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Wine Tasting Article
Wine Tasting Simple Steps
from:The popular concept that most people imagine when thinking about wine tasting is a process of sipping the wine, swilling it about their mouth and spitting it out. In fact the art of wine tasting is much more than this.
Firstly, you need to study the wine. This should be done by picking up the glass in one of two ways. If the wine is chilled, then to avoid heating the wine and altering the temperature, the glass should be held by the stem and not by the bowl.
Wines which do not need to be chilled can be served at room temperature, in this case a glass should be picked up by the bowl and cupped in the palm of the hand with the stem falling between your two middle fingers.
Remember to hold the glass at a bit of an angle and to be able to study the colour properly, there should be something white in the background.
Study The Colour And The Clarity
Having got the mechanics of holding the wine glass right, your next step in wine tasting is to study the color of the wine as well as its clarity. Though you may be conversant with wines that are only red, white and rose in color, you may be surprised to know that there are many other colors such as green, gold, yellow, purple and in some instances, even black. The reason that the clarity (clearness) of the wine is important, is that it is an indicator to the age of the wine. Young wines being more see-though types. If a wine is cloudy it is a sign that something may be wrong with the wine. Study the colour and colour and clarity before you taste the wine.
Now, the clarity and colour will not really give you much of a clue how the wine is going to taste. For wine tasting connoisseurs, the studing and holding of a wine is just as important as tasting it.
Savor The Bouquet
In order to fully appreciate fully the wine tasting experience, a further aspect is to smell the wine, or sample the bouquet.
In order to do this you should hold the glass and gently swirl the wine within the wine bowl. Very little wrist movement is required. When the wine is swilled around the bowl, it brings its aroma to the fore and allows you to savor and smell the wine in an elegant manner.
Taste the Wine
After completing the previous steps you are ready for the real wine tasting. This requires that you sip, not guzzle the wine.
You should close your mouth and roll the wine gently around your tongue for a few seconds then let the wine slide down your throat. You will be left with what should be a pleasant after taste in your mouth, and if you part your lips and gently breathe down your nose, you will be able to appreciate the complete taste of the wine.
In essence that is the basic form of wine tasting, and will enable you to do yourself justice when choosing the next bottle of wine at your favorite restaurant.