Wow, I’m excited you have found my wine page….I have some simple questions and answers about wine tasting, ..I’m not a sommelier but I’m an active Wine Consultant who enjoys meeting new people at my tastings and chatting about various questions about why we do wine tastings.
Why take the time to taste the wine when you could just slug it or chug it? Why do you want to swirl and sniff before you sip and savor?
This seems like such a simple question but the answer is more complex than the wines we are drinking! What a waste of the good winemakers efforts. Expensive wine or everyday wines are worth taking the time to slowly sip into your mouth and savor on the tongue and in the mouth. Get the full feel and flavor by sucking in a bit of air with your wine and see how different a wine can taste when you slow it down. Don’t rush it down the throat; take the time to swirl it in your mouth and get the full texture and flavors.
When you are trying new wines only try a one or two whites and one or two reds if you haven’t done tastings before. It often takes two or three tastes of each before you really know the flavor of each wine so don’t just judge the wine on its first taste, take a couple or three really good tastes and then think about how it tastes. Between the whites and the reds have a sip of water and a cracker or piece of a baguette to refresh your palate for the reds. Go slow, enjoy and you’ll be starting on a journey of wine tasting that you can enjoy often.