TASTING WINE
WILLIAMSON WINE APPRECIATION
How to Taste Wine
Taste the wine—not the tasting notes.
You do not need an expert vocabulary to understand wine. You need a glass, a little time and enough curiosity to notice what your senses are telling you.
DISCUSSIONS WITH BILL WILLIAMSON
Your Senses Already Know What to Do
Flavor is the impression created when sight, smell, taste and texture come together. Your memory then joins the conversation, comparing the experience with foods, places and pleasures you already know.
This is why two people can taste the same wine and describe it differently. Neither must be wrong. One may find blackberry, another black cherry, and someone sensible may simply say, “That is delicious.”
Spend a little time with the wine. Look at it, smell it, taste it and notice how it feels. The purpose is not to find the approved answer. It is to understand what you enjoy—and why.
FIRST · LOOK
Begin with Color
Pour the glass no more than one-third full. Hold it over a white surface and tilt it slightly so you can see the wine from its deeper center to its thinner rim.
Pinot Noir and Grenache often appear lighter and more translucent. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah commonly show deeper ruby, garnet or purple tones. These are clues rather than rules. Vineyard, vintage, ripeness and winemaking all influence color.
As red wine matures, its color may move from purple and ruby toward garnet, brick and tawny shades. That change can suggest development, but color alone cannot tell you whether the wine is ready, tired or magnificent.
What matters first is simple: does the wine look clear, sound and inviting?
SECOND · SWIRL
Give the Aromas Room to Rise
Rest the base of the glass on the table and move it in a few small circles. Swirling coats the inside of the bowl and increases the wine’s contact with air, helping aromatic compounds rise into the space above the wine.
You may see streaks—usually called legs or tears—running down the glass. They are affected largely by alcohol, evaporation and surface tension. They can be interesting to watch, but they do not tell you whether the wine is good.
Williamson advice: admire the legs if you wish, but judge the wine by what happens in your nose, your mouth and around the table.
THIRD · SMELL
Let the Wine Remind You of Something
Bring the glass close and take two or three gentle sniffs. There is no prize for putting your entire nose into the bowl, though most of us have tried.
Begin with the broad impression. Is the aroma fresh, ripe, floral, herbal, earthy, spicy or savory? Does it remind you of fruit, cooking, a garden, a forest or some half-forgotten place?
Do not struggle to decide whether the aroma is blackberry, blackcurrant or licorice. Recognition develops through experience. The important question is whether the aroma interests you and makes you want to taste the wine.
Smelling also provides the first opportunity to notice a possible flaw, such as cork taint or oxidation. A sound wine should invite you closer, not make you retreat from the glass.
FOURTH · SIP
Let the Wine Cross Your Palate
Take a comfortable sip and allow the wine to move naturally across your tongue and through your mouth. There is no need to inhale, gargle or perform for the people nearby.
Notice the basic tastes and sensations. Is the wine dry or slightly sweet? Does its acidity feel fresh? Are the tannins fine, firm or soft? Does the wine feel light, generous, silky or powerful?
Most of what we call flavor comes from aroma. As the wine warms in your mouth, aromatic compounds travel toward your nose from behind the palate. This is why wine can reveal impressions of cherries, herbs, cedar or spice even though your tongue does not literally taste any of them.
Swallow normally, breathe and notice what remains.
FINALLY · SAVOR
Notice What the Wine Leaves Behind
The impressions remaining after you swallow are called the finish. A fine wine often leaves its flavor, texture and character with you for some time.
Length is useful, but harmony matters more. Do the fruit, acidity, tannin, alcohol and texture feel as though they belong together? Is any one element shouting over the others?
Most importantly, how does the wine make you feel? Does it invite another sip? Does it make you hungry? Can you imagine it beside a plate of food and among people whose company you enjoy?
Your answer matters more than someone else’s tasting note.
BILL’S THREE TESTS
The Questions That Actually Matter
One
When the wine is in your mouth, do you want to swallow it and take another sip?
That is a reliable indication that it tastes good.
Two
When you taste the wine with food, does the food become more delicious?
That is a wine earning its place at the table.
Three
Does the wine make you want to share it with someone you care about?
That is when a bottle becomes an experience.
Occasionally, of course, you find a wine so good that sharing requires a brief period of reflection.
We make more than forty opportunities to face that decision.
TASTE WITH US
The Best Way to Learn Wine Is to Enjoy It
Taste several wines, add a little food and notice how each one changes. Knowledge follows pleasure rather well when given the chance.