perceptions. As you enjoy your fruit of the vine, share with your fellow aficionados your perceptions.
2. SWIRL- We swirl wine to aerate the wine- to allow oxygen to get in the wine and offer you the bouquet. Here’s the academic explanation: swirling releases the esters, ethers and aldehydes combined with oxygen to yield the bouquet of the wine. If you want to impress someone, repeat the previous sentence amongst wine enthusiasts!
3. SMELL- Once the bouquet is released, what does the wine smell like? What type of “nose” does it have? The “nose” is the word that wine tasters use to describe the bouquet and aroma of the wine. Many people do not spend enough time on smelling the wine or discerning the color of the wine. The idea of identifying the “nose” is to come up with your own characteristics of the wine. Following is a short list of words commonly used to describe wine:
acetate earthy off
aftertaste finish oxidized
aroma flat herbaceous
astringent fresh rich
austere grapey seductive
burnt green short
balanced hard soft
big-heavy hot stalky
bitter legs sulphury
body light tart
bouquet maderized thin
bright mature tired
character metallic vanilla
corky mouldy woody
delicate massive yeasty
developed nutty young
You may be more likely to recognize some of the defects of a wine
through your sense of smell.
Here’s a short list of some of the negative smells in wine:
SMELL WHY
Vinegar too much acetic acid in wine
Sherry oxidation
Cork wine absorbs taste of defective cork
Sulphur (burnt matches) too much sulphur dioxide
Sulphur dioxide is used for many reasons in wine making. It kills bacteria, prevents unwanted fermentation and acts as a preservative. A good wine will never have the smell of sulphur. Sulphur may create a burning or itching sensation in your nose.
4. TASTE- Taking a sip and swallowing is not tasting wine. Tasting is something you do with your tastebuds; and you have tastebuds on both sides of your tongue, underneath your tongue, on the tip of your tongue and all the way to the back of your throat! Most people take a gulp and bypass these important tastebuds!
When tasting wine, be aware of the most important sensations of taste and where they occur on your tongue and mouth.

You can perceive 4 tastes:
SWEET, SOUR, BITTER and SALT- but you can smell over 150 different scents!
SWEETNESS- found on the tip of the tongue. The tip of your tongue is very
sensitive and will detect sweetness right away.
FRUIT and VARIETAL CHARACTERISTICS- found in the middle of the tongue.
ACIDITY- found at the sides of the tongue and cheek area. It is most commonly present in white wines.
TANNINS- found in the middle of the tongue. Tannin often exists in red wines or wood aged white wines. It dries the palate to excess when the wines are too young.
AFTERTASTE- this is the overall taste that lingers after you taste the wine. Pay attention to how long it lingers. A high quality wine will often linger 15-20 seconds.
Everything we reviewed thus far- color, swirling, smelling, tasting- happens in 30 seconds!
5. SAVOR- After you’ve tasted the wine, savor it. Focus on your experience and ask yourself these questions:
• Is it light, medium or full-bodied?
• If white- how was the acidity? Too little, just right or too much?
• If red- is the tannin too strong or astringent? Is it pleasing? Or is it missing?
• How long did the aftertaste last?
• Did you like the wine?
• Is the wine worth the price according to your taste?
The definition of a good wine is a wine that YOU enjoy. Do not let others dictate taste to you! Simply follow these basic rules and your wine tasting experiences will be YOURS!

Cheers and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!