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Experience
the Wine:
Hold
the wineglass by the stem. Fingerprints
on the bowl of the glass will obstruct your view
of the wine, and holding the bowl in your hand
will quickly raise the wine’s temperature, which
can affect its taste.
Look
carefully. Hold
the wine in front of a white background the
tablecloth, perhaps, or a white piece of paper and
observe the clarity and color. A white wine might
be straw-colored, pale yellow, golden, or almost
clear; a red can range from light red to dark
purple. With age, white wines get deeper in color
and reds go from red or purple to brick.
Swirl.
The
easy way is to keep the bottom of the glass on the
table and, holding it by the stem, make two or
three small circular rotations. Swirling exposes
the wine to more oxygen and allows more of its
aroma to be released.
Sniff.
Raise
the glass to your nose and take a deep, heady
whiff. Pause and sniff again. Does the wine have a
complex bouquet or only one obvious aroma? use our
table of descriptors, Click here to help
you define which aromas you’re experiencing.
Taste.
Notice
how the wine evolves as it moves across your
tongue. Is it harsh or soft, flat or lively? Are
the flavors herbal, mineral, fruity, or a
combination? (Here, too, you can use an aroma
wheel or our table of descriptors as an aid.) Now
swallow and see how the taste changes and how long
the finish lingers.
Take
notes. Jot
down what you smell and taste as you go, so that
you’ll remember your impressions.
Take
your time. Don’t
rush to the next wine. Savor each one. Was it
balanced, with all the components in harmony, or
did one component overwhelm the rest? Most
important, how much did it please you?
Tally.
At
the end of the tasting, add up the scores, then
end the mystery by tearing off the bags. Figure
out which wine was the favorite, compare
everyone’s impressions, and, above all, have a
good time!
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