Have you ever attended a wine tasting and felt out of place? You probably saw people swirling their glasses and looking at their wine but you didn't know what to do. My first winetasting event went a little something like that. We were at a food and wine pairing and I did know what to do. I just observed and copied. However, years later. I now know how to appreciate my wine.
For you to get the most out of a wine tasting, you must know that we taste wine to appreciate it. That is why they are called "wine tasting events" and not "wine drinking events". ours is to appreciate and learn.
If you want to know why we taste wine, see my previous article on WINE AND OTHER STORIES

I love to think of wine tasting as a process where you let your senses appreciate what is in your glass.
It is a seies of many S's.

1. SEE

The first S is see or sight. You must look at your wine before you drink it. We look at our wine to see the colour. White wine can be described anywhere from straw coloured, pale, green or yellow. Red Wine could be violet, cherry or plum coloured. We also look at our wine to see if it has sediments. If your wine is cloudy of has sediments, then it is faulty. Some people also look at the wine and they can be able to tell whether it has aged or not. To see the real colour of a wine, look at it against a white background.

2. SWIRL

Swirling is the practice of moving your wine in a circular motion in your glass. We swirl wine to open it up and release the flavours. Red wines really benefit from this practice and they "open up". Because wine has been stored in a bottle for months or years, all the flavours and nuances are bottled up.

3. SMELL

The next step is smelling where you put your nose to the glass and smell the wine. Different grapes have different smells. Red wines have characteristic smells of red fruits, blackberries, spice, chocolate and even tobacco. White wines have more fresh and crisp smells like green apples, lime, lemon, kiwi and ripe tropical fruits. We all register different things when we smell wine depending on what we grew up eating and where we come from.

4. SIP

This is where you taste the wine. You should take a small sip first and focus on the taste and the mouthfeel. Is it acidic? Does saliva gush through the sides of your mouth? Is it sweet? Is it dry? The next step is sipping again and swishing the wine in your mouth to really get the flavours. Sometimes, what you smelled in step 3 is what you will taste, but sometimes it may differ.

5. SAVOUR

This is where you get to enjoy our wine and really appreciate it. If you find a type of wine that you like, pour some more in your glass and really enjoy it. You can have it with some friends or with a great meal.

There you go. This is a basic step to step guide on how you can be a pro at wine tastings.

Cheers!

• All photos are mine.