Mar 02 2010
Red Wine Tasting Guide - Characteristics of Red Wine
Red wine has general characteristics that you can look for to help you understand and enjoy it. There are some guidelines you can follow to help you observe the wine through sight, smell, and taste. This wine tasting guide will show you some of the general characteristics of red wine.
First, look at the wine. The color of red wine is anywhere from light red to deep maroon. Generally speaking, a lighter shade of red will have a lighter body and usually means the wine is younger and more vibrant; these will usually have more of a bright berry or cherry smell. Older wines tend to have more of a dark burgundy center and sometimes have brown around the edge of the wine; these tend to have more dark fruit characteristics such as blackberries, blueberry, or black cherries.
Second, smell the wine. This is where you can use the sight to gage what fruit characteristics are in it. Think about what fruit you smell first. Is it cherry, black cherry, blackberry, blueberry, boysenberry; these are some common characteristics of red wine. Once you identify the main fruit the wine is giving, go deeper into analyzing it. Do you smell hints of oak, cedar, cocoa, pepper, mint, tobacco, or any other identifiable aroma? Some less complex wines do not have much more than the first fruit characteristic, while more complex wines have more to offer the senses and can change after only a few minutes of being opened.
Finally, taste the wine. Swirl the wine all around your mouth a few seconds and then drink it. Think about the flavors that you taste. You will probably taste the same fruit that you smelled. Light reds will have a lighter body than dark reds. Notice how long the finish last before the flavors disappear. What other flavors show on the finish that you did not pick up on while smelling. Even with red wine, you still could taste some white wine characteristics, such as apricot or apple.
The red wine characteristics in this wine tasting guide are a good place to start when looking for the fragrance and taste. There are many aromas that were not mentioned, but this will get you started with most wines. Whatever you smell or taste in the wine is your perception. Different people pick up different characteristics so there is know right or wrong.
Jeffrey Puckett
http://www.winetastingguide.org/
http://www.winetastingguide.org/wine-tasting-guide/wine-tasting-guide
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