


Oak barrels add flavour and tannins to the wine during the ripening process

In wines bitterness in general derives from tannins, especially in red wines and some rosés. Tannins can be found in the skin, pits and stems of the grape. The amount of tannins in different types of grapes varies. F.e. cabernet sauvignon contains more tannins than pinot noir. In addition tannins can come from the oak barrels that are used for the ripening process.


Structure and mouthfeel

Tannins give wine structure and longevity. You feel the structure of wine in your mouth when you take a sip and swallow. Ripe tannins result in a smooth and pleasant wine that is easy to drink. Unripe or rough tannins on the other hand give a tight or dry feeling in your mouth and on your tongue.

In addition acidity also contributes to moutfeel. A sweet wine in general will leave a film on your tongue, like paté or honey do. On the other hand a dry white wine with a high acidity level leaves your mouth feeling tight. Similar to a salad without dressing. The same goes for a young red wine with a lot of tannins.


Using your senses

Talking about mouthfeel, we have arrived at the use of our senses. And in wine tasting we use almost all of them, except hearing ;-) Feeling is actually at the end of our tasting roadmap, so to speak. First we use our eyes. Hence the need for a clear glass and a white background or paper. Here we go.

Step 1: look

Pour a little bit of wine in the glass. Mind you to keep it less than you normally would. To clarify, in the glasses we use at La Experiencia I would say just below the widest part of the bulb. Or in other words about half a glass.

Hold the glass by the stem and tip it backwards against the white paper/ surface and look through the wine. What's the colour? Is it light or intense? Think in terms like;

  • clear, greenish, lemon, yellow and gold for white wine

  • blush, pink, salmon, copper and orange for rosé wine

  • purple, ruby, garnet, tawny and brownish for red wine


Step 2: smell & swirl

This we do in 2 fases. First, without moving the glass too much, bring it just under your nose and inhale swiftly. First impressions are key here. What do you smell? And what does it remind you of? Remember to make a note ;-)

Fase 2 involves swirling the glass; hold the glass by the stem and make small circular movements. This way the wine comes into contact with oxygen and releases more aromas. After swirling a few times, smell again. This time inhaling more profoundly, maybe even a few times. Do you notice any differences? What aromas do you smell now? Or are some now more pronounced?


Recognizing aromas

And now comes the hard part. How do you describe what it is that you smell? Like I said, first impressions are key. So write down what comes to mind as soon as you take a sniff. Start in general. Think of terms like fruity, floral, nutty, mineral, savoury etc. The next step is to narrow it down. What fruits / flowers / nuts etc. do you notice?

An aroma wheel can help to narrow down what you smell. We often use it and have discussions like: “I smell peach? No, I find it's more like pear.” “Really?” Sometimes we agree, and sometimes not. And that’s okay.


Memory & associations

The good thing is though, you can't really go wrong here. Because naming specific aromas turns out to be very personal, depending on your memory and associations with certain smells.

Besides, you can train your ´tasting memory´. How? By (re)programming your memory. So the next time you eat an apple or a tomato or any other fruit or veg, smell it first. And memorise it. The same goes for secondary aromas like oak, pencil, herbs, vanilla etc. Maybe best to do this at home though, to prevent awkward situations ;-)


Step 3: taste

On to step 3 it's time for our taste buds to get to work. These are located all over your tongue and your soft palate. Here we taste all the basic flavours, but also sense the structure of the wine. Here we go.

Take a sip that is a bit bigger than usual and try to get some air in as well. This way the aromas can reach the mouth and the nose. And don't swallow it right away. To get a good impression it's important to let the wine roll around in your mouth for a few seconds. In the meantime try to assess what you feel and taste. Acidic or sweet? (in Tipple: Acidity; low, medium or high) Intense or mild? How does it feel in your mouth? Tight or smooth? (in Tipple: Body; light, medium or full). And do you recognize the aromas you smelled earlier?


Swallow or spit

After a few seconds of swirling around in your mouth, swallow. Or, like professionals do to minimize the alcohol intake, spit it out into a bucket. This is a good idea if you are tasting several wines on the same day or evening. But if you are at home, why not enjoy it as well as tasting it ;-)


At this moment we are still in the tasting process. How does it feel? Does the wine burn a bit in the back of your throat? Then the alcohol level is probably quite high. How long does the taste linger in your mouth? This tells us something about the quality of the wine. Simple wines disappear quickly. The better ones leave a pleasant aftertaste. -By the way, a really nasty aftertaste can also mean something's wrong with the wine-.


Concluding notes

Whether you are using a tasting form, an app or your own notebook, you should have quite a few notes by now. Time to reach our conclusion.

Do you like this wine? And why (not)? In Tipple at this stage you come to a slide to add the information you'll mostly find on the bottle. Some tasting forms may even begin with this information. Anyway, it is useful to add these facts to your notes:

  • name of the wine and / or producer

  • grape(s)

  • vintage

  • wine region (D.O. in Spain)

  • wine country

Not included in Tipple, but what you also might want to write down is the alcohol %. Also add a personal note, so you can remember the wine more easily. This can be something memorable about the day and time of the tasting and who you were with, f.e.


By using the same form, app or method every time you taste, you´ll develop your own wine tasting routine. And it helps to train your personal tasting memory.


Let's taste some wine!

So there you go. Ready to seriously start tasting some wines and develop your wine tasting skills! Except that it is fun, tasting wine can seriously be hard work for all the senses. But, like with sports, you can practice and get better at it. :-)


Wine tasting checklist

Let me conclude with a little checklist for you to help you along on your tasting journey.

  1. Essential items for tasting

    1. a proper wine glass with a stem, a round bottom and narrower top / crystal clear / clean / odorless

    2. a white surface or a white paper and daylight to judge the colour

    3. a notebook, tasting form or tasting app to make your notes

  2. Wine tasting basics

    1. basic flavours: dry / semi sweet / sweet / acidic / bitter

    2. intensity: light / medium / bold

    3. structure or mouthfeel: smooth / medium / tight

    4. flavour type: aromas: Start general (fruity, floral, nutty, mineral), and narrow it further down in step 2. Use an aroma wheel!

  3. Tasting steps

    1. Step 1: Look through the wine against a white background to judge the colour.

    2. Step 2: Take a quick sniff / swirl the glass / smell again more profoundly. Write down what you smell. First impressions are key.

    3. Step 3: Take a sip and let the wine swirl around your mouth and taste. Also notice the structure.

    4. Step 4: Swallow (or spit it out) and continue tasting. Notice the aftertaste and how long it lasts.

  4. Conclusion

    1. Do you like this wine? And why (not)?

    2. Add the wine facts (from the bottle or check Vivino / internet)

    3. Add a personal note

  5. Train your tasting memory

    1. Before you eat any fruit or vegetable, smell it

    2. Smell every blooming flower or herb in your garden

    3. Smell different types of wood (oak, pine etc.)

    4. Smell items like pencil, petrol, earth, clay etc.

    5. Memorise what you smell.


Have fun on your wine tasting journey. In the meantime let us know how you do, by adding a comment below this post. We love your feedback!


It´s Wine Time!


 

Information sources used for this post:

  • Course / Book ´Ik weet meer van wijn, SDEN-Niveau 2´

  • App Vivino

  • App Tipple

  • App Pixabay

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