How to Start Exploring Wine

As this website is a chronicle of our journey Exploring Wine, I thought I would start at the beginning. The view from the outside, is that wine is all snobbery and ceremony or just isles of selections. How do you get started? That is the question I am going to tackle in this post. These simple and smart guidelines will help you discover your palate and launch your long and tasty journey to understanding wine.

Getting Started

How to hold the glass: Always use the stem of the glass, so that you don't warm the wine with your hands. It also helps keep scents from your hands overpowering the wine.

How much to pour: I usually pour 1oz - 3oz. for Tasting/Evaluation. The standard pour is 5oz.

The 4 S’s of Tasting

1. SEE

   Lift and tilt you glass against a white background (preferably). You are evaluating the appearance of the wine for flaws & clarity. There is second reason you should look at the wine, you can get a pretty good idea of a wine’s age. Aged wines will differ in intensity and hue from young ones. For red wines, if you see pale orange/garnet or brown rim & lighter hue to the wine, it is a good indication that the wine is older. For white wines it is just the opposite, is you see a more orange, brown or dark gold color, your wine is probably aged. For rose wines, the same principle for red wines applies here (darker = older).

2. SWIRL

   Everyone has their own technique for swirling wine in a glass, and that’s just FINE. Some people leave the bottom of the wine glass firmly planted on the table and just make small circles with the base, like drawing small circles with a pencil. While others prefer to hold up the wine glass and lightly flick their wrist, thereby making the glass revolve in little circles in their hand.

3. SMELL

   When you go to smell the wine, stick your nose all the way into the glass and close your eyes, then breathe in. You can then either take a deep breath or take several quick ones. People also say to move the glass from bottom to top, and then reverse all while inhaling slowly. What scents did you perceive? Are they light or intense? Are they fruity, floral or mineral? You can only pick up scents that are in your own memory, meaning they are scents you’ve smelled before or smell often. That’s why people sitting around a table smelling the same wine say they smell different things!

4. SIP

   Take a small amount into your mouth and observe the wine. Make sure you roll the wine around in your mouth and over your tongue for several seconds before you swallow or spit it out. Our tongues can detect salty, sour, sweet, or bitter. So what did you taste? Was it fruity or earthy? Your tongue can “touch” the wine and perceive its texture. So what did it feel like, skim milk or 2%? The taste of wine is also time-based, and can have many layers. How long did the wine Stay on your palate? Is the wine making your mouth water or did it make your mouth really dry? Consider what you are drinking with each sip.