WINE 101 

How to judge a good glass of wine?

There are many categories of wine tasting, from beginners to the more advanced. If you are just beginning, select five bottles of wine ranging from a light young red, a mature red, a dry white, a sweet white, and a port or sherry. For the more advanced group, taste wines according to varietals, or by regions. A horizontal wine tasting for example, would be the same variety from the same year but, different wineries. Vertical would be the same varietals but are all from different years.

The steps in tasting a glass of wine are appearance, smell, impression in mouth, total flavor in mouth, and aftertaste. When several wines are being tested, the order should be youngest and lightest wines first, followed by older more full-bodied wine.

To begin, take a look at the appearance of the wine which consists of clarity and color. The color of red wine fades as it ages. It may go from a rich dark purple to a lighter brick color. White wines, on the other hand, grow darker with age. The best way to judge the color of wine is to hold your glass against a white background in a well-lit room and examine the edges of the wine. This is where light plays through the pigment best. A well made wine should look clean.

Another part of the appearance is its viscosity, which runs down the glass when the wine is swirled. The slower the wine runs down the glass, the denser the flavor. Therefore, if a glass of red wine is brick color and is slow moving, it is a mature glass of wine.

The next step is to smell the wine. Swirling the glass releases aromas and flavors. Nose the glass, and rely on first impressions. Sort through the various aromas; honey, flowers, mushrooms, citrus, butter, and any moldy or vinegary odors caused by spoilage. Based on appearance and smell, you now have a good indication of the wine’s quality and age.

Tasting wine determines the wine’s balance, a harmonious interplay among many components of a wine. Take a sip and swirl it in your mouth. The weight of the wine lets you know whether it’s light, medium, or full bodied, and whether the components of the wine; sweetness, acidity, alcohol, and tannins are in balance. The opulent moment in tasting wine is just before it is swallowed as the vapors hit the upper nasal cavities.

If after tasting a wine, its taste lingers in the mouth for longer than a few seconds it has achieved a very strong impression in the mouth and can be judged as a good glass of wine.