Wine tasting techniques

Have you ever gone to a restaurant or seen on T.V. people order wine and wonder why they try to swirl wine in their glass or smell the cork when the server places it in front of them? Tasting technique can play a huge roll in what the outcome of the wine can and will be. From the time you or someone else opens the bottle it starts to gain oxygen creating a different biology, evolving and transforming into something different. Not that oxygen makes Red darker and White more clear or golden, but the taste, texture and smell are different, because technically until that cork is popped or the screw top undone the wine is still aging.

When ordering a bottle at a restaurant whether it be your waiter, wine steward/sommelier, restaurant manager or the guy sitting next to you at the dinner party your at you want to look at a few things and make sure it is something you are going to enjoy. The label on the bottle is your first clue, the name, the vintage, the grapes used, does it say "old vine" (if ordering Zinfandel), does it have the AVA which it is from, "Reserve" or "Estate" bottled, are all your first indications on what you can expect, and if it doesn't then that is okay too because not all amazing wines want to give away their secrets on the label. A label or a name shouldn't just be the end all be all, it is only your first step into tasting.

Once opened if it has a cork inspect the cork by squeezing the end by where it made contact with the juice. Look at the color of the area, does it have sediment does it have sugar crystals on it, is it dry, does it smell funny, it should your smelling a cork! You can still get some of the aroma but there again that is not your deciding factor, step two is the cork.

Now you have your first little bit poured into your glass. Before anything admire the color, the craftsmanship, the fact that what your about to drink not only took at least three years to grow, but was created and cared for, hand picked and sorted, pressed and aged, because what your drinking is a piece of art, the grandure of what it is, what will be and what it does is nothing to be taken lightly. Tilt your glass, raise it above your eye sight and look at it in the light, layers, layers of depth, complexity, color, structure, taste, and years. Now smell.

Smelling that first aroma gives way to the experience and relationship you are now creating with not only the people around you but creating an experience you always remember. Where there is wine there is memories being created. Think about what your smelling, flowers, berries, minerals, herbs, veggies, smoke, oak, vanilla, citrus, hay, pineapple or tropical fruits, apple, peaches, apricots there are so many things happening, and it all comes from one fruit. Swirl.

Swirling is the gateway to what will be, what will this wine be once it opens up from more oxygen, because that is what you are doing opening a gateway to another level, levels of flavor are now opening as the bouquet opens up and nuances and aromas released another dimension, characteristic and profile created. The "legs" linger on the sides of the glass like paint on a canvas, adding to what will be your first taste.

Now smell again, new aromas, new flavors, new layers of complexity, nose tingling, mouth watering, umami is happening.

Taste...

Mouth feel, the first indication that something is happening. As soon as it hit your lips you have again created a memory. Anything can happen at this time, by now someone has cracked a joke, made you laugh, asked a question, said something ridiculous, anything can happen. The texture, flavor, mouth feel, aroma taking over your senses like nothing else can because you know this is special. These are the moments you don't forget, everyone is watching, the ultimate decision is about to be made. Yes or no?