TASTING part one

Last night I was able to attend my restaurant’s wine tasting event with my husband and a couple friends.

Wine tastings make me so very happy. 

I love being able to try a variety of wines and learn about them as I taste them.

I have spent the past couple of years attempting to learn the art of tasting wine (you know... like the pro's do it). I have been swirling, smelling, sipping, and trying to figure out the exact flavors I taste in a glass of wine. At first it's not very easy. I used to think all red wines tasted the same. Later, I realized they most definitely do not. 
After drinking more and more wine, I started to discover different fruit flavors. I could point out the tastes of earth, wood, and flowers.
I read many online reviews and learned that there is no right answer to what tastes you find in wine (although there are common ones specific to certain types of wine). It’s really a matter of what YOU taste that is all part of the enjoyment of wine tasting.

Here is a bit I have learned about HOW TO TASTE WINE...

1. The glass should be ⅓ full or less (you usually get one ounce pours at tastings).

2. Tilt your glass against a white background and notice the color (I never cared about this until I started learning about different types of wine and what they were supposed to look like...sometimes I skip this step).

3. Hold the stem of the glass and rotate it (easier if you have a table to rest the glass on) to get the wine swirling around the glass.

4. Stick your nose in the glass as far as it will go.

5. Your first inhale is the most important! What comes to mind first? Citrus? Wood? Spice? Dirt? There are so many aromas to wine.

6. Take a sip of the wine and roll it around your tongue. Is it Sweet? Tart? Acidic? Heavy? What words come to mind?

Eventually I’ll share some common descriptions and what they mean, but until then taste away...the randomness is all part of the fun!