Tips on Becoming a Wine Connoisseur

A wine connoisseur is someone who is an expert in wine. Or more specifically someone who has knowledge and specialized training in wine judging, wine tasting and pairing wine with food. Not to say it isn’t hard work but the steps are fairly simple in becoming a wine connoisseur.

 

Even without a high knowledge of wine, most people know that it should be drank a certain way. You are actually supposed to drink it a certain way. This is so that you can get the most of the flavor as well as the aroma in the wine you are sampling. You will want to pay close attention to detail in the wine you are drinking. Examine the color, if it is an older bottle of wine the red wines will be lighter and the white wines will be darker. You can also gain a bit of the aging process by doing this as well. For example is a Chardonnay is aged in oak barrels it will have more of a golden color.

Swirl your wine. In the swirling process you should coat the sides of your wine glass with the wine itself. Swirl it gently as you do not want to spill your wine. This process releases more of the aroma of the wine giving you a better sense of the wine you are tasting. Since the swirling of the wine releases more of the aroma, the next step seems to be a pretty obvious statement. Smell your wine. There are certain thing you should look for when breathing in the aromatic scent of your wine. If the wine you are observing is white you should look for more tropical and citrus scents. You may even look for scents of melon or lemon and lime. You may even detect some oak and vanilla in some cases due to the fermenting process of the white wines. On a side not for some wine connoisseur education, cooler places general produces more tangy and citrus flavor wines.
When giving the red wines a sniff look for plum or the aroma of berries. If the wine was produced in a cooler placed you will typically have a scent of red berries such as cherries and strawberries. If you red wine was made in a warmer climate you should detect blackberry or plum. A lot of the darker wines will also have a smell of chocolate, coffee and smoke as another major aroma.

Of course you are going to want to sip the wine. Even though the smell process give you and idea of the taste you wont know for sure unless you actually try it. You will need to give your wine a sip. After you have combined the smell and the taste of the wine you can determine if the two appear to go hand in hand and you can then determine if you like the taste of the wine. .

Something many wine connoisseurs know is the difference between terroir and tannins. This is important. The term tannin is the textural element of wine that makes it dry. Naturally occurring in barks and grapes tannins add complexity to a wines flavor. This term applies most mostly to red wines. The reason terroir is also an important term to know is because this refers to the background of the wine. Other plants that might be growing in the area, the topography as well as the climate and soil of where the grapes were grown. Some wines are bottled by grapes and some wines are bottled by region. This is what makes knowing the terroir of the wine so important.

Temperature. If you want to become a wine connoisseur it is highly advised that you know how to store your wine. You definitely do not want to store the wine in an area that is too hot or an are that is too cold. Each different type of wine requires a different temperature. Reds require 68°-77°F (20-25° C), Pinks 44°-55°F (7-13° C) and whites or sparkling should be below 40°F (5°C).

Use the right wine class for the job. Standard wine class will do for most reds and white wines. But Chardonnay does require a wider rim. Port Wine needs to be in a large flute, Sherry in a narrow martini style glass. And Vintage sparkling wines go best in a flute. Hold the glass by the stem, this is the professional wine connoisseur way to do so. Familiarize with these steps and you will be well on your way.