5 Tips For A Better Wine Tasting Experience
Tasting wines, whether at a winery or at a specialized event, is a great way to expand your palate and get a better idea of what you like to drink. At its core, wine tasting is simple. You take sips of different wines and decide which ones you like best. But if you want to get more out of your wine tasting experience, there are a few specific tips you should follow.
Don't hesitate to spit out wines you don't enjoy.
Most wineries and wine tasting setups have spit buckets on the counter or bar. These are generally made from ceramic or another solid-colored, opaque material so you can't see into them. They are meant for wine tasters to spit out their unwanted samples. While spitting out wine might seem impolite at first, it is not. Rather, it's a welcomed part of the wine tasting experience. If you don't like a sample, spit it out. This will help keep you from getting too tipsy throughout the day.
Hold the glass by the stem.
Many people hold their wine glasses around the bottom. This may be comfortable, but it warms up the wine. Heat from your hand passes through the glass and into the wine, which changes its flavor. When wine tasting, make sure you only hold the glass by the stem.
Smell the wine first.
Before you take a sip of a wine sample, always use your nose to inhale the aroma. Your sense of smell plays a big role in determining your sense of taste. Smelling the wine first will help you recognize different flavors and notes in the wine that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Taste whites before reds.
If you'll be tasting both white and red wines, always taste the white wines first. Otherwise, the bolder, deeper flavors of the reds may tire out your palate and make it harder for you to taste the white wines accurately.
Rinse your glass.
If there's a carafe of water on the bar, which there should be, make sure you use it to rinse your glass between samples. Even a few drops of the last wine in the glass can make it harder to taste the next wine accurately.
If you follow the above tips when wine tasting, you should have a better experience. You'll discover some wines you love, find others you don't really like, and have a good time in the process. For more information, contact a company like Fletcher Bay Winery.
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