Wine Tasting
Wine tasting refers to evaluation of wine both by professional wine tasters and individuals who visit wineries. Many buyers demand a professional opinion before purchasing the wine, while visiting top wineries and wine cellars which besides a tour and guidance usually also includes wine tasting has become very popular and in some regions also top tourist attraction.
Regardless if wine tasting is professional or informal its main purpose is to evaluate overall quality of wine. Evaluation of wine quality usually includes wine’s appearance (color, clearness), aroma of the wine in glass and the taste of the wine which is usually described with special wine tasting terminology in order to establish wine character and possible faults as well as to be able to compare the wine with established quality standards.
To ensure the objectiveness of a wine taster, wine tasting is commonly performed in
isolation and includes tasting of several different wines. In general, evaluation of
a particular wine quality is more objective if it enables comparison with other
wines what is known as tasting flights. Wines that are used as flights are either
the same wine type of different vintages (vertical tasting) or are from the same
vintage but from different wineries (horizontal tasting). Since bottle, price,
appearance and other details of the wine such as geographical origin and reputation
of wine producer might influence the judgement of a taster many serve wine blind.
Blind tasting is characterized by hiding all the details which could influence the
judgement of a taster and sometimes include serving wine in a black wine glass.