Tasting Wine

Hello All,

I am wondering if anyone finds this strange, but I find that when I taste wine, I actually have a better sense of flavours when I take a small sip, and don't swish it around. I have tried the big gulp and the swish swish...but a lot of times, all I sense is the wines acidity and astringency...not any of it's flavours. It's almost like it's too distracting to take a mouthful of wine and swish. Do you think I need to retrain my palate?

If I really like the wine, I find that I open up and allow the sides of my mouth to experience the wine...but for some reason, upon first tasting, I take a small sip, hold the wine between my tongue and upper palate for a few seconds, then swallow. Is this just a bad habit that I should change now?

I agree completely.. when I try to swish and do the swirling and spit, all I get is hot and yucky. Nope, I sip and drink and, lord help me, swallow, even if the price is a bit of a buzz. At least I can taste the wines.

[Jenise]

Hello All,

I am wondering if anyone finds this strange, but I find that when I taste wine, I actually have a better sense of flavours when I take a small sip, and don't swish it around. I have tried the big gulp and the swish swish...but a lot of times, all I sense is the wines acidity and astringency...not any of it's flavours. It's almost like it's too distracting to take a mouthful of wine and swish. Do you think I need to retrain my palate?

If I really like the wine, I find that I open up and allow the sides of my mouth to experience the wine...but for some reason, upon first tasting, I take a small sip, hold the wine between my tongue and upper palate for a few seconds, then swallow. Is this just a bad habit that I should change now?

Not strange at all. I also find I both taste and appreciate the wine best if I just sip. Swishing just highlights acids and tannins in my mouth. But even if I didn't think it showed wine better, I would drink this way because I'm a girl.

For me, the "big gulp" is perhaps a teaspoonful. I do swish it around, gently. Often, if the sip is interesting, I hold it in my mouth for 5 seconds or so (which is longer than you might think.) Depends on how much tasting I'm doing - sometimes I spit and sometimes I don't. And sometimes, even if perhaps I "should," I swallow anyway.
It's a shame to let it go to waste.

I don't usually take a whole mouthful at a time, ever. And if I do, it usually turns out to be a <choke, gasp> mistake.

JOhn

Maria, I taste just as you do. And I always swallow. I'm not a spitter. But then again, I don't do a lot of tastings, just a lot of drinking!

Depends on your technique.

I agree, giant mouthfuls and mouthrinsing swishes are not helpful.

Neither is just pour and swallow.

Depends on your technique.

I agree, giant mouthfuls and mouthrinsing swishes are not helpful.

Neither is just pour and swallow.

Yup. I take small sips and swirl. I also spit, but never at the dinner table

Mark Lipton

I think the answer is: do whatever works for you. I usually take a largish sip and swill, but I will try experimenting in the light of what you say, Maria.

Technically though, I think you will need to a) get the wine to all parts of your tongue to fully appreciate the taste - sweet/bitter etc. - but I don't think swilling is necessary for that, b) get a bit up your retronasal passages for the aroma (slurp, and make sure the wine gets to the back of the mouth?) and c) do the swilling bit to get it round your gums to assess the astringency.

Agreed that tasting methods are very much a question of individual decisions. I know respected professionals who take remarkably small sips and others who take equally remarkable large sips (up to 30 cc). I know some who swirl with vigor and others who do it so gently that it is all but an invisible process. And then there are those who do or do not suck air into the mouth, some doing that so loudly that you might think an earthquake had it, others with genteel manners, others not at all.

I would though say this - if evaluating a wine to determine how much pleasure it gives, do as you are comforable. If evaluating more seriously with the object of writing a tasting note or expressing oneself in depth, indeed swirl in the mouth in order not only for the wine to reach the soft and hard palate and the gums but the nostrils as well.

Best
Rogov

I would though say this - if evaluating a wine to determine how much pleasure it gives, do as you are comforable. If evaluating more seriously with the object of writing a tasting note or expressing oneself in depth, indeed swirl in the mouth in order not only for the wine to reach the soft and hard palate and the gums but the nostrils as well.

Good points. Tasting in a technical way is interesting in its own right, but has limited value if at the end of the day you are evaluating a wine to drink normally with a meal. Appreciating how a technical note translates to real-life drinking is an art in itself.

You seem to have found what works best for you. enjoy. to expand on your method I would only say that tasting is a factor of mouthfeel and smell. As you probably know, you taste more when you are able to experience the aroma of the wine. While you are holding that small amount of wine in your mouth, breath over the wine pulling the air in and to the back of your throat. Keep your nostrils clear and let the vapours waft freely. wait a moment, then swallow. To learn to do this without coughing or gasping I would bring my teeth loosely together, open my lips and then draw in air and breath gently. Eventually I was able to learn how much wine to hold and how fast to bring in the air to enjoy the sensations.
Don't forget to do the swirl and sniff first as this too will enhance the experience.