The 5 S's of Wine Tasting
Like meeting a friend, when approaching a wine consider a proper introduction...
One or two glass of wine deep and I get a little whimsical. There are five "S's"of wine tasting which I always remember with a simple analogy: Meeting an old friend.
Personify your wine.
Really, do it. Imagine their outfit and body structure. Karen MacNeil writes in the The Wine Bible, "Syrah has always reminded me of the kind of guy who wears cowboy boots with a tuxedo. Manly yet elegant."
See: With the tasting pour in your glass, approach the wine like you would an old friend. First, take a look, examine the depth, the color, the rim variation.Examine the depth of their eyes, the color of their lips, their various facial expressions.Really see the wine, but don't be too quick to judge. An aged chardonnay can take on a brown hue. This is is not indicative of a spoiled wine, but one that has been properly aged.
Swirl: Swirl the wine in in the glass. Introduce yourself to it's characteristics, it's body, and it's composition. Chat with your new acquaintance about the weather, their favorite color, or their preference on coffee or tea. How do they like their tea? Weak or strong? Black or green? You swirl the wine to release the aromatics and let the particles align, after all, they've been sitting in their bottle for more than six months just as your new acquaintance has probably been sitting at his or her desk for almost six hours. Let them talk about themselves, relax and show you their true personality. Let your new acquaintance stretch their legs out and let down their guard down or watch as the legs of the wine run down the side of the glass, a clue into their alcohol content.
Smell: The next S of wine is smell. In terms of smell, when it comes to characters of people and wine this is the one that becomes more mosaic, harder to just pin down in only black and white. It's the reason you wear your boyfriends sweater to bed when he's away, to sink into the odd, slightly sweaty comfort of his would-be arms. The butyraceous caramelized sweetness that seeps through the walls of your childhood home. Inviting, enticing, comfortable smells. Sip them, drink them, savor them. Simply the smells of wine in your glass can transport you and comfort you.
The top rule of wine is that every rule has an exception. The nose on a glass is comparable to it's outward presentation, though like a person, this can vary greatly with their true behavior. When the nose and pallet differ this is a sign of complexity. With wine this is good. Like the nose on a glass of wine, everyone has a certain way of presenting themselves. Their actions – their mouthfeel if you will – can differ from their presentation. Sometimes this is an amazing discovery, a gift. The gal who appeared to be shallow and arrogant surprising you with her caring, selfless actions. Sometimes this knowledge can become a horrific discovery and your outlook toward someone is shattered. The friend you thought would be there forever until you got in your first brutal fight and learned that they fight dirty.
Sip: Finally, it's time to sip the wine. Is what you're tasting confirmed by the smell? The taste is honest. The difference between the interviewing process and actually working with someone. Once you taste the wine it is what it is. You can decide whether you like or want to throw it out. While the smell may be fun to toss around your glass, the taste is truth. It may change with more time to aerate just as a person may change over time. But this is the truest form of who they are. The taste is a person's viscera, their core, their being or purpose. The taste is their actions.
Spi-... Expectorate: At a traditional wine tasting, it is now time to spit the wine, more formally know as expectorate. I don't have much to say about that.
