Wine Tasting
If you’re planning to tastes several wines in a row, begin with the light whites and work your way through to the full-bodied whites, followed by light reds and then finish with the heavy reds.
Start with the look of the wine. Hold the glass by its stem; tilt the bowl to show the wine against a white background so you can evaluate the wine's color. This will tell you alot about the wine before you even taste or smell it!
Release the wine's bouquet. Swirl the wine in the glass to release the bouquet. This will also allow you to see the "legs" of the wine. The longer the legs (The streaks that form on a wine glass when the wine is swirled) take to fall down the sides of the glass the fuller bodied the wine. Now you can smell the wine, often referred to as "the nose", your sense of smell is a good evaluation tool. Does the wine smell fruit, herb, or is it nutty, woody, can you smell oak or cedar?
Finally, tast the wine. Try to draw some air through the wine in you mouth. The tip of your tongue will identify sweetness while the sides of your tongue will identify acidity and the rear of your tongue will detect bitterness. Accordingly it will enhance you wine tasting experience if you can cover you entire tongue to pick up all of these tastes.
The temperature of the wine when it is served is very important. White wines should be served chilled, which can be accomplished in your refrigerator. Place your whites in the refrigerator one to two hours before serving, allowing their temperatures to drop to about fifty to fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit. White wines are served chilled due to their high acidity levels, which are moderated when cooled. If the white wine is to cold you will not be able to taste all of the layers of the wine. Be sure not to store your wine in the fridge, however, as this can destroy the flavor, making it dull and flat. If you do not have two hours to spare, placing the wine in a bucket of ice water will effectively cool the wine.
Red wines are served differently. They can be chilled via refrigerator for thirty to forty-five minutes, until they have reached about sixty-two degrees Fahrenheit. This is considered “room temperature.” Reds are served at a slightly warmer temperature than whites. Most everyday reds are stored in you home, be careful during summer when "room temperature" can be over 72 degrees. If your reds are over 62 it is best to chill before you drink them. Be careful not to chill your red to long, if you serve red wine at an overly-chilled temperature it will take on a bitter taste.
Champagne and Sparkling wines should be served chilled. The bottle should remain in ice until it is finished. These wines are at their best when fully chilled to a temperature of 40º.