Wines Basic Elements
Wine tasting is an acquired and delicate skill that many people enjoy as a pastime or to just compliment a fantastic meal. The many tastes of wine come to surface sequentially as your tongue registers flavors and sends those to the brain. But really knowing what you taste can sometimes be hard to put into words; here you will read some very basic ways of classifying your next wine tasting experience.
Sweetness or lack of it is one of the first ways of describing what your palate is sensing when take that initial sip of wine. If you come across a wine that lacks sweetness you would properly define it as being "dry", but if there is a subtle sense of sweetness then you would classify it as "off-dry", and if it was easy to drink and tangy your would just address it as "sweet". This is predominantly the first of natural sequences when labeling a wine.
Whether you are drinking white or red wine, all wine contains acid that exists in the grapes they come from. The acidity of wines may differ depending on the blend, but is more a taste factor when dealing with white wines and is actually the backbone of its flavor. Any white wine you may come across with a high level of acidity will have a crisper taste in your mouth as opposed to one with not enough that might taste weak. Wines acidity is usually perceived by what tasters refer to as your mid-palate. Here your impression of a wines level of acid is noticed by its tartness or soft generous cleansing, and would be distinguished as crisp, soft or a plain old snoozer.
Lastly you will find tannin present in wines which naturally exists in the skins, seeds and stems of grapes. Do to red grapes red wines being fermented with the skins and seeds red wines are have typically a higher concentration of tannin than white wines. Tannin is generally experienced by a drying out sensation in the mouth as if your saliva has been soaked up when you take sip of wine. This is tannin and can sometimes taste bitter.
These are the basic elements of a wine and come together to create what connoisseurs know as the body. This is a complete wines impression to the taste buds and can be labeled as light, medium, and full bodied. Everyone's taste is different but with a few basic distinguishing terms you could be right on your way to being a very experienced wine taster.
Sweetness or lack of it is one of the first ways of describing what your palate is sensing when take that initial sip of wine. If you come across a wine that lacks sweetness you would properly define it as being "dry", but if there is a subtle sense of sweetness then you would classify it as "off-dry", and if it was easy to drink and tangy your would just address it as "sweet". This is predominantly the first of natural sequences when labeling a wine.
Whether you are drinking white or red wine, all wine contains acid that exists in the grapes they come from. The acidity of wines may differ depending on the blend, but is more a taste factor when dealing with white wines and is actually the backbone of its flavor. Any white wine you may come across with a high level of acidity will have a crisper taste in your mouth as opposed to one with not enough that might taste weak. Wines acidity is usually perceived by what tasters refer to as your mid-palate. Here your impression of a wines level of acid is noticed by its tartness or soft generous cleansing, and would be distinguished as crisp, soft or a plain old snoozer.
Lastly you will find tannin present in wines which naturally exists in the skins, seeds and stems of grapes. Do to red grapes red wines being fermented with the skins and seeds red wines are have typically a higher concentration of tannin than white wines. Tannin is generally experienced by a drying out sensation in the mouth as if your saliva has been soaked up when you take sip of wine. This is tannin and can sometimes taste bitter.
These are the basic elements of a wine and come together to create what connoisseurs know as the body. This is a complete wines impression to the taste buds and can be labeled as light, medium, and full bodied. Everyone's taste is different but with a few basic distinguishing terms you could be right on your way to being a very experienced wine taster.
