Wine Tasting Facts-Things You Need To Understand

by Austin Millo

Wine tasting, also known as "Wine Connoisseur" describes an expert in a particular field, like fine arts, food wine, etc. Many people take wine tasting as a hobby, however you have some professionals who know their onions, they can tell you the quality and historical details of a particular wine just by taste. Wine tasting can be very interesting, there are vast majority of wine connoisseurs out there.

Attending a wine tasting ceremony can be entertaining, wine tasting is no great mystery, all you need is just to understand a few basic things. If you were to attend one of these ceremonies, you'd notice that the ladies are served first before the gents this is a basic etiquette. In the ceremony, you may notice the presence of some bottled water besides the different varieties of wine on offer, the water is simply for you to rinse your mouth before you proceed to sample the next wine so you don't have after taste in your mouth from previous wine. Sometimes plain crackers are also provided for the same purpose.

When handling a glass of wine it is always better to hold the glass by the base stem, this is to ensure that the wine is not affected by the warmth of your hand as this is capable of altering wine flavor. One thing you must never do at wine tasting ceremonies, is to smoke, it is not allowed as smoking can blankets your sense of taste. It is also considered a bad habit chewing gum or eating sweets as they can also distort the real taste of the wine.

Wine tasting professional style

Most professionals, do not to wear perfumes or after shaves when going to sample wine, this can ward off not only your sense of taste but also your fellow connoisseurs.

A good connoisseur can tell a lot about wine just by its looks. If you are invited to attend a wine tasting ceremony, make sure the wine glass you have is crystal clear, you can check by holding it upside down before a bright light.

Before pouring the wine, observe the body of the wine bottle for any marks. Usually, wine glasses are set on a white linen table cloth so everything looks visible and bright. An experienced connoisseur is never swayed or misled by the wine category or color, he/she understands that white wine is not necessarily white in color, it varies from yellow to green or even brown.

The same goes for red wine it also vary in color from light red to a deep brownish red color and often becomes lighter with age. An easy way to tell the age of red wine is by doing a rim test. Rim test is simply tilting the wine towards the rim of the glass and observe the color. Wine of a young age tends to have a purple color at the tinted edge while older wine have brownish red shade.

A very common action often used by connoisseurs is wine swirling, this involves spinning the wine in a glass to release the flavors and aromas. Some of these wine may have been bottled anywhere from 1 to 30 years or more. By simply spinning the wine in a glass it helps blend the various flavors.

Wine experts would after swirling and sniff the wine to get the better of its flavor and aroma before tasting . Why do they smell the wine you may ask; well your sense of smell is instrumental to taste of the wine. It is believed that over 3/4 of your taste is due to your sense of smell.

Finally, before attending a wine tasting ceremony, try to put on a confident image, you may decide to read somethings about different types of wines to broaden your idea of what to look for as far as flavor and taste are concerned. So have a great time, when next you are invited to a wine testing ceremony put on your confidence and grace the occasion.