Here’s a basic, quick rundown of how to taste red wine. You could be looking like a pro by TONIGHT.
There are four components to tasting: Sight, smell, taste, and the conclusion (your final guess if your blind tasting).
SIGHT:
Hold your glass of wine at an angle against a white background. Is it red or white? Nice. This is easy.
We are looking for color, in shade and intensity. Break out the crayon box!
Shades are narrowed down to purple, ruby and garnet. You can throw in two colors and some “ish”-es at the end of a word. Intensity/concentration is defined as pale, medium or deep.
Grape variety affects this. Thin skinned or lightly pigmented grapes will have much less intensity…think of Pinot Noir vs Syrah. You can read a menu through a glass of Pinot Noir (thin skin, light pigment, pale ruby/garnet color) – not so much with Syrah (thick skin, lots of pigment, deep ruby/purple color). This is awesome, because it already narrows down what your wine could be. It’s all a process of elimination.
Age and oak can also affect the color and intensity of a wine. An older, more oxidized red will have less concentrated color (a little faded) and hues of brown and/or orange.
Give your glass a solid swirl and watch it run back down the side of the glass. These are called the wine “legs” or “tears.” Slow running legs means the wine has more residual sugar.
If anyone looks at a wine and says, “Wow, this wine has great legs,” they likely don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s annoying.
SMELL:
“On the nose,” as professionals say.
Swirl your glass. This unlocks the aroma in your wine.
Take short – medium sniffs, you don’t want to overload your senses. My habit is to take a small initial sniff, turn away for a second, then go in again.
Make sure you’re smelling with your mouth slightly open. This sounds weird but it really helps to identify aromas!
We are looking for our primary fruit flavors. Red wine fruits are broken into black (ex: blackberries, black plum), red (ex: strawberries, raspberries), and blue (ex: blueberries, huckleberries).
There are no wrong answers! You smell whatever you smell! This is why wine tasting with others is so fun – everyone catches something different.
We also look for “non-fruit descriptors” and these details are important in narrowing down what a wine could be.
- Floral (ex: violets, honeysuckle)
- Herbs/spices (ex: dried oregano, basil, cinnamon)
- Earth (ex: forest floor, mushroom)
- Minerality (rocks)
- Animal (yes, animal. Ex: leather, bacon)
- Oak (ex: Vanilla, baking spices)
There are SO MANY more examples and other details about smelling wine but again, the goal is not to overwhelm. Get creative and dig into your memories!
Growing up, I had honeysuckle growing outside my bedroom window. Now, if there is even the slightest hint of honeysuckle in a (white) wine, it’s the first thing I notice!
TASTE:
“On the palate” as professional people would say.
We are looking to confirm what we taste is consistent to what we smelled. Did you smell raspberries? Hopefully you taste it too. If not, don’t panic, but you may need to reevaluate.
We are tasting for five MAIN other things:
- Sweetness: This is a hard one for me, personally. Is there noticeable residual sugar in this wine, or is the fruit just extra ripe? It can SEEM like there’s residual sugar when there isn’t. If there is not sugar, it is dry. If there is, it is sweet. There can be a middle ground!
- Tannin: This is what makes your mouth feel dry and is only really used for red wine. I like to see if my upper lip gets stuck on my teeth when I curl it in. It makes an ugly face while also doing work. Story of my life.
- Acidity: This is what makes your mouth water. Sip your wine, drink it, and leave your mouth open slightly. If your mouth is filling up with saliva (ew, sorry), that’s a high acid wine.
- Alcohol: To determine high alcohol, sip your wine, drink it and inhale through your mouth. If you feel a cooling effect (a little bit like mouthwash), there’s a higher alcohol content.
- Body: How does this feel when you’re drinking it? If it seems watery, that’s light bodied. Full bodied will be heavier – almost like milk but not AS heavy. It can be medium bodied as well.
There are more things to taste for, but I personally feel these are the most important.
