Wine Tasting for Newbs

Curt and I set out last weekend with family on a quest to find sun and tasty PNW wine.  Excited to share our new finds as well as recommendations as to where to taste when you are out in Woodinville or down in Oregon.  One of the other fantastic aspects of this trip was sharing some of our favorites with someone who is new to wine tasting.  As many of you know, I'm not big on pretentious wine anything, I love wine and think it should be accessible to any person as it is a very personal experience.  What I love about the PNW, is that wineries here (for the most part) aspire to the same and want you to understand why they do what they do.  That being said, thought I would share a few thoughts to help reduce the intimidation factor and help you look and feel like a pro. 

Swirling.  Super critical to do when you are in a tasting room as often the wine has either just been opened (and needs to get a bit of oxygen moving around (aka "breathe") or been open for a bit and needs some love.  The other bonus of swirling is that as the oxygen moves through the wine - the fragrance of the wine is unlocked (aka "the nose").  More on that later.  One last thought - if you start out swirling - you can pass as a pro. 

How do I swirl??? After they pour you a taste - circle your glass gently so that the wine starts to move up the side of the glass - this can be accomplished in one of two ways: holding the glass and swirling OR setting it on the counter and circling the glass vigorously.  Start slow though - the "overaggressive swirl" can lead to wine everywhere.   

Smell the wine! Please SMELL YOUR WINE when wine tasting!  Wine hits at least three of the senses - most important of which (IMO) is smell.  The wine presents itself through its nose, it is the beginning of your experience with the wine and colors your opinion as to whether or not you want to actually taste the wine.  

So after you swirl your wine put your nose over the glass and inhale.  What do you smell? Is it floral, buttery, berry-like, musty, etc?  Smell nothing? Swirl and try again.  Still nothing? Look at the tasting notes for ideas on what the winemaker noted.    I like to compare what I pick out with what the wine maker noted to see if I can find anything he noted.

Look at the wine.  Hold up a piece of light colored paper against the side to see what the color looks like.  Is it "inky" or lighter in color?  (Commenting on this may also help you look like a pro).  After you swirl, look at how the wine drips down the sides of the glass (aka wine legs).  The faster it drips down the higher the alcohol content.  Often times if I get a sense that there is a lot of alcohol - either by look or taste (hot sensation when you sip) - I'll swirl to help get some of that alcohol out of the glass so I can smell/taste the wine vs. just pure alcohol.

Taste the wine.  After you've swirled, smelled, etc - time to take a sip.  You may hear people in the tasting room making bubbling/slurping noises.  Advanced tasting room technique (IMO) - but allows you to aerate the wine an additional time and roll that sip across all your taste buds.  Think of slurping but not swallowing (and you may want to try at home so you do not choke an spit wine everywhere).  

Couple of other recommendations around tasting:

• If you are tasting with a buddy, share a taste so that you do not kill your palate or appear "over served."  It also allows you to try different wines and compare.
• Tasting notes are a guide not an absolute.  Wine tasting is very personal so you may not smell or taste any of what the wine maker listed on his notes.  This is what his well developed palate noted on the day that he tasted the wine. Don't worry if you are not quite getting what they say.  
• You don't have to swallow.  Wineries put spit buckets out for a reason - feel free to use them. 
• Taste the wines in order.  Once you have tasted a cab it may overwhelm your palate a bit and make it difficult to taste say a white or lighter bodied red wine.  Ask the tasting room manager for recommendations as to which order if they have not prescribed (usually they do tell you when you arrive)
• Tasting Room Etiquette.  Talking about or being drunk in a winery is a huge no no and a pet peeve of mine.  Nothing worse than being in a tasting room filled with drunk people when you are there to taste and purchase wine.  Puts the tasting room manager on edge and just detracts from the experience. 
• Ask questions.  These folks are here to educate about their wine and tell you the nitty gritty details about the where and when of their wine.  Few great things to ask about:
• Where are the grapes sourced? Are they estate grown?
• How do they age the wine? Barrel, stainless, concrete, new oak, neutral oak, etc
• How long is the wine in barrel or bottle before it is released?
• What is their signature wine?
• For dorks like me - which clone of Pinot is in this bottle? 
• No more than 3-5 wineries per day.  I personally try to stick to three if I know they are pouring more than 3-4 wines.  Any more than that and you end up with palate fatigue - which is when you have tasted so much wine it all kinda starts to taste the same and you cannot really distinguish different flavors or smells in the wine.

And finally, the best way to really expand your knowledge and ability to pick out the different notes on a wine is to taste a lot of wine and keep tasting.  I am no expert, but the more Pinot or Syrah I taste side by side, the easier it is for me to distinguish notes of tobacco or black cherry, etc.  So that is it - no magic, no mystery, just lots of swirling/sniffing/tasting/swirling again and again. Thank you Mama C for the inspiration for this post - will post my list of must try from Oregon and WA as well.