Taste the Wine with Your Mouth

Rest with the aroma of the wine for a few moments, then take some of the wine into your mouth. Push it up to the front of your mouth, and inhale through your teeth. Slosh it around in your mouth, and cover your tongue. Even chew it if you like.

• As the wine enters your mouth, you'll gather a first impression of it, and a predominant taste may become apparent. If it's a more complex wine, other tastes may appear, secondary notes that accompany the initial impression. Perhaps you can taste the wood from the barrels that the wine was stored in. Is that wood-taste complimentary or overwhelming? Different varieties of grapes are grown in various soils and in varying weather, then stored in various ways for varying periods of time. The wine in your mouth will reflect all of these factors.

• Now spit out the wine into the provided container. You'll notice that you can still taste the wine, even though it's gone. Aftertaste, or finish is an important feature of some wines, so consider--is there much of it? Does it linger? What does it remind you of? Did you spill any on your blouse or shirt?

Take a minute or two between wines to rinse your mouth with a little water (not chilled, you don't want to numb your tastebuds). Take a bite of an unsalted cracker or bread if you'd like. That will clear the taste of the previous wine from your mouth, before you taste the next one. While you're at it, rinse your glass with water and dry it with the clean cloth.

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