When Going to Wine Tastings Use These Tips

This weekend, my husband and I will be going to the North Sierra Wine Trail tasting circuit. We often go to tastings around town, and one of the cellar is doing a “Tour de France” themed tasting. While we by no means consider ourselves to be “wine snobs,” we have found a few things one can do when it comes to tastings can improve your experience. Here are some wine tasting tips:

1. Stay Hydrated – Make sure you drink plenty of water the day of the tasting. It also helps to drink water during the tasting so that you can both cleanse your palate and avoid dehydration. This is especially important during the summer.
2. Keep an Open Mind – Traditionally, I’m not a huge fan of Merlot or chardonnay – both of these can be over-oaked and lose their appeal quickly. However, I’ve had some very, very good Merlots on tastings (Chateau Ste. Michelle’s 2009 Merlot, St. Julien’s 2008 Merlot, others) and some outstanding chardonnay wines (Morgan, Chateau Ste. Michelle, others). If I’d approached the wines thinking that I wouldn’t like them, then I would have missed out on some good wine.
3. Keep Your Palate Cleansed – Make sure to take advantage of water that’s available between wines. Sometimes a wine’s taste and your palate can be askew when wines combine with one another. By keeping your palate cleansed you can get a more accurate impression of the wine.
4. Sip-Swill-Smell-Taste – By taking a small sip to begin with, you can warm your palate up to the wine you will be tasting. But don’t judge the wine just yet! Swill the wine in the glass to open it up (bring out the subtleties in flavors). Before you sip, enjoy the nose of the wine. What do you think the wine will taste like? Sometimes you can pick up notes of vanilla other times you can pick up berry notes. Now, you’re ready to taste.
5. Don’t Be Afraid to Share the Experience – Wine tastings are far more rewarding when you share the experience of the wine. Verbalize what you taste to a friend    or to the sommelier. By sharing your experience with others, you can enhance both your own knowledge of wine and the knowledge of others.
6. Take Notes – So that you can remember your impressions of the various wines you taste, you will want to take notes. Write whether you like the wine, whether you bought the wine or would like to later purchase the wine, and note any qualities that will stand out (i.e. thoughts about possible pairings, occasions, flavors, etc.) Always have a pen and paper handy for this purpose.
7. Have Fun! – Don’t take yourself too seriously! Wine should be fun!

What are your favorite wine tasting tips? Leave your comments below!