The 10 Tenets Of Wine-Tasting

1.Thou Shalt Not Pretend To Know Your Wines:
Why? Because no one does.In fact, there is no such thing as the perfect wine.Sure, there are fine wines, sweet wines, dry wines, but how good a wine is, is a matter of subjective taste.You either like your wine, or you don'!
2.Thou Shalt Attend Wine Tastings:
Just as the only way to know a bad book from a good one is to read, the only way to develop a taste for fine wines is to drink.Taste, swirl, drink and when you're done, open another bottle! And wine tastings are perfect spots to do that, whether in France or Italy.
3.Thou Shalt Look For The Colour Of The Wine:
If you drink wine, you lose three-fourths of the experinece.Start by looking at the colour.Hold your glass against a white background(use a tissue if the ambience isnt suitable).White wines, as they grow older, go from pale straw with hints of green to darker shades of yellow.Dessert wines become brown when they are about 40-50 years old.Red wines, on the other hand, go from darker when they are young to lighter when they mature.Initially, they may all look the same, but you'll get the hang of it.
4.Thou Shalt Swirl The Wine In The Glass:
You can swirl the wine in the glass in your hand, or place the glass on the table and swirl it.You need to do this because wine is a light product that has been bottled up.So you have to air it, allow it to breathe.This allows parts of the wine to stick to the sides of the glass and evaporate, giving you a better bouquet.
5.Thou Shalt Nose The Wine:
In the composite of smell and taste, 70% of the work is done by the nose.To nose the wine right, introduce your nose into the fume chamber of your glass.Even if you cant smell anything at first, at least decide if you like the smell or not.Then try and associate the smells with those from day-to-day life.Smells of flowers, fruit, a boyfriend's old jacket.Really old wines get very complex and the idea is to associate with smells that bring up pleasant memories.
6.Thou Shalt Drink Heavily:
Yes.That means if you're a serious wine taster, a lick o 'lips wont do.Swig deeply.Two large sips, or 10ml, is what you need to get a true taste of the wine.Leave the iwne in your mouth and swirl it.Or simply chew on it if you prefer.
7.Thou Shalt Not Have A Dry Day:
No matter which eyebrow the waiter lifts, you will order the sickly sweet white if thats what catches your fancy.When you start drinking wine, it is natural to prefer a wine that is not completely dry.The difference between dry, medium dry and not dry is essentially one of sweetness.When the wine is not sweet, it means that all the sugar has been converted into alcohol in the process of fermentation.Don't worry too much about not acquiring a taste for the dry.
8.Thou Shalt Know New World Wines From Old World Ones:
In the New World-Australia, Chile and California-wines are named after the grapes.The wines here are more fruit-driven and voluptous.In the Old World-France, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Spain-the wines are identified by the region and the subregions from which the grape comes.The wines here are far more subtle.
9.Thou Shalt Match Thy Wine With Delicate Food:
If You wish to pair your wine with food, use delicately spiced, aromatic food-what the French called "perfumed food"-and match it with a wine.You'll be amazed at how ell it'll work.Fruity wines like Reislings and Gewurtztraminer work well with food as do Shiraz or Syria-based wines.
10.Thou Shalt Not Be Led By Price And Date:
Quality and age of a wine has little to do with how its priced.The prices are purely market-driven.You might find yourself a bottle worth 2 US Dollars in a corner in Italy that knocks on your taste-buds, while a Veuve Cliquot might just leave you wishing for a whisky instead.Go by your taste, by what you feel and what you smell.Wine is an experience.Go live it.

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Recommended Wines For Beginners

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