Wine Art in France

Wine tasting is not an easy task and most of the people who try it, fail at it. The reason is very simple. Wine tasting is a very refined art and it requires a very advanced level of training for a person to become a professional wine taster. Yet not every person needs to go through all the elaborate trainings unless he wants to become a professional wine taster. For the casual wine taster who wants to do it for the sake of fun, wine tasting can be completely enjoyed in five very easy and simple steps. None of these steps requires any elaborate preparation so can be undertaken impromptu.

The very first and most basic step is to see what the wine that you are about to taste looks like. You should tilt your glass to a side and swirl around the wine in it to see if there is some residue at the bottom which gets stirred up when you swirl the wine. To identify its true color, you must use a napkin or a white table cloth. Red wine tends to turn brownish as it ages whereas white wine will become darker. When you swirl around the wine in the glass, you should notice how the wine moves in the glass. Highly viscous wines have more alcohol in them and are therefore full bodies.

The second step in wine tasting is to smell the wine. Smell the wine properly then swirl it around and smell it again. If you notice a difference in smells apart from the smell becoming more intense, wine is not good. Note that smell intensity is bound to rise when you swirl the wine because of the oxygen effect. If the wine tastes off, its quality is lacking.

The third step is to take a sip of the wine. Do not swallow it yet! Swirl the wine around your mouth to make all the taste buds get in touch with it. Check which taste buds become active and which remain dormant after coming in contact with the wine you are tasting. What kind of tastes and flavors do you feel and what kind of texture of wine do you feel decides how good the wine is. Remember, do not swallow the wine just yet.

Fourth step in wine tasting is to breathe through the wine that is still in your mouth after step three. Breath in the air through your mouth and let it out through your nose. This might take some practice but gradually you will able to do it. It will allow you to smell and taste the wine at the same time. Now you can swallow the wine and relish it if you find it good.