With countless wine trails to promote local wineries across the U.S., tasting room visits remain a popular weekend activity for wine lovers and those learning to appreciate wine. Knowing that wine tasting is more than just smell, swirl, and spit will make for a more satisfying experience at the winery.
Plan Ahead
Have a strategy. Decide how many wineries and which ones to visit each day, as well as when to schedule a lunch break. Two winery visits before lunch and two after is a good plan.
Don’t chew, smoke, or wear perfume. Chewing gum, smoking, or wearing perfume will interfere with anyone’s wine tasting experience.
Designate a driver. Have a friend be the designated driver for the day, or else rotate the driving with one person tasting only in the morning session, and another only in the afternoon.
The Tasting Process
Get educated. Become familiar with the grape varieties and the aromas and flavors to be expected from each wine by reading the descriptions in the tasting “menu” at the winery. Wineries should serve whites, then reds, then sweet or dessert wines in that order. This will ensure that a taster can start with the lighter wines and then work up through the heavier, fuller-bodied wines which could otherwise overpower the taste buds if served first.
Swirl before sipping. “Taste” does not mean to only taste with our mouths. Observe the color of the wine then take a sniff. Next, swirl the wine in the glass a few times and take another sniff. The aroma (fruity? spicy? floral? vegetal? sweet?) should be much stronger that second time since swirling aerates the wine and better releases its aroma.
Take a good mouthful. Sip enough of the wine to ensure that all of the palate and tongue is exposed to the liquid. Draw in a little air through the mouth to further aerate the wine to better assess all its flavor dimensions. Are the dimensions of fruitiness, sweetness, acidity, or other flavors in balance, or is one overpowering? Is the wine light or full-bodied? (i.e., how unlike water is it?) After swallowing, note if the aftertaste is pleasant or not, then evaluate the overall impact of the wine. Any remaining wine can be emptied from the glass into the “spit” bucket (they aren’t really for spitting!)
Don’t rush. Wine tasting is an experience to be enjoyed, so don’t hurry through it. Discuss with each other or with the server what was liked or disliked about each wine. And be patient with the server if there are many others in the tasting room who also need attention.
Other Wine Tasting Essentials
Try something different. The tasting room often provides an opportunity to sample unique grape varieties that are not available for sale in stores or restaurants; don’t be afraid to be adventurous.
Be aware of the tasting fees. Many wineries charge a tasting fee that can range from a few dollars to upwards of ten dollars. Some, however, will deduct the tasting fee if a bottle is purchased, although . . .
Visitors are not required to buy. Of course, the winery would love visitors to make a purchase after the tasting, but they realize their winery may be just one of several to be visited that day, so there should be no pressure to buy.
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