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Wine Tasting Tips

The Basics
Start with a clear wine glass. The rim of the glass should bend inwards to help funnel aromas to the nose, and allow you to swirl without spilling on your $50 tie. Never hold the glass by its bowl, only by its stem.

Now pour a little wine into your glass. An inch or less is best. If you are tasting several wines, begin with the lightest (sparkling wines, roses, then light whites followed by full-bodied whites) and progress to the heaviest (light reds to more full-bodied reds followed by dessert wines). This will help keep your taste buds more sensitive so you can better appreciate each wine in the series. A sip of water between wines can also help preserve your palate.

First notice the color of the wine. It often helps to hold the glass up to light or hold it against a white background, like a white napkin. The color can give you a clue as to the age of the wine. White wines generally gain color as they age. Red wines lose color. That is, young red wines are more red or burgundy while older wines tend to show a hint of tawny brown around the rim. Regardless of age, the colors of wine are just fun to see, ranging from pale yellow-green to ruby red to brick red-brown.

Swirl the wine a couple of times by moving the glass in a circular motion. Swirling is done to aerate the wine and release vapors, evaporating from the sides of the glass, for you to smell.

Then put your nose right over the rim of the wine glass and breathe in. Take note of the wine's aromas and bouquet . Then sip, letting the wine spread across the tongue from front to back and side to side before swallowing. If you are tasting a number of wines -- in a winery tasting room, for example -- your host will usually provide a large container for you to spit out the wine instead of swallowing. It is not rude or gross. Everyone in the wine trade is accustomed to the swirl-sniff-sip-slosh-and-spit routine. No one wants an intoxicated taster or --worse -- an intoxicated driver.