There are different types of wine, which come from different parts of the world but the more famous ones come from France. The two basic categories are red wine and white wine, which can be further divided into several sub-categories. One of the great things about wine is that it tingle our taste buds and stimulates the different senses including that of smell. Tasting wine follows a process where you need to first see the way the wine looks in your glass, in terms of transparency, color, and opaqueness. Then slowly raise the glass and smell it. The fragrance released by the wine will first affect your senses and then raise it to taste it so that the sensations can be felt in the mouth as well. All these aspects together will help you to deduce the character, complexity, and overall quality of the wine.

Most of the wine connoisseurs talk about how a wine tastes. Actually the taste refers to the sweetness of grape sugar, the sourness (acidity), bitter (tannin or astringency), salt, and umami. The end result is that you will not only get to smell the wine but taste it too.

Factors that Affect Wine Tasting

One of the best assessments of wine can take place only when you compare several wines at the same time. You will be tasting as well as smelling wine. This is normally known as tasting "flights". Some people select wines based on the vintage value and this process is known as horizontal tasting. If you select multiple varieties of wine from a single winery then it will be known as vertical tasting. There are some wineries who disguise the bottles and this process is known as "blind" tasting.

One of the factors that can bring about a change in taste is chilling the wine at different temperatures. Champagne, which is a dry white wine, is best chilled at 430F to 500F. White wines are normally chilled at 550F to 600F. If the wines are stored at a temperature that is below 550F then in all probability it will suppress the wine's bouquet. There are vintage wines and then there are young wines. Beaujolais, a young wine can be served after being chilled at 500F-540F. This is done to increase the refreshing fruity flavor of the wine. Some of the light bodied red wines like Pinot Noirs and Chianti can be served after being chilled at 550F or 600F. The full-bodied wines on the other hand like Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah can only be enjoyed when kept at temperatures ranging from 590F to 640F.

Another important factor that affects the taste of the wine is the shape of the wine tasting glass. If you use a glass that has a wide bottom and a narrow opening at the top then you will get a great taste of the wine. This is the type of glass that is normally recommended. A glass that is wider at the top just like a tulip is the least recommended. The international standard for wine tasting glasses states that they should be ISO XL5. The ISO XL5 will have a low center of gravity, which will make swirling of the wine easier. Swirling the wine will help in releasing the ether, ester, and aldehyde, which when combined with oxygen will yield the wine's bouquet.

Basic steps for tasting wine

The first step towards tasting wine is judging the color of the poured wine. It is normally conducted against a white backdrop or you can even do it in natural daylight. The wine glass held is normally held at an angle so that you can judge the color as well as the clarity of the wine. The best wines are normally clean and bright and have no sediment. When you are tasting sparkling wines, you need to consider the bead, which emphasizes the size of each of the bubbles generated by the wine when it is poured into a glass. A white wine can give off different colors that can be water white or even deep golden and all this depends on the variety and amount of grape used. On the other hand, the Red wine varies from a dense purple to that of a pale cherry and the color is defined by the age and the variety of grape used.

Once the wine has been poured you will need to swirl it in the glass and then sniff it. A good quality wine will have no odors or any resemblance to a smell of mustiness. Once your sniffing is complete then all that remains is tasting the wine, which is probably the most fulfilling experience!