1. Preparations and precautions before wine tasting

(1) Observe the label of the wine

The wine label is the file of a bottle of wine. We can It tells the story of the wine; and the design of the wine label can also reflect the style and characteristics of the wine (depending on the winemaker's preferences). Generally, relevant national departments will make detailed regulations on what should be stated on wine labels; basically, the better the wine, the more information about the wine will be marked on the label, but this is not the only guideline.

Wine labels generally indicate the following:

Trademark? Grape variety (proportion)? Production region? Brewing year? Packaging year? Wine name? Alcohol content? Wine bottle Capacity? Characteristics of the wine? Specially designed brewery name and address Packaging plant name and address

Note: For some professional tasting activities, relevant personnel are not allowed to understand any information on the wine label before the end of the tasting activity. content.

(2) Breathing of wine

Before tasting, the wine is usually transferred to another container. In addition to separating the wine from the sediment produced in the bottle, it also One important reason is to let the wine "breathe". Because before drinking a bottle of wine that has been stored for a long time, in order to better bring out its characteristics, it is an essential procedure to let it come into contact with the air; just like a person who has been in the dark for a long time has a certain time when he first sees the sun. The adaptation process is the same. Generally, the breathing time of wine ranges from 0.5 to 2 hours depending on the characteristics of the wine. In addition, like fresh wine, there is generally no need to change the container, but it is still necessary to open the bottle and let it breathe for a period of time before drinking.

(3) Temperature of wine

What is the best tasting temperature and best drinking temperature of wine? These two temperatures are not necessarily exactly the same. In fact, most professional tastings are conducted when the wine temperature is 15-20°C. For consumers, in most cases they can refer to the following standards for tasting.

Wine type

Dry red wine with temperature IF level >36 is 16-18℃

Dry red wine with IF level <36 is 14-16℃

Aromatic dry white wine\rosé wine 10-12℃

Semi-dry, semi-sweet, sweet wine 10-12℃

Dry white wine, Sparkling wine 8-10℃

We can further subdivide it:

1. Young red wine with heavy tannins 14-17℃

Mature Red wine? 15-18℃

Young light red wine 12-14℃

New wine? 10-12℃

2. Rose red wine 7-10℃

3. Light liquor 7-10℃, rich liquor 12-16℃, semi-dry liquor 7-8℃, sweet liquor 4-6℃, sparkling wine and champagne 7-8℃

(4) Order:

If you taste multiple wines at the same time, you should go from light to heavy, so that you will not be distracted by the strong taste of the previous wine. It will destroy the taste of the latter wine, so in order to minimize the masking of the taste between the wines, the order of tasting is also very important. The general rule is that the dry white wine will come before the red wine, the sweet wine will come after the dry wine, and the new vintage will precede the old vintage. Generally speaking, it follows the principle of light taste first and then heavy taste, delicate first and then strong taste. However, you should also avoid tasting too many wines at one time. Most people will find it difficult to concentrate if they have more than 15 wines.

(5) Preparation of wine glasses

To appreciate the aroma and charm of wine, a suitable wine glass is indispensable. In addition to being used to hold wine, the most important function of a wine glass is to show you its charming body and color, and at the same time, it also allows the wine to breathe optimally and gather the aroma. Therefore, a good wine glass should be: colorless and transparent, uniform and thin, with a high base, large capacity and a relatively small mouth.

The commonly used wine glasses include: Bordeaux glasses, ball glasses, Paris goblets, Burgundy glasses and Alsace glasses.

(6) Opening the bottle

High-quality and high-end wines generally use cork as the bottle stopper. There is a heat shrinkable rubber cap on the outside of the bottle stopper.

(1) When opening the bottle, use a knife to remove the top cover of the rubber cap at the depression near the top of the bottle neck, and then use a clean fine cotton cloth to wipe away the dirt on the bottle mouth and the top of the cork. , and finally use a cork remover to pull out the cork.

(2) When drilling into the cork, do not drill too deep or too shallow. If it is too deep, the cork will penetrate and the cork particles will enter the wine. If it is too shallow, the cork may be broken when the cork is opened.

(3) After uncorking, use cotton cloth to wipe away any debris from the mouth of the bottle from the inside out.

(7) Pour the wine

When pouring the wine, do not pour it too full. The amount of wine you pour should be 1/3 of the volume of the wine, but no more

More than 2/5, that is, pour 70 to 80ml in a standard tasting glass. In this way, the wine will be avoided from spilling when shaking the glass, and it will facilitate analysis and appreciation of its aroma.

