The Art of Wine Tasting: Developing Your Palate and Appreciating Flavors for Your Big Day
If your wedding day is fast approaching, you’ve no doubt got a lot on your mind. It can be a stressful time, the last thing you want is to feel like you’re underprepared. Whether it’s the guestlist or the venue, issues can arise anywhere and things can quickly become overwhelming.
Wine is an important part of a wedding. However, for those among us who aren’t experts, we can often feel out of our depth when it comes to tasting and selecting different wines for our wedding. The truth is that developing a wine palate is easier than you might think. We’ve put together a guide with some tips to help you appreciate wines for your big day. Check it out below.
Drink Lots of Different Wines
Appreciating wine is all about the experience. This doesn’t mean drinking everything you can get your hands on, but exploring all the avenues available in the wonderful world of wine and trying wines from different countries, regions, and vineyards.
You should sample Merlots, Chardonnays, Chiantis, and Bordeaux from the Millesima wines site. The more experience with wine you have, the more knowledge you’ll gain and you’ll be able to draw comparisons and identify themes in all the future wines you try.
Smell the Wine
Before you drink wine, you need to smell it. Notice the particular aromas it gives off and see what undertones you can detect. Next, swirl the wine around in the glass. This creates chemical reactions and releases new, even more complex aromas. The first smell will reveal aromas of fruit and herbs while swirling will release deeper, more savoury aromas like smoke and leather.
Drink Slowly
The key to appreciating wine is to take your time. You need to slow down to appreciate the fine things in life, and wine is no different. Hold the wine in your mouth and let it settle, allow your tastebuds to get accustomed to the complex flavours and identify the particular undertones and flavour profiles you can detect.
Hold the Stem of the Glass
Wine should be served at either room temperature or chilled, depending on the particular type of wine. Glass can absorb heat, which is why you shouldn’t hold a wine glass by the bowl. Doing so will transfer heat from your hands onto the glass and then into the wine, affecting the flavour.
Instead, hold your glass by the stem. This will prevent the warmth from your hands from heating up the wine and changing how it tastes.
Cleanse Your Palate
If you are tasting wines for your wedding, you’re likely going to be trying lots of different types. This can cause flavours to build up in your mouth, which can make it difficult to properly differentiate and appreciate individual wines.
To prevent this from happening, eat a small piece of plain bread between each wine. This will cleanse your palate and leave your mouth fresh and ready to taste the next wine.
Conclusion
Don’t be intimidated by the thought of tasting wines for your wedding. Use this guide to develop your palate and pick the perfect wine for your big day.
