Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Haishuo’s 7 minutes to Basic Wine Tasting.
No matter what you are tasting, all the tasting skills are the same. There is an easy way to remember. Take a look at your face, from up to down, there are eyes, nose, and mouth. That’s the sequence you should employ in tasting, no matter you are tasting cheese, chocolate, or of course, wine. So how do you do that when it comes to wine-tasting?
First, you have to choose the right goblet. Different species of wine go with different kinds of goblets. The goblet is wide in the top to grant enough room for the fragrance and the aroma of wine to roam. Next, how to hold the bottle? There is a hole in the bottom, please insert your thumb and always show the wine label to the one that you are serving. Turn the bottle when you finish pouring out your wine.
Tasting begins. First, with your eyes. Tilt your goblet at 45 degree and see your wine against the light. It will be better if the background is white. I understand that there might not be whiteboards everywhere, but papers and tissues are easy to get. This is to make it easier for you to appreciate the color. There are few things there you are looking at in this phase. 1. The rim of the wine: the old and thin will be wide, and the new and thick will be narrow. 2. Wine legs: Shake your wines a bit and see the legs on the wall of the goblet, the thicker the wine is, the longer the legs will be. The material of the goblet will make a big difference, so make sure you use the same kind of goblet if you are comparing among different bottles.
Second, with your nose. Tilt your goblet and smell the wine from different parts of the goblet. Smell might change. There are professional categories for smell. The acronym is PSANDFF: plants (grass or mushroom), spices (rosemary and cinnamon), animal (leather and musk), nuts (almonds and hazelnuts), dried fruit (when it’s really sweet), flowers, and fruit (berries and citrus). However, please bear this in mind: you can always use any familiar smell that you have in your mind. There is no rule in this. The only skill you have to know is to recall the familiar smell that you have in your mind.
Last, with you mouth, the most important part of tasting. Don’t hurry to swallow your wine. Some wine-tasters may even gargle to allow the wine fully wander in their mouths. There are three phases. The first phase is called Attack Phase. There are four things that you have to pay attention to. In this level, you taste what the wine brings you up ahead. The acronym is SATA. They are Sugar level, Acidity, Tannin (Mouth-puckering), and Alcohol. The second phase is called evolution phase. The phase indicates the taste that the wine brings you on your palate. The most interesting part in this phase is that you may start to note some interesting smell that you are not unable to notice when you smell it with your nose. Some smells will come out and say hi. The last phase is called the finish. The phase starts when you swallow your wine. This is the best part of the wine tasting. Let all the taste on your tongue, palate and everywhere else come together for the orchestrated play, and you may close your eyes, shut down one sense to sharpen others, and allow it to wake your taste buds.
Ladies and gentlemen, drinking too much is definitely bad for your health, but a goblet a day is beneficial. Allow me to explain why Helen and Ben have their shares for today’s meeting. Helen’s birthday is 3 days later, July 24th. And Ben’s wedding anniversary is today. I would love to propose a toast and wish you Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary. Cheers! Toastmaster.
