BE SYSTEMATIC

During the Wine Tasting Course in London, learn the systematic approach to wine tasting. Perhaps inferring a tedious and methodical way of looking at wine, will, once the technique has been mastered, give you the greatest pleasure and appreciation of wine. It is simply a way of training your senses to get the most out of wine. At the same time this approach helps you to analyse various aspects of the wine and its quality.

We use our senses of sight, smell and taste to appreciate the wine in the glass. Do not expect to be able to identify the origin of the wine, its vintage or varietal content by the end of this session. You will, however be able to discern the differences in wine and put in place the building blocks necessary to analyse acidity, flavour profiles, alcohol, oak influence and tannin. You will be on the way to tasting like a professional.

The table overleaf shows how wine can be assessed. Any assessment of wine will look at 3 main areas. Firstly we study the condition of the wine, healthy or faulty, secondly the flavour and structure of the wine and finally the quality and maturity of the wine.

We check the appearance of the wine which can gives clues as the wine’s age, its likely intensity and, to a degree, the type of variety used, wine making influences and its sweetness.

WHAT ELSE WILL I LEARN DURING A WINE TASTING COURSE IN LONDON?

The smell of a wine gives many clues as to the grape variety, its origin, age and wine making influences. In fact one Australian wine judge believes that you can tell 90% of the influences upon a wine simply through its aroma.

The palate will also yield up various flavours but more importantly will give you the “taste” or structure of the wine. The combination of these elements will allow the taster to assess the quality of the wine.The quality of an individual wine can be a contentious issue with one taster believing a wine to be of great class and distinction whilst another thinking that the wine is poor.

This can arise due to cultural differences in what is expected of the wine or personal taste. The aim of the systematic approach is to assess quality components such a depth of flavour, complexity, balance, elegance, length and integration so as to arrive at an objective decision as to the wine’s quality.

As you work your way through the Wine Tasting Course in London, you will find wines that you like and probably be surprised by some. Whatever your likes and dislikes you will have a grasp of why some wines appeal and others do not and enjoy your wines all the more.

10 Things to think about at your next Wine tasting

1:  Taste against a white table cloth or white surface so you can see the colour of the wine properly
2:  Natural light is best
3:  Try to avoid drinking coffee or other strong tasting drinks/food just before your tasting
4:  Have a light meal before, but don’t eat too much as your taste buds will be sluggish after a big meal
5:  Start tasting the lighter white wines first, then move on to the heavier whites, then reds and sweet wines or port last.
6:  Cleanse your palate with water biscuits between wines
7:  Don’t over taste each wine, as you will tire out your palate.
8:  Make sure you swirl the wine around in your mouth, so as to cover all your taste buds.
9:  Make some useful notes, otherwise you will not remember much later.
10:  Always drink the best wine you can afford! As they say, life is too short to drink bad wine!

Have fun and don’t take it all too seriously!