Blind Tasting 101

You've likely heard about blind tasting. You are poured a wine without knowing what it is. No clue at all. And, you are supposed to work out what it is. Grape(s), region, vineyard, vintage. And, believe it or not, some people are remarkably good at it. I'm not, although I know how to do it.

The key is to use as many of your senses as possible. And, no, I doubt that you can hear a difference in the wine. If you can, you are of a far different species than I am. But, you can use the other senses: taste (of course), smell, sight, and touch (if you want to consider the way a wine feels in your mouth to be touch as I would).

Let's consider, but not in the order I wrote them. Let's consider them in the order you might observe them.

A wine is presented to you in a generic tasting glass (such a glass should direct the wine fairly broadly starting at the front of your palate). The first thing you should do is look at the wine. There is a lot you can learn. What is the color? Red or white? Some other color? If it's white, is it really more straw-colored, or somewhat golden or a fairly bright yellow? If it's red, is it really quite black or purple, or perhaps bluish (Syrah or Carmenere, perhaps)? Then tilt the glass so that you can look at the color of the rim? Has it browned? If so, it has probably oxidized. This should be a sign of age.

The next thing you can do is smell the wine. Hold it up to your nose. Some people smell better with one nostril than the other or both. Some people smell differently with one nostril than the other. What smells do you get? Are they floral, fruity, woodsy? If it's white and you smell lychee, for example, you are done. It's Gewurtzraminer.

Next, taste a little bit. Drink some into your mouth. Swish it around in there so that it hits the whole palate. How acidic is it? How tannic? Full-bodied, medium-bodied, light-bodied? What flavors do you get? Purplish, earthy wine with notes of crushed violets and roses and a browned rim? Sounds like an aged Barolo. Dark tannic, very full-bodied wine with lots of dark currants? Could be a Cabernet from the Oakville AVA of Napa.

Finally, there is the mouthfeel. Often, this is from tannins. The more your mouth puckers, the more tannic it likely is. Remember which wines have high tannin content?

Getting beyond that is for the real professionals. Once in a while, I get lucky, but usually not. But, I love trying.


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