What do I actually taste/smell in wine?
You've probably experienced that while enjoying a nice wine sometimes you wonder: “What do I actually taste / smell?”. The question sounds simpler than that it can be answered. There are so many taste- and smell notes that just naming it isn’t that easy. You often get the basic tones, such as "cherry, strawberry, vanilla, etc.", but if you take it easy and take the time for it, you can discover a lot more flavors and smells. This time a somewhat technical-informative article for the person who wants to discover more of his / her favorite wine(s).
But first this:
- If you are going to taste different wines it is wise that you spit out the wines
and that in between the wines you take a sip of water or a piece of dry bread.
If you don’t do this, your taste palette may become confused or tired.
- be sure you have clean glasses that do not contain detergent odor.
- The best tasting glasses are those with a large chalice so that you can roll (“waltz”) the wine well.
- The place where you taste the wines must be free of disturbing odors.
- The wines must be tasted at the right temperature, not too cold and
certainly not too warm. Look at the label for the recommended serving temperature.
And then the tasting part;
Roll the wine for a few seconds in the glass so that the oxygen can get mixed up with the wine. Insert your nose into the glass as far as possible and breathe deeply. If you do this with your eyes closed, you are better focused and smell better. Do this several times and try to find out what you smell (see the diagram by this article). If you smell one of the following things now, the wine is not good and you should flush it right through the sink.
1. Cork: the smell of stale cork.
2. Vinegar: the wine really smells like vinegar.
3. Milk pitch: the wine smells like spoiled butter (this is achieved because the residual sugar in the wine is unwillingly converted into lactic acid and acetic acid).
If you do not notice anything special then you can continue.
Take a sip, and rinse it through the mouth for a few seconds so that all taste sensors are well touched. Spout your lips, suck air in and chew the wine. After this you can spit out or swallow the wine, depending on the number of different wines you will taste. Try to name what you taste. By doing the above regularly, you train yourself in recognizing tastes and smells. You will notice that the more often you do this, the more aromas and taste sensations you recognize and the more enjoyable the wine is. With the aid of the attached diagram, you may be able to name your taste interpretations somewhat more easily.
In addition to the flavors and smells to be named, there are also other used terms for naming wine properties:
Intensity: Should you really have to start sniffing deeply in the glass to note aromas, then we speak of a slightly or slightly intense fragrance. If you hold the glass by the nose and smell some aromas, we have an intense smell. And if the smells are already present when the glass is about 10 to 20 centimeters away from your nose, then we speak of a very intense fragrance.
Complexity: If you notice between 1 and 3 scents then we speak of a light complex wine. If you notice many different scents, we speak of a complex wine.
We speak from a fresh experience if with the first sip the acids stimulate your tongue the most. We speak from a “full bodied” wine if it gives you a creamy impression in your mouth.
Finish: You notice the quality of the wine in the aftertaste. With aftertaste we mean the time between spitting out or swallowing the wine and the disappearance of the taste in the mouth. The longer the finish, the better the quality of the wine...
Hopefully this article contributes to an even greater wine enjoyment than you have experienced so far. Cheers!
Roel Peters RP-Vinos USA
p.s. If you want a larger print version of the taste and scent chart just ask me.
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