Wine Tasting 101: Step #1
Wine Tasting 101: Step #1 ~ Take a look
As a member of the Prost community, sampling new wines (as well as favorites) is a big part of your experience with us. Here’s a related perk: a guide to making the most of your tastings! Check out Step #1 in our Wine Tasting 101 series: Take a look…
The first step in wine tasting doesn’t involve taste: you take in the wine with your eyes! There are clues about the wine in how it looks: its clarity, color intensity, hue and viscosity. Here’s what to look for – and what it means.
Clarity
Clear = clean winemaking.
Hazy = natural, unfiltered or potentially compromised.
Color Intensity
The paler the color, the lighter the body of the wine – this is the same for whites and reds.
Hue
The hue of the wine is a clue about its age.
- For whites: a young wine is bright, transparent and yellow; an old white is dull, opaque and amber.
- For reds: a young red is rich, opaque and a purple red; and old red is dull, transparent and an orange red.
Viscosity
The viscosity, or “legs” of the wine is a clue about the alcohol content.
Swirl the wine in the glass and observe the droplets.
- If they’re slow and thick to drip down the glass, there is a high sugar/alcohol content.
- If they’re fast and thin as they drip, there is a low sugar/alcohol content.
Give these cues a try and see how your wines compare. Next up we’ll let your nose do some exploring!