Wine Overload

So you are into wine, overwhelmed, confused?
The World of Wine can be overwhelming and confusing. Sometimes the most knowledgeable Wine connoisseur has difficulty making sense of it all. I will use myself as an example. I have been into wine about 20 years. While I am not a professional, I feel I can describe myself as an intermediate learner to say the least. That's precisely why I am writing this blog: to enhance knowledge for myself, others like me and for new wine lovers!

Lets start with the basics:
You're in a wine shop looking for that "special" wine to serve or take to a dinner party. Before you walked in, you had at least an idea of what you thought you wanted, but now, as you scan the shelves, you are overwhelmed. There are so many wines and so many different prices you don't know what to buy. So take a deep breath and collect your thoughts, are you looking for a red or a white wine, perhaps a Zin. Do you prefer sweet or dry wine? What price range are you at? If you can answer those three questions it will help you find the wine you are looking for. I would suggest you ask the store patron for some advice, although they may have asked you already if you need any help, say 'Yes" and let them make a few suggestions and by all means ask questions. Most nice wine shops offer wine tastings everyday, perhaps they will ask you if you want to taste some wine. If not do not be afraid to ask if they have wines available for tasting. Some shops may have a small fee for wine tasting but it is worth it and I definitely think you should try it.


You know how to drink wine but do you really know how to taste wine?
Wine tasting is not the same as drinking it. To experience the true flavor of a wine requires that you slow down and pay attention to your senses of sight, smell, touch as well as taste. A wine glass should be clear and the rim of the glass should bend inward to help funnel aromas to the nose and allow you to swirl without spilling.


OK so you have the wine in your glass for tasting and you are wondering what to do next. If there is more than one wine open for tasting they possibly have white and red wines and will pour White's first as you go from lightest to heaviest wines. This allows you to adjust your palate so you can enjoy each wine in the series. A drink of water in-between tastings will help clear your palate as well.


Sight: Look at the wine in daylight if possible, the best way is to slightly tilt the wine in the glass and hold it up to the light or look at it against a solid background. What do you see? Is the wine clear or cloudy? The color will vary according to what type wine it is. Younger wines will be lighter in color, while the older wines will be darker in color.
White wines range from pale green to yellow to deep golden almost honey colored or brown.
Red wines vary greatly in color. A young red is typically bright-raspberry color. You might see hints of reddish brown around the edges. An older red wine might be mahogany to brick-like in color.

Swirl: Firmly hold the stem of the wine glass and gently swirl the glass in tiny circles for 10 to 20 seconds, this allows oxygen to penetrate the wine and aerate the wine to release vapors, evaporating from the sides of the glass for you to smell. As the wine coats the sides of the glass, it releases it's bouquet. Observe the streaks of wine (legs) as they roll down the side of the glass. The legs can help you determine the body of wine.
Examples: Tears or thin rivulets indicate light body
                Cathedral windows indicate medium body
                Sheets indicate heavy body

Smell or Sniff: This is the most important part of wine tasting! 80% of your sense of taste is actually in your nose. Tip the glass up and stick your nose in it (this is not rude) and inhale, you might want to take a few small whiffs and get a feel for it and then really inhale and let the smell linger in your nostrils. What do you smell? That all depends on the type of wine. White's you may smell pear, peach, white flower, citrus, butter or honey. Reds you may smell leather, smoke, woodsy smells, dark fruit such as black cherry, raspberry, clove and cinnamon to name a few and that is just a few. Everyone will smell different smells in wine.  

Sip and Taste:  This is the final step and should be done only after you've used your other senses. Now sip the wine, letting the wine spread across the tongue from front to back and side to side before swallowing.

If you feel comfortable doing so, carefully slurp some air through puckered lips. This slurping of air (aerating) will help to release flavor and aromas. Assessing the wine by taste should confirm the conclusions drawn from the appearance assessment and the smell assessment.

The tip of the tongue detects sweetness

The inner sides of the tongue detect sourness and/or acidity

The outer sides of the tongue detect saltiness

The back of the tongue detects bitterness and/or alcohol

At this point you can either spit it out (especially if you are tasting several wines) or simply drink it, but be sure to experience the aftertaste (the finish). Professional wine tasters will not swallow the wine, but immediately spit it out (you might see buckets for this purpose).

I will be writing reviews from my perspective on wines that i have purchased and enjoyed. Don't be discouraged, just get out there and taste some wine! Feel free to comment and ask questions!

So these are a few observations on wine tasting, more to come.