Expanding Your Wine Palate

Have you recently discovered wine and found that you cannot taste or smell the fruits and other flavors that wine makers and beverage critics swear are in the juice? Relax; everyone starts out that way, and there is nothing wrong with that!

To smell the bouquet and taste the wine properly you need to train your palate. Ladies, it is easier for you to smell and taste different things in wine because of genetics. Next time you see your mother or grandmother, thank them for cooking and trying spices throughout the years. It is because of that genetic disposition to cooking that women can taste wine easier.

Start by smelling everything, good or bad. In the supermarket stop and smell the fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Smell cheeses, even the bad smelling ones like bleu and swiss. Smell flowers and plants. Just go smell crazy! Then when you encounter a new wine, get the wine tasting notes and use them as your guide to what you should be smelling in the wine. At first you might not be able to pinpoint each individual berry or spice, but who can really smell black currant in wine anyway?

Once you start recognizing smells in the wine, start tasting things. Again, good or bad. Add new spices to your regular dishes and try to pinpoint those flavors. Try new dishes. Try new cheeses, mushrooms, and fruits. Does your wine have an essence of passion fruit? Well, if you have never tasted a passion fruit before how are you going to identify it in your wine? After you have tasted several new items, go back and try a new wine. Again, use the tasting notes as a road map to what you should taste.

Remember, when tasting wine your nose and your tongue must work together. Introduce air into your mouth while the wine is contained inside to unleash the full bouquet and receive the full palate of the wine. Also, before tasting a wine it is best to swirl the wine in your glass. After swirling stick your nose in the glass and take in the aroma of the wine. Introducing air into the wine by swirling it around in the glass helps to open up the bouquet.