Wine tasting is the focus of this part of our wine 101 guide…

Aroma, taste, and finish are the three stages of tasting wine. We’ll look at each of those individually.

To smell a wine, you should steadily swirl the glass to throw the wine up onto the side of the glass (thus increasing the surface area of wine in contact with the air) as this causes the wines aromas to be released. To swirl effectively, don’t fill the glass too full - in fact less than half full is recommended. Put the wine glass up to your nose as you’re swirling and think about the aromas that are being released. Young wines will have primary aromas, relating to the grape variety (such smells are often fruit related). As wines age more secondary aromas develop, which may be more earthy or animalistic. Remember that a wines aromas can take on many different forms, and very rarely will it simply smell of grapes.

When you taste wine, it’s important to realize that little of the flavor that can be sensed actually involves the tongue. Aromas from the wine in the mouth pervade the upper airways, and its sensations from the nasal receptors that we use to ‘taste’ the wine. So, breathe in and out through your nose whilst the wine is in your mouth; paying attention to the way the wine changes as you hold it there. There are different segments to the taste of wine as it remains in your mouth: the fore-palate refers to your first impression, the mid-palate to your taste after a few seconds, and the end-palate to the wines final flavor. Each palate sensation will be different, and you’ll be able to sense these changes if you pay close attention.

When you swallow wine, you experience the finish. It will often be different to how the wine came across on the palate. You might notice the wines flavors remaining on your palate after you swallow, and this feeling is called length. The more length a wine has, the more time you have to enjoy it, and it’s probably true to say that such wines are generally of better quality.