Learning to taste wine attracts you ? Easy with Beaux-Vins … Here's what to discover wine tasting in a few minutes.
You are on the subway on a date and you want to impress tonight, or you are in the bathroom and have 5 minutes to spare. In all cases, if you have very little time in front of you and you dream of knowing how to taste wine in a short time, this article is made for you!
I feel some will call me a doter, but I like to repeat myself : there is no right or wrong way to taste wine. I'm often told it's too complicated and too snobbish, but finally we can summarize the interest of this art by : you like what you drink or not ?
That being said, there is still a formal staging - often intimidating for neophytes I admit it - which allows you to reveal as much as possible what you have in your glass, even before you start drinking. Just by reading the following you will understand how a tasting works. Are you ready ? Let's go !Here, I will give you a quick and easy method to master the basics of tasting. In 5 minutes, you can bluff everyone just by clicking on the links below.
Learn to taste wine : "The Principle of 4 R »
R like Watch – How to look at wine ?
This is the very first step in tasting a wine. When someone pours you a glass of wine, the first thing you do without even realizing it is look at your drink - at least to say thank you when your glass is full —. The reason we look at wine is mainly to have an idea of its color and thanks to that we can say a lot about what we are about to drink. A white background will help you more easily see the color of the wine in your glass.
The colors of white wine
First look at the shade of yellow. Is the wine almost colorless or the color approaches the color of the straw, maybe it has copper highlights ? Unlike red wines, the color is not obtained by extracting the pigments contained in the skin of the grape. Indeed, white wines owe their color to the oxidation of the material they contain.
- Almost colorless : a very young white wine, very well protected from oxidation
- Very light yellow with green reflections : a young or very young wine vinified and aged in vats
- Straw yellow-gold : maturity form wine that may have been aged in wood
- Old gold with coppery reflection : an old wine marked by a long evolution
- amber : a wine that is too old or oxidized
The colors of red wine
The technique is exactly the same for red wines as for white wines.
- Purplish, even Raspberry : a very young wine like the futures
- Purple : wine that has matured (2 to 3 years)
- Orange-red : maturity of a wine with little cellaring or beginning of aging for others
- Tile : only for fine wines or oxidized wines
The clearer the red wine, the lighter it will be and the deeper it will be, the more character it will have.
The colors of rosé wine
Again and again the same technique.
- Purplish rosé : young and fruity wine
- Salmon : ideal tasting period
- Orange : old wine
The tears, wine legs and thighs. What an explanation ?
Bending his glass then setting it straight, observe the small drips that form called tears or legs of wine. They indicate a high alcohol or sugar level. To find out more about this phenomenon, I invite you to read the article to learn how to taste : « What do the tears of wine mean ? ". If you don't have time, remember they don't mean much …
R for Sniff – How and what to smell in wine ?
When you smell a wine, you prepare your brain to taste wine. Smell affects the way our brain processes flavor. I'm sure when you were little you already ate your meal with your nose covered ! Small test to verify that what I'm telling you is true: put food in your mouth while covering your nose, then in the middle of your chewing unblock your nose. So ? You will immediately notice that you have a lot more taste when you have your sense of smell. This is why smelling the wine is essential during your tasting.
For a good start, stick your nose to the glass - yes that's silly to say, but we never know - and walk it along the glass. I advise you to close your eyes while you smell your wine - it's like when you kiss someone, it's always more intense —.
Of course, inhale deeply. — that was silly advice - Closing your eyes avoids being distracted by what is going on around, helps to better memorize and recall smells. Perhaps you will smell the pleasant smell of the pineapple that you ate by the pool or the sweet smell of the baby's diaper that you changed a few minutes before drinking your wine ? Everything is possible ! Keep in mind that the smells you recognize are yours and that it is quite normal for your neighbor to find other smells. Your brain can only recognize scents that you have already smelled.
Another important point that confirms that you must always smell your wine before drinking it : we will be able to know that it has a fault without having to drink it. — It's like the carton of milk that has been lying around in the fridge for a while and that you can smell so you don't have indigestion because it was out of date - a corked wine is not pleasant to drink, but then not at all !
Therefore, if you smell anything that looks like wet newspaper, a damp and moldy basement, or the wet dog, there is a great chance that the wine is corked. If you are not sure, ask around what others think.
Remember that wine can only be corked if the stopper is cork. To learn more on the subject, I invite you to read this article : « In the wine ring: Cork vs Screw Capsule ". Now that you have evaluated the wine and found no irregularities, figured out how to sniff it and prepared your little taste buds, the next step is to drink ! — good news at last ! —
R for Stir – How to properly stir wine ?
Everyone uses their own little technique to shake their glass and that's fine. The easiest way is to leave your glass on the table and to describe small circles while holding the stem of the glass.. To do like the pros, you can take the glass in hand, always holding it by the foot, and make small elbow circles - especially not on the wrist ! —. And there are the others ", who feel obligated to do a ceremony by gesturing as if they were at a play. I beg you do not belong to this group.
No matter the way, only the result counts. Swirling the wine brings it more in contact with oxygen and the wine will release its aromas more intensely - good or bad - and will soften it. We say that wine "opens". If you've never stirred your glass, you can take out a wine glass and fill it with water to try out the different techniques and the result. If you've misted the whole kitchen, This is not the technique that suits you and the result may be masterful for your first demonstration with red wine.
R like to Enjoy – how to drink your wine well ?
Congratulations, this is the reward time for you ! You took the time to watch, stir and smell, then you deserve to drink a sip of your wine.But beware young apprentice, it must be done correctly !Take a sip - I did say little one - and let the wine sit in your mouth for a while. Stir the wine in your mouth as if you were using a mouthwash - with charm and elegance all the same bybleu —. We do this so that the wine touches all the taste buds.. The idea is to let the wine linger in the mouth to give yourself time to ask the final questions : what taste ? Is this consistent with the smells you have smelled before ? Feel your mouth go dry ? — if yes, it means that this red wine is tannic - and above all is it to your liking ?
If you taste your wine with other people, do not hesitate to talk and share what you felt. Do you find the same tastes ? Is the wine tannic or not? Is it dry or soft ?
To go further :
- What are the ideal conditions for tasting wine ?
- Tasting : what to watch in a wine ?
- Tasting : how to smell a wine ?
- Tasting : Should we rather grow or chew the wine ?
- Tasting : how to taste a wine ?
- Tasting : how to conclude a wine tasting ?
- Tasting : What is a good wine ?
Do not hesitate to let me know your impressions of your experience in the comments. You can also follow your wine blog with Instagram.
