The Art of Wine Tasting

I suppose you could probably start a fairly heated argument about whether wine tasting is an art or a science among any group of wine connoisseurs. Some call wine tasting an art, while others call it pure science. Maybe wine tasting is a little of both art and science.

The basic steps of wine tasting are universally accepted:

1. Carefully examine the wine visually
2. Swirl the wine in the glass
3. Sniff the wine
4. Take a mouthful of the wine
5. Swirl the wine around in the mouth
6. Spit the wine out

The entire procedure looks perfectly ridiculous and, well, “snooty” to those who do not understand it. But the truth is that each step has a purpose.

Step 1: Examining the wine for clearness or clarity and examining it for sediment is best done by holding it up to a light — preferably sunlight.

Step 2: Swirling the wine in the glass releases the full aroma.

Step 3: Sniffing the wine tells the taster many things about the wine, and the aroma will change as it is exposed to the air. So the sniffing needs to be done for several seconds.

Step 4: The sip that is taken needs to be a generous amount of the wine.

Step 5: Gently rolling the wine around in the mouth allows the liquid to touch all of the different taste receptors on the tongue, because different receptors are more sensitive to nuances to taste than others.

Step 6: Spitting the wine out is only done by professional wine tasters at wine shows and events in order to keep from becoming inebriated. In a restaurant setting, with other people at the table, it is perfectly acceptable to swallow the wine.