Stem Wine Group Inc.

Wine Basics - Wine Tasting

Before commencing with the tasting, there are certain guidelines that need to be adhered to in order to achieve maximum enjoyment and education from the event. They are not absolute laws for which you will be arrested and subjected to a lifetime of drinking Thunderbird. Rather they are time-honoured, generally accepted practices. Those who have not taken them into account have suffered the consequences.

Use appropriately shaped glassware. Glasses should taper from the bowl toward the top and be fairly deep,, of clear glass and not too thick at the rim. ISO tasting glasses are the accepted vessel of choice at professional tastings, but they are not necessary. Bowl-shaped glasses do not work well as they are difficult to swirl wine in without being messy, and they do not provide the best environment in which to smell the wine. The "Bordeaux" style described above is the best.

Do not wear perfumes or colognes; cook, eat strongly scented food, smoke, burn scented candles, use deodorizers, or anything like that to help freshen the room or set a mood. As tempted as you are to do these things when having guests, any strong ambient odors will overpower the smells of the wine eliminating their aromatics all together. Not to mention that we taste what we smell. Keep the area very antiseptic and well ventilated, and try not to have a smoke beforehand, as it will reduce the ambient odor and your ability to taste.

Make sure that the room or venue in which you are holding the tasting is well lit. Dim lighting will not permit you to see the wine's visual characteristics.

Make sure the room is not too warm. Groups of people tasting wine can increase the temperature very quickly. That brings up other odor challenges and can result in warm white wines and soupy reds, not to mention changing their aromatics. Also ensure that there's enough space for everyone to move about comfortably and provide some seating. Tasting can be tiring.

Provide spittoons for guests that wish to expectorate. Not everyone will want to swallow, particularly if they're driving. Remember, you are still responsible for the condition of your guests after the tasting.

Have crackers and cheese to snack on and water available for your guests to rinse with between tasting. It will help to neutralize their palates so that the wines don't all begin to taste the same, (a very common occurrence), and it will help them to absorb alcohol.

Let the tasting begin!

I. Looking at the Wine

The first step in assessing the characteristics of a wine is actually looking at it. A wine's appearance will provide many details about its origin, grape variety or blends, wine style, quality, and health. When holding the wine for viewing, it is usually done by gently gripping the stem with your thumb and index and middle fingers. Holding the glass by its bowl limits your view of the liquid within, while fingerprints blur its color. This is the main reason that clear glass is used rather than etched, or glass with designs or colours. Moreover, the heat of your hand can alter the wine's temperature and consequently, its aromatics and flavours.

When doing a visual appraisal of the wine, focus in turn on its hue, intensity and clarity, remembering to take note of the colour and intensity of the centre and the variation between it and the rim. Each of the visual components requires a different way of looking. The true color, or hue, of the wine is best judged by tilting the glass and looking at the wine through the rim, to see the variation from the deepest part of the liquid to its edges. Intensity can best be gauged looking straight down through the wine from above. Clarity- whether the wine is brilliant, or cloudy with particles- is most evident when light is shining sideways through the glass. Each of these elements reveals different aspects of a wine's character and quality. These components can offer an experienced wine taster clues to the wine's age, possible country and region of origin, and even specific vintage.

The next step is to examine the viscosity of the wine. This is what wine professionals are referring to when they talk about the "tears" or "legs" of the wine. The way to assess the tears or legs is to get some wine on the sides of your glass. The best way to do this is to take it by the stem and holding it at about 45 degrees, rotate your wrist back and forth until most of the inside of the glass is covered by the wine. You will see either a sheet of wine or lines of wine drop slowly back into the bowl. Depending on whether you see a sheet or lines, this indicates the viscosity or body of the wine. A sheet tends to indicate a lighter-bodied wine, while lines or tears, especially three-dimensional coloured tears, indicate a more full-bodied wine. ."Experts" derive meanings from the tears as various and profound as fortune tellers do from looking at tea leaves and tarot cards, but in truth they're simply an indication of the potential body of the wine and the amount of alcohol it may contain; the more alcohol, the greater the quantity and density of the tears. Remember that, when you're considering whether to open another bottle.

You be tempted to swirl the wine to coat the sides of the glass at this point, but that would be a mistake, as any swirling now will cover up faults that may exist in the wine that can only be detected by smelling it while it is still relatively undisturbed. Smelling is where we'll go next.

