Wine tasting

Taste the wine yourself.

To a layman wine sampling may seem like a mysterious act. Is that really so?

During professional wine sampling the tasters gather in a room, where nobody else is allowed to enter. Professional wine tasters seem to us "common mortals" as people with some supernatural gift…

Preparation

The taster uses his natural senses, as do we all, but in conditions that allow him to cut off all other things which might influence his senses. He must be able to use his subjective senses to make an objective evaluation. In the room where a sampling is going on, there is no furniture or other objects that could draw the attention away. The room itself must be large with walls painted in a natural, calm color, the air moisture 80%, the temperature about 20 °C. There must be absolute silence, the lights don´t necessarily have to be set to daylight, as all the tasters check the wine´s colors and clarity with their own flashlight or candle. The table at which the taster sits must be covered with a white tablecloth, which hasn´t been washed with a strong smelling detergent. Several glasses are put on the table, all of them must be dry, completely clean, with a stem and scentless. The only allowed "tool" is bread, which is used to clear the taste between the samplings.

No smoking is allowed in this particular room. The tasters mustn´t have freshly washed hair or teeth, no perfumes and they also mustn´t eat directly before the sampling. If you sum up all the conditions, it´s quite clear why wine sampling is a process closed to the public.

When all the conditions are met, the sampling can begin. The sampling never lasts more than one hour, and within this hour one taster can only taste 15 wine samples. If there are more than 15 samples a break must be taken, but after the break the sampling can carry on. The taster has insight into some general information, like- wine sort, group, age etc…. We can divide the sampling into 3 phases: viewing, smelling and tasting.

Viewing

First you observe the surface of the wine in order to see if it´s shiny enough, then you observe the color, its intensity, transparency and the clearness of the sample. During this procedure you don´t lift the glass from the table. After you have observed the wine in this manner you can lift the glass and then hold a piece of white paper in the background, bring the glass in motion with circular movements, and then observe how the wine behaves. For this procedure you can use a flashlight or a candle, to get as much information about the wine. Using this method professional wine tasters can even determine the sort as well as the age of the wine.

Smelling

Smelling has 3 phases. The first is without moving the surface of the wine. The sampler exhales, puts his nose into the glass (do not be ashamed to do that) and then inhales with his full lungs. After doing that, he takes the glass, with light circling movements brings the wine into motion and smells it as described. While smelling it for the third time, he fitfully swings the glass and smells the content. By swinging the glass the surface of the wine is increasing. That is enhancing the expiration which carries the aroma.

Tasting

First you take a zip of wine, press it back towards your throat by leaning your head back, and then, just before it slides down your throat, you lean your head down to get the fluid back into your mouth. Seize this moment, inhale deeply and take the wine´s soul. It is of great use to be familiar with the different areas on your tongue. Study a little to see where different taste buds are placed. There is a basic division, but it can differ from person to person. Explore your own tongue. By rolling the wine from one area to another you can gain a lot of information about the wine. After that let the wine slide down your throat, and so having tasted it at the crossing of your mouth and nasal cavity, the beginning of your throat and esophagus complete your impression of it. At the end the taster adds up the scores he had given.

After every phase of sampling the score is noted down into the scoring leaflet. By international rules the wine can get two points for the color, two for clarity, four points for the smell (delicacy, intensity and purity) and 12 for the taste, and that includes fullness, amount of alcohol, harmony, intensity, purity of taste and fruity taste, hence the characteristics of the sort. The highest score can thus be 20 points. By declining the highest and lowest score you get the final score of a wine. The rest of the scores given by the samplers are added up and then divided with the number of samplers (only valid leaflets are taken to account.)

Scoring:

• more than 19,01 points champion of the category
• more than 18,01 points gold medal
• from 16,01 to 18,00 silver medal
• from 14,01 to 16,00 bronze medal
• from 12,01 to 14,00 a written acknowledgement

These numbers apply only to quality wines, and table wines get due to the rule one point less.

During a wine sampling the tasters don´t actually drink much wine, there are even some tasters who only drink wine except during the sampling. There is a possibility that the tasters get drunk, especially while tasting spirits. One rule book says for example, that the sampling should be adjourned if 1/3 of the tasters declare themselves unable to evaluate the samples critically. What first comes to mind is the danger of getting drunk due to inhaling the alcoholic steams, or simply because of the amount of alcohol one has drunk. Still, most of the tasters don´t swallow, but they spit it out (don´t be ashamed).

Usually one first tastes white wines, than rosés, red wines, semi sparkling, sparking wines and at the end dessert wines. Even with white wines you should follow the rule which says- first dry wines, somewhat sour and with little extract added. They are followed by semi sour; but quality wines, and at the end strong , full wines with remains of unfermented sugar. First you start with young wines and move to elder ones. These rules also apply at the wine serving, and not only during a wine sampling.

So… don´t get perplexed. It´s worth a try, and do not be ashamed if you didn´t smell the freshness of cut grass or grandma´s bread. The sensory organs get more sensible with time and the love recoups the knowledge.

Good luck!

(information taken from www.vinogradarstvo.com)