|
Tasting wine is indeed an art and learning how to taste wines will intensify your love for both wines and winemakers. Start to look at different wines, begin to smell different wines and taste by sipping different wines and when you expand from there you will find out how to taste wines like the true professionals.  You will soon realize that your taste perception is restricted to salty, sweet, sour and bitter and these tastes combined with the varying smells will enable you to distinguish the wine flavors.You pour wine into a clear glass and hold it up to a white background. This will help you to determine a wine's true color. Color indicates a wine's age. White wines generally gain color as they get old while red wines lose color with age. Hold firmly the stem of the wine glass and lightly swirl the glass in little circles for 10 to 20 seconds allowing oxygen to penetrate the wine. Swirling the wine in a glass will bring out vapors, and facilitate you to discern the smell. Stick your nose right into the glass and breathe in. Then you start to taste the wine. Sip a small quantity and swirl it around gently inside your mouth till all your taste buds are exposed. Find out if it is sweet, acidic or crisp and whether it is pale or full-bodied. Try to study the after-taste of the wine on your palate. Please know that the Napa valley has more than 280 wineries each with distinct smell, color and taste. Ask locals which wineries will give you the type of wholesome experience you are looking for... Make it a point not to visit more than four wineries in a day. The Wine Country tour should never be rushed through. Most wineries are open from 10am to 5pm and most of them offer tours daily from 10am to 4:30pm, which usually covers the entire winemaking process from grafting and harvesting the vines, to pressing the grapes, to blending and aging the juice in oak casks. You can sip your way through downtown Napa and for a mere $15 you get to taste wine in ten different tasting rooms, all of which are within walking distance of one another. This facility is provided at the Napa Valley Conference & Visitors Bureau.  Over the past decade, sipping has become such a popular pastime that you will often find yourself jockeying for space trying to catch your host's attention at the bar. Instead of opting for free sips, it is better to pay money to taste. When you offer a $10 per person, you avoid crowding in with the hundreds of people who come for the cheap buzz. You also get a more intimate experience, with more attention from the staff, more useful information, and far more exclusive surroundings maybe even a seat.Napa Valley is an excellent wine-tasting retreat for you to relax, and gain rich experience. Although Napa Valley Wine Country is alluring at any time of the year, the perfect time to visit the area is during the Harvest Season, when the grapes are picked that is around late summer (August-October). Please know that some Napa Valley wineries will charge up to $25 for tasting wine and in many cases, wineries will insist on prior reservations and credit card numbers for visits. Again, no shows may also be charged if you fail to cancel 48 hours in advance. However, there are several Napa wineries that offer free admissions or collect nominal fees for tasting wine. The best way to broaden your knowledge of wines is to sample wines in a tasting room. The winery staff there will be quite willing to share their knowledge and guide you to getting the most out of your visit. |
