If you have ever tried wine tasting you will have seen its rather simple. You don’t need to have official training and anyone can do it. Etiquette orders that the gentlemen should ensure the ladies are always served up their wine first. Water at room temperature is normally served at any good wine sampling parties. You might find this strange but the water is used to clean the roof of the mouth out ready for the next sample of wine. Make sure that the water you are given is not too cold as this can shock the palate and ruin the taste of your next drink.
When tasting wine, it is essential that you hold the wine glass by the base and not cup the bowl in your handle. Your hand can warm up the glass to an extent where it changes the taste of the wine so attempt to avoid this.
Tasting the wine doesn’t just involve putting the wine in your mouth and roll it around your tongue a couple of times before spitting or swallowing.
The first step in tasting wine is by taking a look at its colour. The glasses served should always be clean and clear in order for you take a good look at the wine. Use a white backdrop when checking the colour of the wine, this will enable you to see the true colour and clarity of the wine. White wines are not always pure white, sometimes they are a shade of green, yellow and even brown. For red wines, you will find that it also has different shades of red, the lighter the color of the red wine is, the older it is.
Try doing a rim test and look at the color of the wine, this can give you some indication as to the age or flavour. Just tilt the glass and look at the wine, if it is purplish in coloring, it indicates that the wine is young, if it is brownish, it means that it is an older wine.
smelling the wine is the next step, swirl the wine around the lip of the glass to air it then take a deep breath through your nostril to smell the fragrance. The wine could have been in the bottle for a little as six months to many years so by twirling the wine you will be releasing the flavors. It’s like cooking at home where you stir the food in order for you to blend the flavour.