Ah, tasting notes. You know, those descriptive words and phrases that are supposed to tell you what a wine will taste like, only the average person can’t make sense out of them.
The people who write them mean well. They really do. It’s just that the average person has no idea what a gooseberry actually tastes like, and I, personally, don’t know of anyone who eats pencil shavings.
Unfortunately, the language of tasting is what primarily separates the “haves” from the “have nots” when it comes to one’s wine knowledge and having confidence therein. The person who thinks, “I could never say all that stuff, it just tastes like wine to me,” will remain in one segment of the population, while a person who learns to operate in this knowledge and language will cross over into the realm where real connoisseurship can take place.
I invite you to take a guided tasting experience. If you’ve never done this before, it may be the single most revealing experience with wine you’ve ever had. If you have some experience, come along anyway. You can always learn more, and besides, it gives you an excuse to drink more wine.
For this article to be of any true benefit to you, participation is mandatory. You can no more learn how to taste wine by reading about it than you can learn to fly an airplane by listening to an audio tape.
You have to do it. There is no substitute for experience.
Your experience will not be exactly the same as any other person’s, although there should be similarities. What you see, smell, and taste, will be experienced in a way that only you personally will ever know.
While one person tastes raspberry and another thinks it’s more like blackberry, both are experiencing fruit, and berry, to be more specific. What is sour to one, may be acidic to another, but both are reacting to the same component of the wine.
Step 1
Pour about 3 ounces of wine into a glass and look at it. Notice the color.
Does it allow light to pass through it, or is it more opaque? Does the light sparkle and reflect off the wine? (This has little to do with the taste of the wine, it is simply a part of the overall appreciation and enjoyment of wine. For the more advanced connoisseur, the color of the wine will give an indication as to the age and maturity of the wine.)
Step 2
Being careful not to spill, swirl vigorously so that wine runs up the sides of the glass and forms a mini tornado in the middle. If you are not confident in your ability to do this, keep the base of the glass on the table and simply swirl from the stationary platform. Immediately after swirling, raise the glass to your nose and inhale deeply and slowly, even allowing your nose to be in the glass - just not in the wine itself. This is called “first nose” and it means what you perceive when you first smell the wine after pouring.
Note the smells that hit you first. Describe them.
You may not know how. That’s ok.
You don’t have to say I smell vanilla and orchids. You can just say it smells “sweet” or “strong” if that’s your impression. You will learn to attach more specific descriptors over time.
If you can attach the smell to anything you are familiar with, it helps to anchor that memory and impression. It may remind you of your grandmother’s house, the forest, or a carnival.
If it does, try to identify why. Chances are, you are perceiving an aroma that you experienced in another time and place.
After a minute or two, swirl and sniff again in the same manner. This is called second nose, and it is often remarkably different than the first.
Note and describe any changes that you perceive. If you don’t perceive any difference, it’s all right.
It doesn’t mean it didn’t work, or that you don’t know how to smell wine. It just means that the second nose was the same as the first. Relax. You’re doing fine.
Step 3
You finally get to taste the wine. Don’t just take a swig and swallow, though.
Take some of the wine into your mouth - more than a tiny little sip, you need to be able to taste it - and let it sit there while you once again notice first impressions. The wine is now “on the palate” or is being tasted. Swish the wine around in your mouth so that it hits all of the various taste sensitive parts of your mouth and tongue.
If you are brave enough, or are by yourself in a place where accidents won’t be a major disaster, try opening your mouth just slightly and forming a little “o” with your lips while the wine still sits on your tongue. Draw a small mount of air into your mouth, over the wine, then breathe out through your nose. Notice how that changes what you are tasting.
What are you tasting? Again, you don’t have to describe it as ripe raspberries, ginger, and cinnamon.
To you, it might taste more of alcohol than anything else, or perhaps “sour” is your strongest impression. These tastes reflect different components of the wine, the alcohol content, the acidity, etc.
Finally swallow, and see how much of the taste remains with you afterward, and for how long. This is called the “finish” and generally, the longer the better.
Now, allow the wine to sit for about 15 minutes, then taste it again. Compare your experience now with your initial thoughts. How has it changed? Is it better now, or has it declined?
The effects of air and temperature are at work here, and these can be good or bad. Keep notes on the process and discuss with friends if you are sharing the experience.
Questions or comments? Write me at goodellwineguy@gmail.com. Until next time, happy pours!