Some wines that have been aged in the bottle for a long time may have a small amount of sediment. In this case, after opening the bottle, the wine bottle should be left upright to allow the sediment to sink to the bottom of the bottle; when pouring the wine, try to avoid shaking to prevent the sediment from pouring into the wine glass.

2. Tasting

(1) Appearance analysis

Observing the appearance of wine includes the following contents:

1. Liquid level

Pinch the stem of the wine glass with your index finger and thumb, place the wine glass at the height of your belt, lower your head and observe the liquid level of the wine vertically. Or place the wine glass on the tasting table, stand and bend down to observe vertically. The liquid level of wine is disk-shaped. It must be clean, bright, and complete. If the liquid level of the wine is dull and evenly distributed with very fine dust, the wine is most likely infected by a microbial disease.

If the pigment substances in the wine are oxidized under the action of enzymes, the liquid surface will often be iridescent. If the liquid has a bluish tint, the wine is susceptible to metal decay. In addition, sometimes the remains of corks can be observed on the liquid surface. Through the disc-shaped wave surface, you can observe the pearl-shaped connection between the cup body and the cup column, which shows the good transparency of the wine.

If the wine has good transparency, you can also look up at the liquid level from the bottom of the glass. In this observation process, "turbidity" and "precipitation" are two different concepts. Turbidity is often caused by microbial diseases, enzyme damage or metal damage, and will reduce the quality of the wine; precipitation is caused by changes in the solubility of the wine's components, which generally does not affect the quality of the wine. quality.

2. Wine body

After observing the liquid level, you should raise the wine glass to the height of your eyes to observe the body of the wine. Observation of the liquid includes color, transparency and presence or absence of liquid. Suspended solids and sediment.

The color of wine includes hue and depth of color. These two indicators help us judge the mellowness, age and maturity of the wine.

3. Wine Column

Tilt or shake the wine glass to make the wine evenly distributed on the inner wall of the wine glass. After it is still, you can observe the colorless wine column formed on the inner wall of the wine glass. . This is the hanging cup phenomenon.

The formation of hanging glasses is firstly due to the surface tension of water and alcohol, and secondly due to the viscosity of wine. Therefore, the higher the content of glycerin, alcohol, reducing sugar, etc., the more wine columns there will be, and the slower the decline speed; on the contrary, wine with low dry matter and alcohol content will have strong fluidity, and will have fewer or no wine columns. , and the wine column falls quickly. Some people believe that the phenomenon of hanging glasses has nothing to do with the body of the wine itself, but is closely related to the texture and shape of the wine glass. Therefore, the appreciation value of hanging glasses is greater than the identification value of wine quality.

(2) Aroma analysis

When analyzing the aroma of wine, it is usually necessary to follow the following steps.

1. Smell the aroma for the first time

Pour 1/3 of the volume of wine into the wine glass and analyze the aroma of the wine in a still state.

When smelling the aroma, you should slowly inhale the air in the wine glass. There are two ways to do it, either place the wine glass on the tasting table, bend down, put your nostrils at the mouth of the glass to smell the aroma, or lift the wine glass, but do not shake it, bend down slightly, Put your nostrils close to the liquid and smell the fragrance.

Use the first method to quickly compare the aroma of wine in different glasses side by side. ?The smell you smell when you smell it for the first time is very light, because you only smell the most diffuse part of the aroma. Therefore, the result of the first smell cannot be used as the main basis for evaluating the aroma of wine.

2. Smell the aroma for the second time

After the first smell, shake the wine glass to make the wine move in a circular motion to promote the release of less volatile substances, and then perform the second smell. First smell the fragrance.

The second smelling includes two stages:

The first stage: smelling the fragrance immediately after the "disk" that is still on the liquid surface is destroyed. This shaking can Increase the contact surface between wine and air, thereby promoting the release of aroma substances.

The second stage is to smell the aroma after shaking. The circular motion of the wine moistens the inner wall of the wine glass and fills the upper part with volatile substances, making the aroma the most intense and elegant. The second smell can be repeated, and the results of each smell may change. This is the charm of wine.

3. The third time of smelling the fragrance

If the second time of smelling the fragrance is to smell the comfortable aroma, the third time of smelling the fragrance is mainly used to identify the fragrance. defects in. Before smelling the aroma this time, shake the glass vigorously to swirl the wine vigorously. The most extreme type is to cover the rim of the wine glass with the palm of your left hand, shake it vigorously up and down, and then smell the aroma. This can enhance the release of unpleasant odors in wine, such as ethyl acetate, oxidation, musty smell, styrene, hydrogen sulfide, etc.

