I have always loved wine but consider myself a novice when it comes to the ability to recognize and distinguish a wine’s characteristics. In fact, only recently I realized that when people spoke of wine tasting they were speaking of something much more complicated than just sipping the wine to determine if they liked it or not. I decided that it was time that I uncover some of the mystic of wine tasting.

I began by purchasing a wine tasting book for beginners. The book began by guiding me through the many types of wines, describing the grapes and how they are grown. At first the book was a little bit overwhelming and I was eager to get to the tasting section, but then I found that while reading the section on how wine is made, I began to have a little more understanding of why certain flavors are found in wines. I have heard wine connoisseurs describing wines as tasting like flowers or wood or nature and until reading this book I never understood where those flavors came from. It seemed like such a simple discovery. Some wines actually sit in oak barrels for a long period of time, and then of course, naturally the wine begins to take on the flavor of the wood. You don’t actually have to be a wine expert to recognize the flavor of wood. I do believe that you have to learn to “taste” the wine. It’s like the difference between hearing and listening. I found that when following the advice of the beginners wine book by closing my eyes, smelling the wine, and then taking a generous amount of wine into my mouth and allowing it to sit on my tongue and move around my mouth before I swallowed it I began to truly “taste” or actually listen to the flavors of the wine.

The first experience of truly tasting my wine was actually quite stimulating! I tasted a white merlot and I could almost feel the sensation of my taste buds tingling. The wine had a slight tartness accompanied by a fresh fruity flavor with a full moist taste. I had experienced this same wine on many prior occasions but suddenly it was as if I had discovered a whole new flavor. After that first experience I was eager to taste the many other wines that I had in my wine refrigerator. It was a refreshing discovery to find that there was truly a difference between drinking and truly tasting wine.

While I am still a beginner and realize that I have a truly immature palette for tasting wine, I have learned that the best way to improve one’s wine tasting ability is to taste as much as possible on a regular basis. While I am not planning on becoming a professional wine taster, I have learned enough that I can truly appreciate the wine that I drink and take the time to enjoy the sensory experience of tasting the wine instead of just casually drinking it with my dinner. I would highly recommend anyone who enjoys a glass of wine to at the very least read a book on wine tasting so that they too may enjoy this invigorating experience. And if you want to take it a step further, there are a growing number of wine schools that can be found, offering wine tasting classes to the public. For the time being, I am satisfied that I have learned how to fully appreciate the delicious wines I used to take for granted.