Assessing and Tasting Your Wine of the Month

Wine tasting provides full realization of the many intricacies of wine. Wines have different flavors, ages, smells, colors, lucidities, length of and strength of sensory impression etc. All of these things illustrate a full portrait of the wine and are indicative of wine quality. The full scope of wine tasting includes not just the tongue but the eyes and the nose as well. But here we will focus on tasting itself. (smelling wine of the month selections(link to article) viewing wine of the month selections(link to article))

To taste wine pour a small amount of wine into your mouth and swirl it nicely around your tongue and mouth so that the wine brushes each taste bud. More experienced wine tasters inhale while sipping the wine. This allows air to evolve the wine, while in the mouth. The qualities that you can ascertain by tasting the wine this way include sweetness, acidity, tannin, (the bitterness), strength of flavor, alcohol level and length, which is how long the taste lasts after swallowing.

Good exposure to these qualities enables a thorough assessment of many aspects of the wine. If the sweetness, acidity and tannin are of equal level the wine has good balance. The better balanced the wine, the higher its quality. High quality wines may also have a potential for balance once aging. Tasting wines for flavor can indicate a wine's age. A savory or spicy flavor in a red wine is reflective of age. Fruity flavors come from younger wines. Fruitier tasting wines are also generally from warmer climates. Riper grapes tend to be more fruity and hotter countries harvest riper grapes. Knowing this allows you to guess the origin of the wine. Additionally different grape types evoke different flavors. For example Sauvignon Blanc generally tastes like gooseberries and Cabernet Sauvignon tastes like blackcurrants.

Your wine of the month club should provide you with only the best wines selected by wine experts who travel the world to taste wines from renowned wineries. When receiving your wine of the month you should take the care to taste and assess the selection so that you can better determine your preference for wines and can build a collection of favorite wines that you are can happily indulge in and share with others.

Gold Medal Wine delivers award-winning, highly rated wines selected with superior expertise and attention to quality. Go to www.GoldMedalWine.com if you would like to join a first-rate wine of the month club.