Wine tasting

A kosher wine is tasted exactly the same way as a "taref" wine. Like this: 




If you enjoy good wines and have an idea of what you like, you might want to be able to illustrate your findings during a tasting.
The tasting of a wine and its sensory analysis is divided into three phases designed to awake our three main senses: sight, nose and taste respectively. 


The aim is to analyse the "robe" (dress) of a wine.

You will first try to see and judge its clarity and then its color nuances. These vary between yellow green to yellow or golden straw for white wines, rose or pink for rosé wines and cherry, deep or light red or brown for red wines. The "robe" is already an indicator of the health and age of the wine.
Finally, in the case of sparkling wine (Champagne, Crémants…), you should also try to analyse the intensity and finesse of the bubbles that are generated.

The smell, the most accurate of our five senses, should help define the "nose" of a wine, its bouquet.
This phase is essential but more complex, and the analysis must be made gradually.
Before reading further you can obviously make your idea of a nice bouquet yourself, but our guidelines may still be helpful.

You start with a first smelling, without shaking the wine. Then gently turn the wine in the glass (to expose it to the fresh air) and exhale its bouquet. "Dive" with your nose in the glass and smell quickly. Then again turn the wine in the glass and then breathe in deeply. For this exercise, it is preferable to inhale in small portions, not to exhaust the nose's capacity of perception. You now have all the elements to judge the intensity, quality and character of the odors collected in your nose. These smells are classified according to nine different types of smell, and arrive gradually in the inside of your nose.

These will be,



  -- Fruity (apricot, banana, cassis, quince ...),

  -- Plant (hay, lime ... or moldy and cap),

  -- Flowers (roses, acacia, violets ...),

  -- Chemical (oxidization, alcohol, stagnant ...),

  -- Balsamic (vanilla, pine raisins),

  -- Savage (musk, packed ...), 

  -- Spicy (pepper, nutmeg, cloves ...),

  -- Wooden, (burned, cooked, smoked, caramelized, tar).



The taste should ultimately help define "the taste of the wine" and its balance.


The analysis of the taste is divided into 3 phases, each intended to catch different sensations:


1 - The mouth can detect flavors such as sweet, salty, acid, chemical, astringency, spicy or hot.


2 - The aering and ventilation in the mouth which allows fast-moving fragrances to escape. 


3 - The after-mouth (after swallowing or spitting) you will note the after-taste: a pleasant flavor, bitter and with a lengthy finish.


Small reminder: The taste?

Sweet: 

Appears at the tip of my tongue

Perceived immediately

Reaches its peak after two seconds, and disappears after ten seconds

Acid:

Appears on the sides and the bottom of the tongue

Quickly perceived 

Persists as a salty flavor

Salt: 

Appears on the higher front area of the tongue 

Is quickly perceived 

Persists more than the sweet

Bitter: 

Perceived on the posterior part of the tongue

Develops slowly

Increases and remains for a long time


Expressing your opinion on a wine tasted 

Here are some adjectives you can use to express your sensations with: 



Robe (Dress) 
  Supported, amber, ruby, deep, intense 
  Troubled, too heavy 
 
Aromas
  Discrete, expressive, bouquetés, floral, fruity, spicy
  None, cork troubles (air leak), moldy nose
 
Overall impression
  Bodied, powerful, fine, elegant, balanced, broad, bold, complex, fleshy, silky
  Pando, astringent, acid, flat, short on the palate, unbalanced 
 

The tasting becomes interesting at a meal, when the combination of food and wine leads to mutual enhancement. There is no absolute rule for a successful combination of foods/wines, but there are a few basic principles. The flavours must preside in the order of lighter wines to more bodied ones, and less outstanding vintages to greater ones.