“In vino veritas” is easily one of the commonest Latin sayings we are using today. It is not without a reason. People simply love to drink wine, especially in regions that are known for growing grapes and having numerous vineyards. But that doesn’t mean that people from all over the world cannot enjoy a fine taste of high-quality wine.
Nowadays, you can get a bottle of high-quality wine wherever you are. Naturally, this comes at a certain price. We are talking about an industry that generates billions of US dollars every year on a global scale. Once again, it’s no wonder because people simply adore this drink, which is easily one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world, besides beer.
For this reason, many people are interested in working in this industry. However, working in this industry requires a high level of knowledge and certain skills. If you would like to learn more about wine tasting, be sure to take a look at www.vinology.com. Now, we would like to provide you with a couple of essential tips you can use for wine tasting when you are a beginner.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at what these are.
1. Pay a Visit to a Tasting Room
Without a doubt, the first time you taste wine will not be in a winery. You will try it at some birthday, Thanksgiving Day, or some other similar event or holiday. However, when you have a chance to visit a local winery, you should go and attend a tasting room. In one of these, you can try a lot of different wines, and you can ask an expert all you want to know about some peculiarities.
These experts, or sommeliers, will surely know the best, right? Therefore, this is the place you should start learning. Sommeliers taste wine for a living and they will need to stay updated on all the trends of the industry to stay competitive. They are sincerely interested in every bottle you place in front of them. So, when you want to learn more about this fine drink and the whole industry, this is the place to start.
2. Notice the Smell
If you already had a chance to attend one of these tasting rooms, you will notice that these experts usually smell the liquid before they drink. The reason is that you can find a lot of different aspects just from smelling it. It is a crucial way for you to understand what are the ingredients and what you can expect from tasting them. Plus, they always swirl the glass, so they can have the whole experience.
Many people don’t know that this is the reason why you will get only a small portion of wine when you go to the restaurant. That way you will have a better chance of experiencing all the aromas from the glass. There are a couple of tips you can use to enhance these aromas. However, we believe that this is the talk for another time. All in all, don’t hesitate to use your nose to maximize the experience.
3. Should You Spit or Not?
One of the commonest things sommeliers do is spit out a small amount of wine when they taste it. Sure, this is a really popular question among beginners. But many people make the mistake of believing that it is a mandatory activity for you to experience the complete taste and all the aromas that follow it. You should do it only when you are trying a new sort.
Spitting out means that you are trying to find out more details about the wine itself. But you should do it only when you are trying to be professional. If you are surrounded by your friends, doing this would look funny and would not be considered to be of good taste. Sadly, we can see that many of those who are not professionals try to utilize this method for various reasons. We don’t recommend you to do it.
4. Obtain Proper Items and Glasses
You cannot have a complete experience without having a proper set of tools, right? When we say tools, we are talking about a proper set of glassware. Make sure that you have a proper glass. We don’t believe that explaining how wine glass looks because every person in the world knows how they look. These are pretty narrow to make it possible for people to experience the aromas, as we’ve mentioned.
To open the bottles, you will need to obtain a proper corkscrew. Thankfully, pretty much every item you have will do just fine. But you will need to be aware of the fact that screwing the corkscrew completely into the cork. When you do that, chances are that it will break and you will have a much harder time opening the bottle. Also, make sure that you have obtained a proper decanter, which is an essential item.
5. Start With Light and Sweet
Last but not least, we would like to talk about what sort of wine you should start with. Every professional will recommend you to start with some light and sweet sorts. Every wine that falls under these two categories will do you just fine. The reason why you should do that is that you need to build a foundation for the taste you will develop after a couple of years of experience.
After you have at least some experience, you can start drinking dryer wine. The last step for you should be tasting full-bodied red. If you follow this order, you will go through all the sorts properly. Also, you will accumulate all the knowledge needed to become a good sommelier one day. We would also recommend you to start with white and slowly move to red.
The Conclusion
Many people have many prejudices against sommeliers because they don’t understand the concept. The wine world is vast and there are a lot of things you need to explore. In this article of ours, you can take a look at some crucial tips you should use as a beginner.
