Wine tasting doesn’t need to be a daunting experience, even if you have limited wine knowledge. You may feel that you cannot attend a wine tasting however wine tasting is actually very simple; all you need to do is utilize your sense of sight, smell, and taste, and finally use your own intuition and tastes. With a few basic guidelines you can soon talk about wine and learn more about the wines you taste in a very short period of time. Don’t be afraid of the flowery terms that are often thrown about by wine connoisseurs – wine tasters are well known for colorful descriptions and with a little practice you should  be able to follow what they mean by these terms during a wine tasting.

The color of a wine can tell you a lot at a wine tasting; color usually denotes the age of a wine whether it is a red or white wine. The color of a wine can help you learn more about the wine you taste, for instance the type of grape that was used to make the wine or how old the wine is. When drinking red wine look at the shade of red; is it ruby, maroon, brick red, or purple? White wines that may start out a bright yellow will also lose some of that intensity with time. In general red wines start out bright and rich in color and as they age they take on more of a brick tinge and this can be seen clearly around the edge of the wine. This is why some wine tasters tilt the wine glass so that they can better see the hue of the red and get a better impression of the wines maturity.

Smelling the wine is probably the most commonly associated part of wine tasting, it is actually an important step in learning about the flavors of the wine. Swirling wine before smelling it during a wine tasting will help to release the natural aromas of the wine. As a wine matures there will be other aromas that can be detected, this is called the bouquet of the wine and it can be very complex. It’s amazing how much of a wine’s flavor can be detected in the aroma, this step will help you taste the wine better. In fact most people don’t realize that when we taste its actually a combination f our tastes buds and our sense of smell working together in synchronization. That’s why it is so difficult to taste wine when one suffers from allergies or a cold.

Finally you should taste the wine, take a sip and let the sip roll around your whole mouth so that you can fully taste the wine. As you attend more wine tastings you will be able to pick out specific qualities of a wine that you like or do not like. As time goes on you will be able to move beyond mere flavor of a wine, instead you will be able to detect tannin and alcohol content, different wine making techniques used  and other characteristics of a wine. Following these simple steps and developing a true sense of what a wine tastes like will help you to develop a much better understanding of wine.