How to Taste Wine Like a Pro Sommelier: The Process

Have you ever thought to yourself or said I can't figure out how they get all those smells and flavors from one little glass of wine? That's what we're going to do in this video. Take the mystery out of tasting wine. We're going to learn the process of how to taste wine. By the end of this video you'll be tasting wine like a pro. You'll see four steps in tasting as we apply them to both white wine and red wine. We'll spend most of our time with white wine and then go to red wine where we'll apply some of the same principles of tasting whites but look at the nuances that come with red wines. Now there are other approaches to learning to taste wines like the five S's which is see, swirl, sniff, sip, and savor but we'll approach it a little differently. It's all basically the same. I'll be walking us through more of the approach used by many who received their sommelier accreditation. We'll deal with the four things. Number one appearance, number two the nose, number three the palate, and number four the finish. You know there are so many people who believe you have to be born with the ability to taste wine. The reality is that's not true. In virtually every wine education class or as you go through the process of becoming a sommelier this is one of the very first things we learn how to taste wine. This is something that everybody can do. Keep in mind if at any time you like what you hear click like or subscribe or hit the little bell so you be notified when there's a new post. Here we go with white wines. Number one the first thing we do is look at the wine. Kind of basic but really important. Actually let me back up a second. The first thing you want to do is make sure there's not too much or too little wine in your glass. All you need is an ounce or two, maybe a quarter of a glass. Then hold the glass at a 45 degree angle against a white unpatterned background. Actually if you want why don't you put this video on pause. Go get a glass of wine or maybe a red and white glass of wine and we'll walk through this together. Now you want to look both at the core and at the rim of the wine. The core is the center of the wine. The rim is the edge, the area that has the least volume of wine right next to the edge of the glass. You want to determine several things. Is it clear? What color is it? And how intense is the color? Now when it comes to clarity are there any particles in the wine? Is it cloudy or hazy? The color at the rim will give you hints as to the age of both of the wine and whether or not it was aged in oak. Both of these will have a bearing on the taste of your wine. Number two is the nose or smell. Our sense of smell and memory of particular smells can be developed through regular practice. Personally when I got started I would go to the grocery store and invest a little time in the vegetable department and as inconspicuous as I could, without wearing a trench coat, I would smell the different fresh vegetables. I would smell fruits on a different day. The floral department on even another day. And if I really wanted to spice up my life I would do one of those plus the spice aisle. Strange, I suppose, but it worked for me. You know sometimes you just got to stop and smell the roses. The basic process for nosing a wine starts with a swirl. Then inhale the aromas in the glass with one moderate sniff or a series of short ones. Actually get your nose all the way into the glass. This serves a basic function. It gets air in contact with the wine which breaks up the surface tension and releases aromatic compounds so that we can encounter them through our olfactory receptors. Said another way, swirling helps you smell the wine better. The first thing to consider when nosing a wine is, is it healthy? You're checking to see if it's flawed or faulty. Do you pick up any unpleasant odors like rancid nuts, mold, sweaty animal fur, rotten eggs, wet cardboard, or even over overripe fruit? If you do, it's flawed. Don't drink it. Also think about how expressive the wine is. How intense are the aromas? Is it really expressive or not very expressive? Does it jump out of the glass at you or is it shy? Or is it something in between? Different varietals will have what's called an aromatic signature or primary aroma. Here let me give you a couple of examples of that. To one degree or another, virtually all Sauvignon Blancs will have a citrusy smell while Pinot Noirs may smell of strawberries. As you taste more, you'll get to know these signature smells or signature aromas. But as you get started, don't worry about trying to figure out all the different smells or layers of aromas. Just think about identifying one or two. As time goes by and you have more practice, you'll discover other aromas. Number three is the palate or taste. Now I'm sure you've seen people slurping their wine. Actually from the time our kids are little, we teach our kids not to do this. No slurping, no sucking, no spitting. Plus close your mouth when you eat and keep your hands out of your pocket. I don't know, that may have only been my mom. Anyhow, all that is part of wine tasting. Here again, that's not pretentious. All that serves a function. It gets air into the wine and brings out the flavors. As you taste wine, different parts of your mouth are doing different things. All