Influencing factors at wine tasting

When tasting wine you should always try to create the most perfect circumstances, because many factors could cloud your judgment on a wine tasted. A wine drunk on a sunny southern terrace may taste deliciously crisp, but after a stressful and busy day at work that same wine may taste totally different and less pleasant. Temperature, lighting, ventilation, comfort and setting, ambiance and sound and company may contribute as to how you experience a tasting.

Temperature of the wine and the surroundings at a tasting

Always make sure that the wine has the perfect serving temperature. A quality wine may be interpreted totally wrong when served either to warm or to cold.

• Sparkling wine: 6 - 8°C
• Light white wine: 8°C
• Sweet white wine: 10°C
• Rosé wine: 10 - 12°C
• Fortified wine: 12 - 14°C
• Light-bodied red wine: 14 - 16°C
• Full-bodied red wine: 16 - 18°C

The temperature around you may also prove an influencing factor in the taste perception. On a warm summer day a nicely chilled light white wine is a lot more refreshing then for example a full-bodied red. But on a cold winters evening one would appreciate the full body and smoothness of such a wine much more.

Lighting of the wine tasting room

Make sure a tasting room is well lit, preferably with daylight or natural light. This is important for judging the wines color and ‘tears’.

Ventilation of the wine tasting room

A well ventilated room is a necessary so as not to confuse your taste. A sewage smell, a smelly bin, cooking odors or an annoying perfume odor are just some examples of scents that could ruin your taste.

 Comfort and setting

The tasting room should be quite sober and comfortable, without too many details that could distract you from your main purpose: tasting wine.

Ambiance and sound during the wine tasting

The ambiance should be relaxed and the background music gentle. A wine tasting wouldn’t fit a busy club on a Saturday night.

Company for optimal wine tasting

When tasting wine with others, only ask them for their opinion after you have tasted and judged for yourself. Another opinion may well change your perception of a product. It might be easier to let every taster write his or her opinion down and discuss it afterwards.

Sources: www.todio.nl