The wonders of Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage often made of fermented grape juice.The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients.Wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast which consume the sugars found in the grapes and convert them into alcohol. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are used depending on the types of wine being produced.

How to taste Wine

The greatest thing about wine is its mystery. You can read all the words on the label and in the review. They giveyou an idea of what this wine should taste like but you are never quite sure and there is only one way to find out. Pull the cork, splash some wine into a glass and stick it in your mouth. Drink it on its own, then with some food- it tastes different. The mystery of wine, its ever evolving. Tasting wine, like food, involves using the senses of sight, smell and taste to create a whole picture.

The Steps

Visual/Appearance

Appearance gives you important visual cues - colour,clarity and viscosity are all indicators of variety,age and style. Is it light-coloured, deep or even dark? Colour can speak.

Smell

Quoted by Rudyard Kipling, ' Scents are surer than sights and sounds to make your heartstrings crack.' Undoubtedly he was right. What does the smell of Johnson's Baby Powder mean to you? Or freshly cut grass? Bread Baking? A freshly cut opened durian? The aftershave of a long-lost lover? Conversely, burnt rubber or the smell of sour milk, for those who once drank school milk after it had sat in the sun?

The light delicate smells - perfume,floral or mineral- waft in and out through the detection range. The smell of grapefruits, pineapples, furniture varnish and even kerosene! All this scent can be picked up from wine through the nose.

Texture

Put your nose right in the glass and you will find the deeper, richer, heavier smells - the earth, truffle, mushroom, barnyard or fresh meat.

Then there are things that are pungent or unpleasant. They twitch the nose, especially the hairs and membranes high up and trigger an involuntary reflex to pull the head away.

In texture, we talk about the aroma and bouquet. Aroma is about fruit and winemaking while bouquet has to do with age.

Taste

Taste is the most important of all the senses because it doesn't matter how good the wine looks or how fantastic it smells - if it doesn't taste good, basically, it sucks.

Sweetness is usually the first thing the mouth registers as the sugar receptors are concentrated at the front of the tongue. Acidity tingles the sides of the tongue and is usually quite sharp. Alcohol produces an oily sensation and if there is too much it can be hot and burning. Tannin is what makes the tongue and gums feel powdery and can be quite bitter.

After reading this whole lot of information, why not get yourself a bottle of wine and try the steps. Start with a lighter wine like white white(which i recommend a riesling or a sauvignon blanc. Dessert wines are alright too as well as ice wines although they are expensive!). Slowly open the cork, sniff it and then pour a glass of wine. Take a nose to it and then give it a swirl. You'll find that the aroma is stronger than the first. Now think of what kind of familiar scent you can come up with. Its amazing. Now go ahead and taste it. Does it taste different than what you are getting from the nose? Or are you getting the same thing?

I admit, at first, it is quite bitter upon taste. But over time, as you keep exploring the beauty of wine itself, you'll find that, appreciating wine is actually a lost adventure....