Saturday, December 8, 2007

Wine Testing...

First off, if the wine is chilled, then you need to hold the glass by its stem and remember not to touch the bowl at all. Wines that are not chilled and which can be served at room temperature will require picking the glass by its bowl and holding it while cupped in the palm of your hand with the stem being held between your two middle fingers.

Next you need to remember, while you are enjoying wine tasting, to hold the glass at a bit of an angle and keep the glass at a distance most suitable, such as at an arm's length.

Study The Color And Clarity Of Wine

Now that you have the mechanics of holding the wine glass right, your next step in wine tasting is to study the color of the wine as well as its clarity. Although you may be conversant with wines that are only red, white and pink in color, be sure to know that there are many different colors as well that will include colors such as green, gold, yellow, purple and in some instances, even black.

And, from the clarity of the wine, you can be sure of what the age of the wine is - with young wines being more see-through types while cloudiness will indicate that something is amiss with the wine.

No doubt, studying the color and clarity of the wine may not have much bearing in how your wine is going to taste, though for a wine tasting connoisseur there is as much joy in holding the wine as there is in tasting it. Another important aspect to wine tasting is the bouquet, which is not a bunch of flowers, but rather the way that the wine smells.

Thus, you will need to properly hold the wine glass and lower your hand so that the glass is level and then you need to make a rotation of your wrist in order to gently swirl the wine within the wine bowl, though remember that to get the best out of swilling the wine, very little wrist movement is necessary. Swilling the wine brings its aroma to the fore which can then be savored as well as smelled which you can do by bringing the wine glass at the level of your nose and do so in an elegant manner.

Now, you are ready for the real wine tasting activity which essentially requires that you do not guzzle the wine; rather, you need to take dainty sips and it requires bringing the glass to your lips which should part slightly and a small sip is taken.

Then you should close your mouth and roll the wine gently about your tongue for a couple of seconds and then let the wine slide down your throat while making sure that you do not exhale at this time. Basically, that is all there is to wine tasting.

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