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Among the upcoming events at Potash Bros. Market this month are tastings for the wines from the Languedoc Region of France. Impress your holiday guests with your wine choices and a little knowledge of the art of wine tasting!

It’s no wonder wine is considered such a sensual spirit:  it engages our sight, smell and taste. When sampling a wine, it is first studied through a clear glass, preferably with a white background.  The color of a wine can give clues as to its age.  Many red wines begin as a deep purple and with time lose their intensity and begin to look paler and redder.  Also, the type of red color can sometimes give you information about the type of red grape that it comes from.

Conversely, white wine starts out pale and deepens in color as it ages.  The color change gradually occurs over many decades.  As with red wine, you can often tell what grapes were used and from where they originate.  Cool climate wines are more pale than warmer climate varieties.

The reason wine is swirled gently in the glass when we smell it is that the interface between the wine and air helps the aromas release, so it increases the surface area and makes the aromas more available.  When the wine is young, its aroma is strongly fruity.  As the wine ages, secondary aromas develop that are more earthy.

At last!  We taste the wine.  In tasting, we don’t leave the nose behind.  As you detect characteristics of the wine in your mouth, you will also find that the aromas in the mouth pervade the upper airways as well, and this is an important component in tasting the wine.  Pay attention to how the wine changes as you hold it in your mouth.  Breath in and out through your nose as you taste.

Here’s to the art of tasting wine!

Works cited: TheWineDoctor.com

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