II. Smelling the Wine

The first step in assessing a wine by smell is to put your nose into the glass while it is on the table, and inhale. As mentioned previously, this is done to assess the health of the wine and any faults will show up at this stage. Once you've determined that the wine is clean, swirl away. You can do this either by leaving the glass on the table, and by holding onto the base of the glass, moving it in a counter-clockwise direction; clockwise, if you happen to be left-handed. At this point it needs to be clear that too much wine in the glass will result in a couple of scenarios: you will spill the wine onto the table, yourself and clothes, the carpet, or on other tasters nearby; and, you will not be able to smell much from the wine as the aromas have nowhere to go. Agitating the wine vaporizes it, and the thin sheet of liquid on the sides of the glass evaporates rapidly; the result is an intensification of the aromas. Too much wine and this vaporization won't happen. After swirling, as the liquid settles back into the bottom of the glass, a transparent film will appear on the inside of the bowl, falling slowly and irregularly down the sides in the wine's "tears" or "legs".

There's no consensus about the proper sniffing technique. Some advocate two or three quick inhalations; others prefer one deep, sharp sniff. I've seen tasters close one nostril, sniff, then close the other, and sniff again. The goal is to draw the aromas deep into the nose, to bring them into contact with the olfactory mucosa and hence to the olfactory bulb, where the sensations are registered and deciphered. It's a remote and protected place, and a head cold or allergies will effectively block it off from even the strongest aromas. At this point it's fair to say that most novice tasters might have a hard time putting their observations into words. But with practice, and keen attention, you'll expand your tasting vocabulary; learn how to maximize your perception of aromas, and then how to decipher them and put them in words.

Although wine is made only from grapes, it does smell of more than only grapes. You might detect one or more of rose petals, iris, cherry, peach, honey, and vanilla. Who's to say that some of the more imaginative descriptors-from road tar to cat's pee, sweaty socks to smoked bacon-aren't grounded in some basic chemical affinity? These smells are not added to the wine, rather they are part of what makes up a wine's bouquet, much like a bouquet of flowers has many different aromas emanating from the variety of blossoms in the bouquet. Many of them indicate varietal typicity, meaning we can expect to smell these aromas on a pretty regular basis from these wines. Some comes from oak aging, some from the fermentation process, and some comes from the elusive "terroir".

As with color, wines' aromas offer insights into character, origin and history. Because our actual sense of taste is limited to four simple categories (the well-known sweet, sour, bitter and salt), aroma is the most revealing aspect of our examination. But don't simply sniff for clues. Like a lover's perfume, or the scent of cookies from childhood, wines' aromas can evoke a specific place and time, with uncanny power.

III. Tasting the Wine

Now comes the part you've all been waiting for- the main feature. You can be mesmerized by wines' flashing colors and hypnotized into dreamy reverie by their evocative aromas, but actually drinking the wine is what loosens the tongue, opens the arms and consummates the liquid's true purpose. With the aromas still reverberating through your senses, put the glass to your lips and take some liquid in. How much? That depends on the size of your mouth. But too little is as ineffective as too much. I find that one-third to one-half an ounce is just about right. You need to have enough volume to work it all around your tasting apparatus, i.e., your mouth, but not so much that you're forced to swallow right away. And you don't want to swallow, not just yet. It takes time and effort to force the wine to divulge its secrets.

Roll the wine all around your mouth, chewing it, bringing it into contact with every part of your palate and taste buds, because each decodes a different aspect of the liquid. Wine provokes tactile sensations, too: the astringency of tannins is most perceptible on the inner cheeks; the heat of the alcohol burns in the back of the throat; the acid on the sides of the tongue and just behind the lips. I keep a pleasant wine in my mouth for 8 to 12 seconds, sometimes more.

That's why wine lovers learn to taste. We know that the effort we put into understanding and appreciating wine-as opposed to simply enjoying it (or its psychotropic effects)-produces unequalled pleasure. Really tasting wine adds an extra dimension to the basic daily routine of eating and drinking. It turns obligation and necessity into pleasure and meditation; a required necessity of life becomes a celebration of life.

Remember that tasting is not a test, your subjective response is more important than any "right answers."