Any wine tasting rookie will inevitably feel intimidated during their first time in a wine tasting event. The experience is overwhelming; however, with a little research and fundamental knowledge, you will get acquainted with it in no time.
Wine tasting events take place in many wineries as they offer tasting tours to attract potential customers where you can take advantage of. But to fully enjoy the experience, you need to prepare yourself and taste some wine to warm up your palate.
We have provided essential inputs that would help any wine tasting rookie experience the best of it. It also includes what wine bottles should be their first drink before attending any wine tasting events in the future.
Best Wine Choices For Starters
It is challenging for any first-timer in wine tasting to get fully acquainted, especially some wineries that offer top of the class or unique blends of wines. Some wines taste bitter, sweet, or too strong for any newbies. In building up your palate, it is best to introduce it to some basic wine blends.
Before you attend any wine tasting event, get yourself some of these wine bottles to savor the taste, the scent, and the fullness of the drink.
Real Stuff: Cabernet Sauvignon
When it comes to wine tasting, you’ll be surprised by how well your senses will work from the smell of the wine to how it will taste in your mouth down to your throat. Your palate needs to be familiar with some taste, that is why it is essential to have a glass of a pure, full-bodied red wine like the Cabernet Sauvignon.
The Cabernet Sauvignon is known to have an intense flavor and might be too strong for beginners. But it is an essential wine bottle to get your taste buds to familiarize with how a full-bodied red wine with high tannin and acidity tastes like.
Beginners can fully enjoy a glass of a Cabernet Sauvignon because of its fruity flavors that will stay in your mouth. From berries to plums to feature flavors like vanilla, chocolate, and spice.
Have a bottle of Flagey Echezeaux wines as they have a final blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and a mix of 32% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc. It is rich in flavors that you’ll surely enjoy with every sip.
Classic Tandem: Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio
Once you taste the Cabernet Sauvignon, which is known to have intense flavor, you can readily enjoy the perfect classic tandem of Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio. If the Cabernet Sauvignon experience was too strong for you, it is still an excellent wine-drinking experience. But these two classics will not only let you enjoy wine drinking but also get you interested in wines even more.
Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio are known to be light-bodied wines. They are low in tannin, which is the primary factor of the bitter taste of the wine and is usually low in acidity. These two classic wines are easy to familiarize with since their characteristics are simple. Have a few drinks of Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio, and you’ll surely get acquainted quickly with how they taste.
Taste Some Passion: Bordeaux
Bordeaux wines are famous wine bottles in the wine industry named after a region in southwest France. Most Bordeaux blends are made of Cabernet and Merlot, that is why Bordeaux wines are known to have strong flavor and intensity. However, it is essential to try a bottle of Bordeaux wines to taste how they develop their wines and determine different wine characteristics.
The best character of a Bordeaux red wine is its distinct feature flavors like plum, black currant, and cedar. They range from medium- to full-bodied with the taste of minerals and fruit notes that will burst in your mouth in every sip. They have mouth-drying tannins that might be too strong for beginners but an essential step to learn more about wines.
Wine Tasting Preparation For Rookies
Now that you know which wine bottles you should have tasted before attending any wine tasting events. This time, you need to get yourself acquainted with how to prepare for it. We have listed the basic things you need to remember.
- Do not drink coffee, eat spicy food, or eat any food with garlic or onion. It is best to prepare your palate before the event, and these types of foods disrupt your tasting abilities.
- The best time to taste wine is before a meal, preferably before lunchtime.
- Drink plenty of water in between tasting a different wine. Some experts eat small parts of bread to clean and remove leftover flavors in the mouth.
- Make sure to check the order of wines. The rule of thumb is to always taste white wines before reds, lighter wines to heavy ones, and place sweet wines at the end.
Takeaway
Wine tasting is a fun and enjoyable experience, however it isn’t easy to fully enjoy the experience, especially for the beginners. Some wine tastes too strong or too sweet or too bitter for you to distinguish if you enjoyed the glass. So to have a better experience, it is best to get yourself familiar with the basics. Have a drink of the essential wine blends, and you’ll get a fundamental knowledge of their character. It is the right way as well to introduce their flavors to your mouth.
Author Bio
Scarlett Wells has been writing about wines for 5 years. She is a wine enthusiast too and loves to enjoy a glass while reading her favorite books. She’s into wine tasting tours which is the factor that improve her knowledge about wines.
