How to taste wine like a pro?

To enjoy the most of your glass of wine, follow the outlined steps. For this exercise, pick a wine that you enjoy! Pour yourself an inch of wine so that the tasting can begin and you can let your senses take over.

First of all, you want to make sure to always hold the glass by its stem and never by its bowl, so that your hand doesn’t warm the wine up!

• The sight

What does your wine look like? The best way to look at it is by slightly tilting the glass in front of a white background, so that you can easily observe the color changing between the center and the edges. Red wines can vary between ruby red and garnet red around the edges for the youngest to brick red and mahogany for the older wines. White wines, on the other hand, fluctuate between pale yellow to golden yellow or brown as it ages.

• The swirl

You can easily give the glass a good swirl by holding it by the stem and swirling it on a flat surface for about 5 or 10 seconds in order to get more oxygen into the wine, which helps to release the ethers and aromas.

• The smell

You are now ready to get your nose down the glass and inhale. What are the first characteristics you perceive when smelling your wine? Take a number of sniffs and let your nose rest while you digest the information. Lay down all the aromas that first come to your mind. They can differ depending on people and memories, two people can easily perceive different smells for the same wine. However, there are general common families of wine aromas which are specific to certain varieties: earthy, burnt, chemical, floral, fruity, nutty, vegetal, spicy or woody. A more complex wine will offer a wide range of aromas. It is all really just a matter of practice!

• And finally, the sip!

Last but not least, you now want to take a good sip of the wine. The best way to do it would be to roll the wine across the taste buds of your tongue to reach the perfect balance between sweetness, acidity, saltiness and bitterness. Swirling the wine around your mouth will also help release the flavors and aerate the wine. Keep in mind that what you taste can sometimes be different from what you smelled before!

Now that you have been over the basics for a wine tasting, why not experiment it? All you need to do now is read about the differences between Napa and Sonoma to find out which one of these wine regions suits you the best!

Don’t hesitate in visiting our website or contacting us for more information on our wine and bike tours. We hope to see you soon for some wine tasting!