Sip & Savor This Sip-tember!

It’s Sip-tember! With the harvest season behind us, it’s time to get down to business. Sure, everyone knows how to enjoy a good glass of wine, but did you know understanding and utilizing wine-tasting techniques can bring your wine experience to a whole new level? Sip-tember is a time to learn something new, so, embrace your sophisticated side with the 5 S’s of wine tasting.

SEE

Pay attention to the vibrancy of a wine’s color. Each wine is unique and always evolving as each year passes. During the wine aging process, the color of the wine changes. White wines deepen in color, and red wines tend to lose their vibrancy becoming closer to garnet and brick red.

SWIRL

It goes without saying, that swirling a glass of wine can immediately make you feel 100% more sophisticated. Besides the air of elegance that swirling a glass creates, the motion also aerates the wine! Actually, 80% of the tasting experience is affected by smell. Take your glass by the stem and hold it out in front of you or on a flat surface and gently rotate it using small circular motions so the wine within the glass “swirls”. Don’t get discouraged if you struggle at first, practice makes perfect!

SMELL

After swirling the wine, it’s time to appreciate the smell. Stick your nose in the glass and inhale for two to three seconds to take in all the aromas of the wine. It may look silly, but a lot of information about the wine is found in the way it smells. Don’t be shy, take a few more sniffs. Note what scents you recognize and how the flavors connect with the aroma. Remember to keep your mind open!

SIP

Now it’s time to taste. As you go in for a sip, breathe in a little air to capture aromas. Take a small-medium-sized sip and hold the wine in the center of your tongue. Now, swirl the wine around your tongue and swallow. Once your palate is clean, swish the wine around again and really pay attention to the flavors you taste. Do they match what you smelled? Are there any surprising characteristics?

SAVOR

After each sip, the flavor will linger on your tongue. Note if new elements emerge with the wine’s aftertaste. How does the wine go down at the end of the palate? Are the flavors present for a short time or lengthy? Typically, the best wines have longer finishes.

Wine tasting can be an enlightening process if done correctly. Now that you understand the 5 S’s of wine tasting, trying new wines is no challenge! Happy sipping!