It is a common misconception amongst non wine connoisseurs that wine tasting amounts to merely sipping, swishing, and swallowing wine; this could not be further from the truth for the avid connoisseur. There is a definite art to wine tasting that takes years of studied practice to master.
The art of wine tasting is used to distinguish fine wines and relies on a trained palate, often acquired over many years. If stored properly and aged correctly, wine can be an exquisite experience.
The foundation of wine tasting is actually rooted in our sense of smell. In fact, over 75% of our taste is actually due to our sense of smell and has a major impact on the taste of the food and drink we consume. Moreover, this is also why when we have a cold our sense of taste is so distorted. Most wine experts will agree that wine has more to do with smell than taste, but that is often where the agreement stops and personal preference takes center stage.
In Napa Valley wine, tasting is always at the forefront of any party or gathering. Home of some of the best United States offerings, wine growers realize that swishing and sipping serves a very useful purpose. Circulating the wine in the mouth gives the experience breath and depth - it creates a symphony of experience.
Taste buds are called into action; the olfactory senses are sent into overdrive and through a carefully implemented wine tasting design, wine connoisseurs not only identify the beverage, but can usually figure out the quality of the wine from the aromatic wafting of the beverage. This can be ascertained early on in the wine tasting process.
Understanding the fundamentals of swishing allows the connoisseur to move on to the three basic principles of the art of judging a fine wine - observing, smelling, and finally tasting.
Wine should ideally be served in a crystal clear glass so that the delicate color and hue are not distorted by the color of the glass. This allows the first step, observation, to be fully realized. With the sample, a wine connoisseur can take a leisurely approach to examining the wine. This is part of the process, taking a deliberately slow look to see if any imperfections in color and hue can be seen. For instance, White wines actually are not white. They range in color from a golden, pale brown to a shade of light green. Red wine is, by contrast, darker with a pink hue and can run the gamut between a dark pinkish color to a darker brown color.
The second step is observation. It is all about the nose and what the wine smells like. This is accomplished through two steps: taking a brief whiff of the wine to get a general idea and then taking a deep, extended inhalation in order to get the full aroma of the beverage.
You will often see the most studied of experts pause at this stage to take in the results of this step and reflect on what they have just experienced.
After letting it come fully into their consciousness, a wine taster will then take a sip, swish it around to activate all of the taste buds to ascertain the wine and savor it fully prior to swallowing. This method allows all senses to be engaged in the process of taking in the wine, figuring the quality of it. This allows wine growers to figure out if their grapes, distillation process, and procedures used to store it in a wine cellar or storage unit was sufficient to produce a fine quality wine.
Completing these steps of observation, smell and finally tasting the wine, is essential to discerning the quality of the wine from the wine connoisseur's viewpoint. The three-step process is the most complete way to ascertain age, storage, and overall quality of the wine, if it is ready to be consumed and if the wine cellar storage was adequate to bring the wine to proper fruition. As it is with any skill acquired, practice makes perfect and in evaluating wine, this is no exception. In order to become adept at evaluating the uniqueness and flavor of the sample presented takes time and effort. - 15485
The art of wine tasting is used to distinguish fine wines and relies on a trained palate, often acquired over many years. If stored properly and aged correctly, wine can be an exquisite experience.
The foundation of wine tasting is actually rooted in our sense of smell. In fact, over 75% of our taste is actually due to our sense of smell and has a major impact on the taste of the food and drink we consume. Moreover, this is also why when we have a cold our sense of taste is so distorted. Most wine experts will agree that wine has more to do with smell than taste, but that is often where the agreement stops and personal preference takes center stage.
In Napa Valley wine, tasting is always at the forefront of any party or gathering. Home of some of the best United States offerings, wine growers realize that swishing and sipping serves a very useful purpose. Circulating the wine in the mouth gives the experience breath and depth - it creates a symphony of experience.
Taste buds are called into action; the olfactory senses are sent into overdrive and through a carefully implemented wine tasting design, wine connoisseurs not only identify the beverage, but can usually figure out the quality of the wine from the aromatic wafting of the beverage. This can be ascertained early on in the wine tasting process.
Understanding the fundamentals of swishing allows the connoisseur to move on to the three basic principles of the art of judging a fine wine - observing, smelling, and finally tasting.
Wine should ideally be served in a crystal clear glass so that the delicate color and hue are not distorted by the color of the glass. This allows the first step, observation, to be fully realized. With the sample, a wine connoisseur can take a leisurely approach to examining the wine. This is part of the process, taking a deliberately slow look to see if any imperfections in color and hue can be seen. For instance, White wines actually are not white. They range in color from a golden, pale brown to a shade of light green. Red wine is, by contrast, darker with a pink hue and can run the gamut between a dark pinkish color to a darker brown color.
The second step is observation. It is all about the nose and what the wine smells like. This is accomplished through two steps: taking a brief whiff of the wine to get a general idea and then taking a deep, extended inhalation in order to get the full aroma of the beverage.
You will often see the most studied of experts pause at this stage to take in the results of this step and reflect on what they have just experienced.
After letting it come fully into their consciousness, a wine taster will then take a sip, swish it around to activate all of the taste buds to ascertain the wine and savor it fully prior to swallowing. This method allows all senses to be engaged in the process of taking in the wine, figuring the quality of it. This allows wine growers to figure out if their grapes, distillation process, and procedures used to store it in a wine cellar or storage unit was sufficient to produce a fine quality wine.
Completing these steps of observation, smell and finally tasting the wine, is essential to discerning the quality of the wine from the wine connoisseur's viewpoint. The three-step process is the most complete way to ascertain age, storage, and overall quality of the wine, if it is ready to be consumed and if the wine cellar storage was adequate to bring the wine to proper fruition. As it is with any skill acquired, practice makes perfect and in evaluating wine, this is no exception. In order to become adept at evaluating the uniqueness and flavor of the sample presented takes time and effort. - 15485
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