Navigating Wine Tastings

Welcome to the wonderful world of wine tastings.

Feel ill at ease at them? Worried about committing a faux pas amongst all those people who seem to know what they’re doing?

Wondering how to go about it? Which wines to try?

Not to worry. Just continue…

Wine tastings are the classic way to sample a lot of different wines in a short time for free or a nominal fee. Many of the bottles of wine that I currently have were bought at tastings. I liked the wine so I bought it. Never would have had I not gone there.

These are several kinds of wine tastings. Go ahead, try them all.

• Public tastings. The most common type of tasting, these are held at wine stores, wineries, or other facilities. Different reps set up tables and offer a variety of whites and reds and reds. Some are small and cozy. Others are huge. I’ve been to some mega-tastings with over 700 wines.

  And, no, I did not sample them all! As much as I wanted to.

• Wine class tastings. These are more organized and focus on a particular theme. That can be a varietal or region or vintage or wine 101 or price or whatever. You will probably be seated at a table full of empty glasses and paperwork describing what you will be drinking. This is an excellent chance to compare the taste of each wine with the info presented and draw conclusions from those comparisons.
• Wine party tastings. These are of course far less formal than the classes. In a similar manner, the host will have each guest bring a bottle based on the theme. Then, in the same way, you compare and learn. For the party, you can find some fun wine tasting kits at Amazon.

• Blind tastings. These are when you do not see the bottle and you have to identify the wine. You will be asked to name the basics like the varietal, vintage, and region. Prizes can be won by those who score best in their choices. These are quite fun and can be quite surprising. You may think you’re tasting a cab and really be tasting a merlot. These are even more fun as you get better at knowing how different wines taste and look.

  Very loose hints but don‘t quote me. There WILL be exceptions:

  • If you can tell the shape of the bottle being served, that may be a clue as bottle shapes among varietal will sometimes vary.
  • Younger wines will have more clarity.
  • Golden whites are most probably chardonnays especially if they’re oaky.
  • Lighter reds can be Beaujolais or lighter pinot noirs.
  • Peppery wines are likely to be zinfandels.
  • Dark violet wines are probably cabernets or syrahs.
  • If your cheeks pucker from tannins, you’re probably drinking a young cabernet.
  • A tart yellow-green white wine is probably a sauvignon blanc.
  • Wines with a lot of legs will have more alcohol. It may be a heavier zinfandel or cabernet.
• Barrel tastings. Naturally, these are held at wineries. They will open up a plug to the barrel and siphon out samples. While not deemed ready for production, some of these are still quite good and some of the best wine I’ve had came right out of the barrel. These are also educational in the sense that you can taste the wine prior to barrel maturity and compare to those who have matured.
• Pre-auction tastings. As I also note on my auctions page, these are a great opportunity to taste high-end, very old, and otherwise unavailable wines.

Check these out for more juicy details:

Learn some tasting basics and helpful tips

How do I buy wine at a tasting?

Next step now is to start tasting.

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