We asked an wine expert to help us learn about wine tasting, because, it turns out, there is indeed a best way to taste wine. We have a very cool new paddle & wine tour that takes guests paddling down a river to an award-winning winery for either a full wine-tasting or a cool concert. Doesn’t relaxing with a glass after paddling down the Potomac River sound good?
When tasting wine…
a. Swirl – swish wine around in the glass. This mixes wine with oxygen, allowing aromatic flavors to release and give you a whiff of the wine’s fruit and flavors (also known as the “bouquet”).
b. Sniff – wine will taste as it smell. Your tongue is champ at detecting sweet, salty, sour and bitter – your nose does the rest.
c. Sip – think about how the wine feels upon sipping and letting it sit on your tongue. Is it soft, refreshing, puckery? Is the texture silky smooth, gritty, mouthfilling? Does it taste fruity, bright, citrusy or earthy? After swallowing does it evaporate, linger, change? Does the flavor and feel change when paired with food?
