How to correctly detect the aromas of a wine
“Wine teaches us taste, is the liberator of the spirit, the illuminator of the intelligence.”
Paul Claudel
Get ready for a wine tasting
For the optimal tasting, it is strongly recommended to use the right tools: a quality corkscrew, different glasses for different types of wine that the manufacturers have developed to highlight the particular qualities of the wine. And depending on the wine, a decanter can be sometimes necessary.
It is essential to drink the wine at the right temperature. The serving temperature for champagnes is 8 degrees, 8 to 10 for the whites, 10 to 13 for the rosés, 12 to 14 for the light reds and 15 to 18 for the more full-bodied reds. A wine served at too low a temperature will not be able to express itself correctly, it will lose a lot of its aromas and served too hot, alcohol will dominate and break the balance. Wine hates sudden change in temperature; it is better to wait for it to lose or take the missing degrees.
Serve and analyze the wine
With the bottle open, the wine at the right temperature served in the appropriate glass, you are ready to taste. This requires your senses: sight, smell and taste.
The sight to appreciate the color of the wine, the reflections, the transparency and the intensity.
Smell, the first nose, to breathe in the wine well in order to identify the primary aromas.
For the second nose, you have to aerate the wine by swirling it around in the glass, holding the latter by the stem. Notice the tears sliding down the sides of the glass. Breathe again and you will discover more aromas, secondary and tertiary.
Then you taste the wine!
Taste a small amount, paying attention to the attack, a wine that you swish in the mouth to follow its evolution and as you swallow you will notice the more or less long finish.
Enjoy repeating the experience and have fun identifying aromas and flavors. This will help you identify your favorite grape varieties and flavors.
We agree with Claudel, but we also think that he surely exaggerated his wine consumption to come to his third conclusion!
Cheers!