If you are a novice to wine, that means that you just buy a bottle of wine once in a while and you want to step up your game to learning how to really taste wine then you will want to stick around and read the rest of this article.  Learning how to really taste wine will unlock the characteristics of wine that you probably never experienced.  You will learn to unlock the true character of wine and gain the full flavor that will knock you off of your seat.  So, let’s get started and let me show you a few steps on how to taste wine.

Step 1 – Look at your wine.  This may sound silly when you first read this but looking at your wine is one of the most important steps when getting to know the taste of your wine.  To do this hold your glass of wine up to a light and place a white background behind the glass.  While looking through the wine you will be looking for clarity and the wine’s true color.  Color and clarity is a way to estimate how young or old a wine may be.  White wines become darker as they age but the contrary is true for red wines.  They begin to lose color as they age turning more to a brownish tint.  Red wine you will most likely notice harmless sediment in the bottom of your glass or bottle.  These come from the grapes and are harmless.  Now, is a good time to check the odor of the wine?  Shift your glass in a circle to unlock the fragrance of the wine.  That being said you can also check to see if the odors might indicate spoiled wine.

Step 2 – Swirl the wine even more now that you have gotten your initial smell of the wine.  Swirling oxygenates the wine allow the wine to breath and unlock even more flavor.

Step 3 – Turn your glass on its side without spilling the wine and then turn it back up.  Notice how fast or slowly the wine returns back down the sides.  Wines that roll down the glass slowly are said to have “legs”, meaning they may be more alcoholic and being a more full bodied wine.

Step 4 – Sniff the wine even more.  Are you starting to smell a difference from your initial sniff.  You should.  The swirling as said before is unlocking the fragrance of the wine.

Step 5 – Now take a sip and aspirate it around your mouth then swallow.  You are looking for new aromas and enzymes that you just did not taste before going through this process.  Do you taste it?

Step 6 – Take another sip of the wine, but this time introduce air with the sip.  In other words slurp the wine.  Do you taste a difference from step 5.  How about when you swallow, do you notice any aftertaste?  Is the aftertaste different from when you swallowed in step 5?

Now you know how to taste the full nature of wine.  Write down your experiences and document them with each new wine that you experience.  Also, share your experience with others and you too will become a expert wine taster before you know it.

When you purchase your next bottle of wine try a crystal decanter. The decanter will help to bring out the taste in your wine with a bolder flavor. A wine aerator will help also.

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