Whether you consider yourself a wine enthusiast or not, taking the proper steps to taste wine can change the entire wine tasting experience. There are three major steps to follow when preparing for a wine tasting. Before conducting your wine tasting, head to your nearest New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet to grab your favorite wine!
Step 1: Observe the Wine
Look at your wine. Think about the color of the wine and how it moves along the side of the glass. Amber and orange hints of color in the wine can tell you that the wine is older while purple hints of color can tell you that the wine is younger. Now, observe how the drops of wine are moving down the side of the glass. If there are a lot of wine drops, this indicates that the wine has more alcohol content to it.
Step 2: Take in the Aroma
Before smelling your wine, make sure it is in an appropriate glass that allows you to get the smell out of it. First, smell the wine to see if you can identify any fruit aromas. White wines typically include tropical or citrus fruit, while red wines include more red, black, or blue fruit. Once you’ve identified the fruit aroma, now smell for flower, spice, or herb aromas. Next, smell for those mineral hints and earthy notes. Lastly, identify the aging of the oak barrel. Do you smell caramel, vanilla, oak, or cream and butter?
Step 3: Taste the Wine
Now that you have taken the time to observe and smell your wine, let’s move into the exciting part: tasting your wine. While tasting, think about everything we’ve just covered. First, taste for the dryness or sweetness of the wine. Remember, just because the wine is fruity does not mean the wine is sweet. Dry wines won’t taste sweet but might taste fruity. Second, taste for fruit. When you take a sip of red wine, do you taste cherries, pomegranate, blackberry, raspberry, plums, tomatoes, cranberry, cassis, and red currant? When you take a sip of white wine, do you taste melon, lemon, lime, mango, white peach, pear, and grapefruit? Lastly, do you taste any veggies, flowers, or spices? These are all the things you should be analyzing while tasting wine.
For more wine blogs, visit The Tasting Room!
