Learn About Wine: A Wine Tasting Guide for Beginners

Date: October 15, 2010

Just a generation ago, wine was hardly drunk in England or America. But times have changed. Wine tasting classes are everywhere, and wine tasting evenings are arranged by people whose parents would hardly have known what a glass of wine looked like.

How does one begin to learn about wine? The first thing that the aspiring connoisseur must know is that wine should not be drunk out of any old glass: anyone thinking about taking wine tasting classes should begin by buying some decent wine glassware.

And having acquired a bottle of wine and the requisite tulip-shaped glass, it is important to fill the glass no more than half full – a third full is often recommended. The reasons for this will shortly become apparent.

Wine Tasting for Dummies: Appearance of the Wine

Everyone knows that wine is to be appreciated by taste, most people probably know that bouquet – or aroma – is also important, but how many know that the appearance of the wine is a significant part of the experience? In fact, it is the first thing on the connoisseur’s checklist, and is always taught in wine tasting classes.

To appreciate the colour of a wine, the glass should be held up to the light, or against a white surface. Red wine may be anything from a deep purple to brick-red; white wine may be bright and clear, or almost yellow. To learn about wine properly, it is necessary to study colour.

Learn About Wine: Bouquet

Having looked carefully at the wine, connoisseurs will then – and this is why wine glasses should never be more than half full – swirl its contents around for perhaps ten seconds before thrusting their nose into the glass, and breathing in deeply and sometimes noisily.

The swishing helps to release the bouquet by allowing more oxygen to get to the liquid. And the reason for the vigorous intake of air is that it gets the aroma to the smell receptors which are located high in the nasal cavity. Any worthwhile wine tasting guide will explain this.

Red wine often smells of dark fruit, such as plums or blackberries, while white wine may smell of paler fruit such as lemons or peaches. Some wines have a floral, vegetable or mineral bouquet. Wine tasting classes should help the beginner to identify the different aromas.

Wine Tasting Guide

Having used the senses of sight and smell, the connoisseur is now ready for the big moment: the tasting. In public, for example at wine tasting evenings, some find it embarrassing to taste wine as the connoisseurs do, but no one can fully learn about wine without doing everything possible to release its flavour.

Take a mouthful, suck in some air, then wash the liquid round the mouth, not being afraid to do so noisily. The oxygen will help release the flavour, and the swishing will see that the wine gets to all the taste receptors.

At formal wine tastings, connoisseurs spit the wine out rather than swallowing it. This may seem a waste, but there are no taste buds in the throat, and the connoisseur wants to keep a clear head throughout the tasting: wine tasting is quite a cerebral business.

It is possible for the beginner, armed with a wine tasting guide, to learn about wine without any further help, but good wine tasting classes are well worth the expense, and not only for the many wine tasting tips which will be given.

Wine tasting at its best is a sociable affair, which is why wine tasting evenings are so popular. Solitary tastings give little pleasure, however good the wine, and however expert the connoisseur.

Source: http://www.suite101.com/content/learn-about-wine-a-wine-tasting-guide-for-beginners-a232855

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