Learning about wine can be a complex process – there’s a lot to know and understand. It’s important to know where wine comes from, how it’s made, and what to look for when buying. However, one could argue that nothing is more essential to understanding wine than knowing what it tastes like.
Wine tasting is crucial to the education process of viticulture. You can know every grape variety but what does that do if you don’t know what they taste like?
As we’ve mentioned in previous articles, the same grape can taste wildly different when made in various regions or by distinct winemakers. It’s important to continually taste wines wherever you go to understand the specifics of that geographical region or the palates of that winery.
Every single winery is going to make their wines in their own unique way, so even if you know you like oak-aged Chardonnay from one winery in Napa, you may not like the one from the winery right next door. The climate and terroir from one region to the next can change the way the actual grape tastes so on a very basic level, the grapes will have a different palate of flavors before they’re even made into wine.
Wine tasting goes far beyond just the tasting of wine – you use many of your senses! When you’re in a tasting session, you’ll be given time to really inspect all of the features of your wine: how it smells, looks, tastes, and even how it feels on your tongue as you sip it. Your tongue has magical capabilities (not actually magical but it totally seems like it!) to understand and process various flavors and notes within the things you consume, and your taste buds and their preferences are totally unique to you. That’s why you may love the zesty dry reds but your partner can’t stand them – your taste buds process them differently.
This is why wine tasting is really important. You could go off of the recommendations of your besties or even the local shop owner but they might have different taste preferences than you which means you might not even like their selections.
