See - Swirl - Smell - Sip - Savor

See

The color and intensity of a wine can offer a glimpse into its age, concentration, body and overall stile. How intense is the color of your wine? Is it pale, medium or deep? This can speak on how light or heavy your wine is. With white wines, you are looking at colors of lemon, gold, or amber. Rosé wines carry colors of pink, pink-orange, or orange. Red wines can vary from purple, ruby, garnet or lawny. These colors can tell a lot about which wine you are enjoying!

 

Swirl

Swirling allows the wine to "open up", aerating it with oxygen. By doing this, you will reveal complexities, aromas and flavors in the wine that may not have been present before. Other than improving the impression of your wine, when done properly, you will look amazingly sophisticated while doing it!

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Smell

Smelling helps to prepare your brain for what you are about to taste. As you smell the wine, think about what scents you're picking up, and keep in mind that there are no wrong answers! Dive your nose into your glass with full confidence - closing your eyes helps too! Your brain can only pick up scents that are in your memory, meaning they are scents you've smelled before or smell often. So, if you are tasting wine in a group or crowd of friends, ask them what they pick up.

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Sip

Finally! The steps prior to this one will definitely pay off now. Swishing the wine around in your mouth can help the wine by allowing it to cover all parts of your mouth and tongue. You can also suck in air to help aerate the wine while it is on your palate. Doing these things can help you to identify the sweetness, acidity, bitterness, tannins, flavors and overall mouthfeel of the wine.

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Savor

The process isn't over yet! At this point, you not only look for length, but balance of fruit, acidity, tannin and texture. Think about how the wine feels in your mouth and what flavors it is leaving behind. When a wine leaves you with an overwhelming desire for another sip, you know you've found a winner.