The final phase in evaluating wine is to assess its taste and finish. Some of the things you will be looking for are whether or not the wine is balanced and harmonious, its complexity, and how the wine finishes after you are done tasting it. If you understand how taste buds work, you will better understand the importance of this phase. The taste buds are located all throughout your mouth and detect the five taste perceptions: salty, sour, bitter, sweet, and umami. As you move the wine around in your mouth, try to remember to hit all the spots so that you can unmask the flavors. The tip of your tongue will taste the sweetness of the wine, while the inner sides of the tongue will detect sour and acidic qualities.
Take a sip of the wine from your glass but do not swallow it yet. First, try to expose the wine to all of your taste buds by rolling it around in your mouth. While your taste buds are detecting the complex flavors of the wine, you should also pay attention to the texture of the wine, and to its weight or body. Do you taste fruit? Spice? Butter or honey? Do you taste herbs or earthiness? Woodiness? Or perhaps you taste a complex combination of several of these characteristics. The flavor components of the wine should be well balanced and proportionate, and they should present harmoniously in your mouth.
Complex wines change in flavor even as you taste them. If you take a second sip of the wine you are tasting, try to do it with a little bit of air—you may have to “slurp” to accomplish this. You should be able to note some differences in the flavors and the textures of the wine when air is added to your mouth. Can you detect many flavors as the wine moves around in your mouth? What is its mouthfeel—or the texture and weight of the wine? Does it change when you add air to your sip or does it remain somewhat the same? Let the flavors dance in your mouth while you ask yourself these questions.
When you finally drink the wine, note the length of time the taste remains in your mouth even after you have swallowed. This is the wine’s finish. The longer the flavors linger is a good determinate of the quality of the wine. What is your last flavor impression? Do you like the way it tastes? At this point in your tasting experiment, you may want to take notes of your overall impression of the wine. Taking notes has a two-fold benefit: one, you will be able to remember later the wines that you prefer and why, which is very helpful if you plan to taste several throughout the day. And two, journaling the characteristics of each wine will help you in your learning process.
When will you be heading out to do a wine tasting? Armed with a small amount of background knowledge should heighten your experience. From the first view of a wine to the last swallow, tasting wine can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be. And since there is no right or wrong way to taste a wine, remember first and foremost to enjoy what you are drinking!
