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The front and back of the tongue contain
the taste buds and rather than specializing in a particular taste
sensation, all taste buds are capable of detecting sweet, sour, bitter
and salty flavours, although there may be some slight differences
in sensitivity. So that you get the most out of your taste buds, when
wine tasting, swish the wine around your mouth, which will allow all
of your taste buds (and your sense of smell) to participate in the
detection of the finer flavours of the wine. |
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Smell
and Taste
Have you ever tried desperately to detect flavour
from a food or beverage when you had a terrible cold? You probably
tasted very little, if anything at all. Research indicates that
70 to 75% of what we taste is actually due to our sense of smell.
Specialized "aroma" nerves in the nose are necessary to
identify tastes more subtle than sweet, sour, bitter and salty.
Smell and taste go hand-in-hand when wine tasting . . . without
your sense of smell you would be unable to detect the delicate flavours
of chocolate, herbs or smoke in your wine.
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Wine
Tasting Techniques
Wine tasting is not just like art, it is an
art. While wine tasting can be subjective in nature, wine connoisseurs
follow some general "guidelines" when judging a wine.
It's very easy to learn the techniques of wine tasting, and if you
already enjoy wine, learning the nuances will simultaneously increase
the pleasure you derive from tasting.
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three steps in wine tasting are: Look, Smell, and Taste. |
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Look
You can tell much about a wine simply by studying
its appearance. The wine should be poured into a clear glass and held
in front of a white background (a tablecloth or piece of paper will
serve nicely) so that you can examine the colour. The
colour of wine varies tremendously, even within the same type of
wine. For example, white wines are not actually white; they range
from green to yellow to brown. More colour in a white wine usually
indicates more flavour and age, although a brown wine may have gone
bad. Where as time improves many red wines, it ruins most white
wines. Red wines are not just red; they range from a pale red to
a deep brown red, usually becoming lighter in colour as they age.
Rim colour: You
can guess the age of a red wine by observing its "rim."
Tilt the glass slightly and look at the edge of the wine. A purple
tint may indicate youth while orange to brown indicates maturity.
Swirling: Swirling
the wine serves many purposes, but visually it allows you to observe
the body of the wine. "Good legs" may indicate a thicker
body and a higher alcohol content and/or sweetness level
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Smell
Swirl your wine. This releases molecules in the
wine allowing you to smell the aroma, also called the bouquet or nose.
The two main techniques that wine tasters use are: 1.)
Take a quick whiff and formulate an initial
impression, then take a second deeper whiff or
2.) Take
only one deep whiff.
Either way, after you smell the wine, sit back and
contemplate the aroma. Don't try to "taste" the wine yet,
concentrate only on what you smell.
It may be difficult to describe in words when
you're a novice, but after trying many wines you will notice similarities
and differences. Sometimes a certain smell will be very strong with
underlying hints of other smells. Take your time. By labelling an
aroma you will probably remember it better. You may even want to
keep a notebook of your impressions of wines, and save the labels;
next time you see the wine you won't have to purchase it to know
if you like it . . . or you don't!
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Taste
The most important quality of a wine is its balance
between sweetness and acidity. To get the full taste of a wine follow
the following three steps: 1.
Initial taste (or first impression): This
is where the wine awakens your senses (your taste buds respond to
sensations).
2. Taste: Slosh
the wine around and draw in some air (even if you do look funny
in front of your dinner guests). Examine the body and texture of
the wine. Is it light or rich? Smooth or harsh?
3. Aftertaste: The
taste that remains in your mouth after you have swallowed the wine.
How long did the taste last? Was it pleasant?
After tasting the wine, take a moment to value its
overall flavour and balance. Is the taste appropriate for that type
of wine? If the wine is very dry, is it supposed to be?
Some serious wine connoisseurs assign a point
score to a wine to determine its quality. While this method can
be useful, it is in no way necessary to determine a quality wine.
The more different wines you try, and the more attention you pay
to each wine, the better you will become at ascertaining and describing
each wine's characteristics.
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