Taste  definition

Before you actually get down to tasting wines, you should practice swirling just to become comfortable with the act. This is where the shape of the traditional wine glass makes a difference- swirling wine in your glass helps bring the aroma and flavors up to the surface where they are trapped by the curved design of the glass. For your initial practice session, try swirling with water. Fill the glass rougly one-third of the way. Hold the glass parallel to the floor, and use your wrist to make a subtle, circular motion. The trick is to keep the motion minimal and the glass straight rather then titled.

WINE COLOUR:

Examining the way the wine look will reveal any obvious flaw, eg. brown colour in either red or white is a sign of over-oxidation, cloudiness is a sign when the wien is spoiled. However, it is not a good idea to get hung up on apperances because with break throught technique that the winemaker use nowaday, there is less chance of this happening. Remember that lighting is as important as it really show how the wine look under natural or incandescent lighting. Soft light is fine, but if you are in a romantic candlelight dinner, it will appear brownish.

DRY:

Technically speaking, a "dry" wine is one in which there is no perceptible taste of sweetness (most wine tasters begin to perceive sugar at levels of 0.5 % to 0.7 %). However, a well made wine can have sweet aromas, but still taste "dry." In a Red Wine, "dry" generally reflects the influence of tannin, which can leave one with a slight "pucker" and sensation of dryness on the tongue after tasting. Most of the "classic" or traditional Red Wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot) are dry wines. For White Wines, "dry" is a more difficult taste to describe, but many of the most popular white wines (Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio) are dry wines - again containing no residual sugar.

Sometimes known as "off dry" or "blush" wines. Refers primarily to wines with just a touch of sweetness. Both Reds and Whites often have more of a flowery, fruity aroma, and they have a tendency to be lighter-drinking than a "dry" wine. As the name suggests, these are wines that have a level of residual sugar which gives them a sweeter or "fruity" taste, without being absolutely sweet like a Dessert wine, for example.

The term "fruity" is used to describe wines with a high sugar content. In technical terms, it refers to one of the four basic tastes detected by the sensory nerves of the human tongue. Characteristics are generally deeply concentrated flavors, sugar and acidity which together provide a good balance. There are various kinds of fruity wines. They range from some of the world's most famous "dessert" wines from Sauternes (Château d'Yquem), Germany and Tokay to the sweet "ethnic" wines that have been in common use for generations.

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