(3) Taste analysis

In order to objectively analyze the taste of wine, a correct tasting method is required.

1. First, raise the wine glass, place the rim of the glass between your lips, press your lower lip, tilt your head back slightly, and gently inhale into your mouth just like you usually drink. , and control the amount of wine inhaled, so that the wine is evenly distributed on the flat surface of the tongue, and then control the wine in the front of the mouth.

Note: The amount of alcohol inhaled each time should not be too much or too little, it should be between 6-10ml. Too much alcohol will not only require a long heating time, but will also be difficult to keep in the mouth. On the contrary, if the amount of wine inhaled is too small, the entire surface of the mouth and tongue cannot be moistened, and the taste of the wine itself cannot be represented due to the dilution of saliva. Beyond that, the amount of wine you inhale should be consistent each time, otherwise there will be no comparison when tasting different wine samples.

2. When the wine enters your mouth, close your lips, tilt your head slightly forward, and use the movement of your tongue and facial muscles to stir the wine. You can also open your mouth slightly and gently inhale it. gas. Not only does this prevent the wine from flowing out of your mouth, it also allows the wine steam to travel to the back of your nose.

3. At the end of the taste analysis, it is best to swallow a small amount of wine and spit out the rest. Then, use your tongue to coat your teeth and the inner surface of your mouth to identify the aftertaste.

Depending on the purpose of tasting, the wine can be kept in the mouth for 2-5 seconds or extended to 12-15 seconds. In the first case, it is impossible to taste the tannins of the red wine. If you want to fully and deeply analyze the taste of wine, you should keep the wine in your mouth for 12-15 seconds. After finishing the first wine sample, you should wait for a while to identify its

aftertaste. Only when all sensations caused by this sample have faded can you taste the next sample.

3. The use of vocabulary in the tasting process

(1) Color

White wine: light yellow, straw yellow, green straw yellow, yellow, Dark yellow, amber yellow, golden yellow, lead color, brown (the older the wine, the darker the color)

Red wine: bright red, ruby ??red, red, dark red, dark red, purple red, tile red , brick red, brown red, brown, black red (the older the wine, the lighter the color will be)

(2) Transparency of the wine body

Clear, bright, clear, crystal clear, Transparent, dull, dim, turbid, precipitated (suspended matter), loss of light

(3) Aroma essence

There are three sources of aroma in wine: grape fruit, fermentation and Aging, more than 500 aroma substances have been found in wine, and the common practice is to classify them into eight categories.

Fruit scent: cherry, raspberry, strawberry, green apple, pineapple...

Flower scent: rose, rose, lilac, lily...

Plant (mineral) smell: grass, mushroom, granite, butter...

Baking smell: toasted bread, roasted coffee beans, biscuits, tobacco...

Animal smell: Game, fox, raw meat...

Chemical smell: sulfur, rust, oxidation...

Spicy taste: pepper, ginger...

Tree smell: vanilla, pine, oak...

According to the source and formation of the aroma, it can be divided into three major categories

One type of aroma (fruity or variety aroma) ): mainly belongs to floral, fruity, plant and mineral smell

Three types of aroma (mellow or aged aroma): mainly animal aroma, balsam aroma, baking aroma (mainly tannin changes or dissolution

Understand the smell and spice smell caused by oak components

(4) Taste and balance

Since each wine will be different due to the variety and brewing method, thus Residual sugar, acidity, bitterness, alcohol, aroma and other factors that affect the quality of the wine result in different feelings after being combined.

The words used to describe the body of the wine are: mature, mellow, soft, and pleasant. Joyful, balanced, tingling, bubbly, plump, thick, light, delicate, young, light, thin, run-down, bitter, hollow

(Attached: Typical aromas of some major wine varieties)

Red grape

Cabernet franc-chocolate, black currant, green pepper, raspberry Cabernet sauvignon-black currant, cypress, mint, chocolate, tobacco Gamay-fresh, strawberry, cherry

Grenache-pepper, raspberry, herbs, flaxseed oil

Merlot-rose, plum, spicy fragrance

Pinot Noir-cranberry, rose, violet, wild animal

Syrah-raspberry, blackberry, leather, spicy aroma

White grape

Chardonnay-butter, apple, pear, vanilla

chenin blanc-apricot, apple, nut

Gruztamina gewurztraminer - fragrant, lychee

Muscat-delicate floral, refreshing

Riesling-apple, orange, toast

Sauvignon blanc- Grassy, ??gooseberry

semillon-grassy, ??orange, honey, toast, ugni blanc-fresh and delicate