How to Taste Wine
Learning how to taste wine is one of the first steps to transforming yourself from a casual drinker to a bonafide wine lover. It's very straightforward to learn how, and the good news is it will give you an excuse to keep 'practicing' (aka drink more wine). Just remember the 4 S's:
- See: Look at the wine's color in the glass from all angles. Is it purple and translucent, or brick red and murky? Make sure to loudly proclaim this to all those around you, loud enough that passersby will say "Oh my! She sure does know a lot about her colors!".
- Sniff: Stick your nose in there....really put it in there. Get up close and personal with your wine. Take a wild guess about what the wine smells like, and hope that no one will judge you. Pineapple! Raspberry pie! Cat pee! You pretty much can't go wrong, and the more obscure, the more points you get.
- Swirl: Swish that wine around, taking special care not to spill any on your shoes or your neighbor. The idea is that the movement helps aerate the wine, but we all know that we do it just to look cool. While you're at it, don't forget to remark on the color of the wine's "legs". These are the streaks that run down the sides of the glass after it has been swirled. Wines with good legs have more glycerin which means they are beefier, riper, and denser than wine with skinny li'l legs.
- Sip: FINALLY! It's time to try some of this delicious, delicious wine. Put that glass to your lips and take a tasteful gulp. Let it hang out in your mouth for a while and feel free to make that weird slurping sound so that people know you really mean business. How does it taste? Sharing is caring, so make sure you let everyone know what you think. (Pro-tip: "fruit forward" is pretty much always a winner.)
Wanna drink more? Go for it! Steps 1-3 are optional at this point, so have fun!
P.S. For bonus points, you'll want to make sure you have a clean glass and that you're drinking out of the right glass for the wine. (More on that in this post). You don't want any competing sounds or smells that might distract from the wine, so make sure you take the proper precautions.
