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Nectar of
the Gods
By Dave Preston
 Ernest Hemmingway once wrote,
“Wine is the most civilized thing in the world.”
Tasting wine is an art, but I’ve
always found it to be liquid enjoyment. To develop your senses
for tasting wine, you will need to practice. While wine tasting
can be subjective in nature, wine connoisseurs follow general
“guidelines” when judging a wine. It’s easy to learn the
techniques of wine tasting, and if you already enjoy wine,
learning the nuances will only increase your enjoyment. The
three steps in wine tasting are: Look, smell and taste.
Look
You can tell much about a wine by
studying its appearance.
The wine should be poured into a
clear glass and held in front of a white background (a
tablecloth or piece of paper will serve nicely) so that you can
examine the color.
Color
The color of wine varies
tremendously, even within the same type of wine. For example,
white wines are not actually white; they range from green to
yellow to brown. More color in a white wine usually indicates
more flavor and age. White wines should be consumed when they
are young. Red wines are not just red; they range from a pale
ruby red to a deep maroon red.
Rim Color
You can guess the age of a red
wine by observing its “rim.” Tilt the glass slightly and look at
the edge of the wine. A purple tint may indicate youth while
orange to brown indicates maturity.
Swirling
Swirling the wine serves many
purposes, but visually it allows you to observe the body of the
wine. “Good legs” may indicate a thicker body and a higher
alcohol content and/or sweetness level.
Smell
 First, swirl your wine. This
releases molecules in the wine allowing you to smell the aroma,
also called the bouquet or nose.
The two main techniques that wine
tasters use are to take a quick whiff and formulate an initial
impression, and then take a second deeper whiff. Or, take only
one deep whiff. Either way, after you smell the wine, sit back
and contemplate the aroma.
Don’t try to “taste” the wine yet,
concentrate only on what you smell. See if you find aromas of
pears, green apples, citrus or honeysuckle in white wines. Close
your eyes and imagine blackberry or cherry or earthen, leather
in red wines. Let your nose influence your mind’s eye and your
mouth will experience a myriad of flavor profiles.
It may be difficult to describe in words when you’re a novice,
but after trying many wines, you will notice similarities and
differences. Sometimes a certain smell will be strong with
underlying hints of other smells. Take your time. If you really
want to get into wine tasting and develop an educated palate,
you may even want to keep a notebook of your impressions of
wines. And, save the labels to make a personal record of what
you like, or don’t like.
Taste
The most important quality of a
wine is its balance between sweetness and acidity. To get the
full taste of a wine follow the following three steps:
-
Initial Taste
This is where the
wine awakens your senses (your taste buds respond to
sensations).
-
Taste
Slosh the wine
around and draw in some air (even if you do look funny in
front of your dinner guests). Examine the body and texture
of the wine. Is it light or rich? Smooth or harsh? Swirling
the wine around makes use of the taste buds in the front and
back of the tongue, thus allowing you to detect the finer
flavors of the wine.
-
Aftertaste
The taste that
remains in your mouth after you have swallowed the wine. How
long did the taste last? Was it pleasant?
“Understanding how it feels in your mouth can tell you if
the grapes are mature. Or, if it has a high alcohol content.
Then there are tannins, that’s what holds up a red wine and
allows it to age and keep its flavor,” says Dr. Kosta Arger,
a northern Nevada Cardiologist and winemaker for Arger-
Martucci Vineyard in St. Helena,Calif.
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