Rating
Wine
The art of rating wine is a skill anyone can acquire with
a little information and a lot of practice. Whether you will
be participating in formal wine tastings or you simply want
to understand wine a little better, this is a good place to
get started.
There
are basically 4 things to notice when rating a wine. They
are (in order in which they are to be observed):
1.
Appearance
2. Aroma
3. Taste
4. Aftertaste
Appearance
The
process of rating wine begins with its visual appearance.
Unlike beer which has styles that are intended to be cloudy,
wine is supposed to be clear. The good news is, with the advance
in technology, it’s extremely rare to come across a
wine that is cloudy.
Besides
clarity, you also want to take notice of the color. Hold the
wine up next to a white background or look at a light through
the wine. The color can be an indication of the maturity of
the wine.
White
wines start off pale and eventually turn more golden yellow
as they mature. Red wines on the other hand, usually start
off darker and more purplish in color. As they mature, they
will become lighter in color and change to more of a brick
red color.
Aroma
A wine’s aroma is extremely important to its overall
taste. Believe it or not, your taste buds are only capable
of detecting four distinct tastes. They are sweet, salty,
sour, and bitter. The receptors for these tastes are located
on the areas of the tongue shown in the diagram.
These
four taste characteristics combine with the aromatic properties
of the wine to result in an overall flavor. The nose can detect
literally thousands of aromas which give us a multitude of
flavors. Even after the wine is in your mouth, aromatic vapors
can be perceived in the retronasal passage in the back of
the mouth.
After
observing the wines appearance, swirl the wine around in your
glass a couple of times. This swirling will intensify the
aroma by releasing more of the aromatic vapors into the air.
Now
stick your nose actually inside the glass and inhale deeply.
Try to detect as many distinct scents as you can. There is
no right or wrong, simply think about what the scents remind
you of.
Different
people will likely smell different things. It’s kind
of like poetry, where the same words can mean different things
to different people. It may be hard to distinguish various
scents at first, but with practice, they will be more identifiable.
For
now, just observe. Your nose will become desensitized after
a short while so give it a break for a few seconds. Sometimes
smelling something else will help refresh your nose somewhat
and you can tryto smell the wine again.
Taste
As I said earlier, the tongue by itself can only detect four
distinct tastes. When combined with aroma, the result is its
flavor. I also said that the aromatic vapors can be perceived
in the retronasal passage in the back of the mouth.
So
in light of this, take a decent sized sip. While sipping,
draw in air across the wine to help the vapors reach the back
of the mouth. Be careful not to inhale wine into your lungs
(embarrassing).
Now
act like your chewing the wine, letting it roll around all
areas of your tongue. If you will be tasting numerous wines,
you don’t want to swallow because the alcohol will dull
your senses. Simply spit it out.
Aftertaste
or Finish
The term aftertaste is not a negative thing like many would
believe. An aftertaste can be bad, or it can be good. It all
depends on your personal preference.
The
aftertaste will magnify the good and the bad qualities a wine
will possess. This is the time to reflect and decide for yourself
what flavors you detect in the wine. Don’t try too hard,
let it come naturally.
Even if you’re not particularly fond of the wine, try
to determine what flavors don’t appeal to you. The more
accurately you can identify what flavors you like and dislike,
the more enjoyment you will get from drinking wine.
Now
after giving the wine some reflection, write down a few notes
rating the wine in words that are meaningful to you. Compile
a list of wines and your personal ratings. This will help
you remember what the wine tasted like when you’re at
the store and you looking for a particular bottle.
Have
fun, and remember, there is no right or wrong when it comes
to rating wine.
One
More Thing
Your mind is amazingly adept at being able to smell or taste
things you expect to find. Try not to read the tasting notes
on the bottle before you taste it yourself. Taste
first, then see if your notes match the descriptions on the
bottle.
Even
better, try blind tasting. Blind tasting can be fun and very
effective at sharpening your skills. Have a group of people
over with various bottles of a similar color wine (dark reds,
whites, etc). Now pour them into glasses and set them on a
coaster with the type of wine written on the bottom.
Now
shuffle them around so you don’t know which wine is
which and begin tasting. Try to identify each wine and compare
notes with the group.
When
you become skilled you can try comparing various wines of
the same grape. Practice is the key to rating wine. Have fun!
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