of your taste buds pick up all flavors. However, there is a tendency for certain parts of your mouth to be a little bit more sensitive to certain flavors. As illustrated with the map of the tongue, I've got different parts of the tongue labeled for each taste. While all of us will taste things differently, what you see here is a general rule of thumb, or maybe a general rule of tongue. Anyhow, you see there sweetness is perceived more on the tip of the tongue, bitterness towards the back, sourness or acidity, and freshness on the sides, and saltiness in the front sides. Now actually, saltiness will not be experienced in wine because there's absolutely no salt in wine. Also, not shown here is a flavor or sensation called savory or uami. This is when your taste receptors respond to glutamates. Now a glutamate is something present in meat broths and fermented products like wine. We'll pick up those flavors or sensations all around your mouth and particularly in the middle. Number four is the finish. Now the finish refers to the length of time or the persistence the wine's flavors stay in your mouth. High quality wines have a density or concentration of flavors. This extends the finish. We measure finish as a duration of time, short, moderate, or long. A long finish might be about a second or second and a half. Low quality wines made from heavily cropped vineyards tend to be more fleeting on the palate. They might have a lot of flavor right up front but it doesn't last very long. Generally the longer the finish the better the wine. So the way this works is you sip the wine, you swirl it around your mouth, you spit it out, or you can swallow it, and then think about the flavors you just tasted. Well there you have it. That's the process for white wines. Let's look very briefly at red wines. Because much of the process is exactly the same as with reds we won't spend very much time on it. I'll show you a couple of differences between the two. By the way, how you doing there? Is this information helpful? If it is, write SLURP in the comments below. With red wines you go through much the same process as whites. Number one, appearance. Take a look at the wine, check the clarity, color, and color intensity. Red wines can be anything from purple through brownish and orangish. The darker purple, the richer colors, the wines are younger. As they age they move towards like a garnish, reddish, brownish, then brick, or tile red, or even an amber brown. These different colors give you a hint of what you're tasting, both the grape varietal and age. You'll swirl to let the oxygen release both the aromas and flavors, and then number two, three, and four for reds are somewhat mingled together. As far as the nose and powder are concerned, with reds you'll tend to find more pronounced aromas than with whites. Red wine has more structure and more flavor than white wines. This comes from the grape skins, seeds, and tannins. Now tannins is the big difference between whites and reds. Tannin is the element in wine that causes your mouth to dry out or pucker. They're not that unusual in fruits, vegetables, and other varieties of drinks, and you'll find tannin in tea. You know how when you brew tea too long, how it gets bitter? That's the tannin coming through. Now keep in mind, the grape juice from both red and white wine is virtually the same color. It's clear. Red grape juice starts out just like white wine grape juice. Light or light yellow in straw, or the juice is clear, and it's fermented on the dark skins of the grapes. The skins are what give the red wine its color and flavor and structure. The thicker and more color in the grape skins, the darker the wine, and generally the more tannin in the wine. The thinner the skin means there's less tannin in the grape and the lighter the wine will be. Now certain red grape varietals have more tannin like Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Syrah. These wines need food to soften or neutralize the tannins. Other grapes have less tannins like Grenache, Tempranillo, and Peter Noir. These are easier drinking. Less food is needed. Some people absolutely love big tannin wines, while others not so much. Now when it comes to number four, the finish, reds typically start with more flavor and there's a tendency for reds to hold on a lot longer than whites. Now as you continue to practice and are thinking about appearance, nose, palate, and finish, before you know it you'll be tasting like a pro. Well there you have it, everything you need to know about the process of how to taste wine. Thank you for investing the time to watch this video. I trust it was helpful to you. If it was, make sure you subscribe, click like, and ring the little bell to turn on notifications. Let me know if you have comments below, and also if there's someone you know that's interested in wine, make sure you share this video with them. I'd appreciate that, and I really think they would too. Folks, I'm here to help and serve you as we learn more about wine together. If you're looking for some wonderful wines, check out my website below, and don't forget to enter your discount code ASTIWINES at checkout. Again, the discount code is ASTIWINES. I look forward to you joining me on social media and on my website. All those links are in the description below. Until next time, cheers.