Wine Tasting

Wine Tasting Tips for Beginners

Wine tasting is a skill that takes time to truly pick up, however there's no reason a true beginner can't enjoy a good vintage by following these high-quality wine tasting tips for beginners. A good education isn't something a beginner should shrink away from. Learning more about wine tasting only increases your appreciation for the subtle yet delicious mixture of flavor and texture.

While it will take some time to really become comfortable talking about the taste and flavor of a wine, just follow these few basic wine tasting tips for beginners to enjoy the experience a little more.

Basic Etiquette Tips:
Be sure before going to a tasting that you're not wearing a strong cologne or perfume. Smell plays a major role in a wine tasting, which is why a good tasting is never done in an area with excessively strong cooking scents.

When tasting a wine with a group, hold your personal opinion until everyone has had a chance to taste. This is simply good etiquette so everyone can get their opinion without being influenced by anyone else in the group.

Wine Tasting Tips:

Before tasting the wine you will want to give it a minor swirl. This allows the wine to aerate and brings out a wine's full flavor, as well as allowing you to look at the color of the liquid as well as the full body of that particular bottle.

Smell before sipping. Your nose should just hover briefly above the rim of the glass. Try to sense the smell of fruit, flowers or herbs, or even a smell of the cask such as oak. This will help you know what to expect.

In order to make sure to enjoy the most of your wine tasting, you want to swirl the wine across your taste buds in your mouth, allowing it to go under and around the tongue to get the most out of every flavor.

Finally, make sure to sip water in between different wines that way your taste buds are clean for each and every taste.