Improve Your Tasting Skills: Taste, Taste, Taste, and Enjoy the Journey



By Kori ~ January 24th, 2011.

Are you one of those people who are somewhat uncomfortable when opening a wine menu at a restaurant (especially in front of others whom you wish to impress), accepting an invitation to attend a wine tasting dinner (because you don’t believe that you are a sophisticated enough taster), or even walking the aisles in a wine shop?

Hopefully, you find reading this blog on a regular basis like studying a good road map. It can help you get where you are going if you are not familiar with the territory. It can help you avoid some wrong turns and show you some shortcuts; however, you won’t get there just by reading the map. You have to get in the car and go or pick up the glass and taste. You cannot just read about it and think about it and visualize it. You have to experience it.

Forgive me if this sounds too obvious, but the only way to become a really good wine taster and to gain confidence in your wine tasting abilities is to taste, taste, and taste some more.

“Practically anyone can learn to taste well if he or she is prepared to make the effort: a few years of regular practice are all that is required.” –Emile Peynaud

To discover what you like best, you need to taste a wide variety of wines yourself. You’ll learn something new every time you taste, and hopefully have fun along the way.

Here are a few suggestions to help you improve your tasting skills:

  1. Taste at least one new wine a month.
  2. Join a regular wine tasting group.
  3. Attend wine tasting events at wine shops, wine bars, restaurants, etc.
  4. Host a wine tasting dinner.
  5. Visit wine country.

And don’t let anyone make you feel as though your tasting skills are inferior. No one knows all there is to know about wine. A taster’s learning curve lasts a lifetime. There are always new wines to learn about and experience, and we hope that you enjoy the journey as much as we do.

Cheers!


Filed under: General Wine Information

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