Tasting guide

How to taste the wine?

There are three steps in tasting a wine:
  • Visual examination
  • The olfactory examination
  • The gustative examination

Visual examination


There consists, at first to look the wine in his glass, slightly tilting the glass at about 45 ° holding it by the foot.
Hold the glass by the foot can not warm the wine by body heat. By this action, we will analyze the "dress" of the wine.
Just by this examination, we will already have a lot of information about wine, its maturity or the alcohol concentration. Different elements will enable us to identify the wine. Its clarity and brilliance gives us information on the age of the wine but also a potential acidity. Indeed, a brilliant wine to light may prove to have some acidity on the palate.
The different shades of colors will also allow us to assess the health and age of the wine.

White wine

Red wine

Young wine

Straw yellow

Shade of green

Ruby-red

Shade of violet

Mature wine

Straw yellow

Shad of gilded

Coloured Garnet

Red cherry

Old wine

Deeper yellow

Shade of gilded

Coloured Purple - violet

Shade of orange

Worn out wine

Amber

Colored Tile

Intense red

Colored brick



The olfactory examination : « the nose of wine »


This examination will take us all the first aromas of wine, its bouquet.
There are two times in this review. The first is not to stir the wine and feel once the wine in his glass. Aromas felted go out the first bouquet enough primary wine. This is called the first nose.
Then, we will oxygenate the wine by turning in the glass. This action will bring out all the flavors of the wine and going to allow him to express himself.

Le verre 'INAO
Here are several characteristics that can be found in a glass:
  • Fruity
  • Spicy
  • vegetal </ li> Mineral
  • </ li> Wooded
  • </ li> Floral
  • …
It is recommended to use a glass "INAO" for optimum tasting (as shown on the right)

The gustative examination


This is the main tasting step who comes last . It will allow us to evaluate the balance of the wine and this review will also allow us to confirm that the different flavors we detected in the olfactory examination.
These latter characteristics will give us information about the aging potential of the wine and its ability to evolve.
As soon mouthing, the four primary tastes of the language will be put into action: Sweet, Salty, bitterness and acidity, for finally give us a "note global "wine.
Mouthing will determine the body of the wine, its liquidity in the mouth.

Les goûts de la langue

We need to turn the wine in the mouth by using his tongue to highlight all possible flavors. We often talk about tannins, especially on French wines. The tannins resulting from the pressing of grapes including skins and seeds and bring that feeling of dryness and astringency on the tongue and the inner edges of the cheek.