There you are, comfortably seated amongst friends, at your in-laws dining table, in a restaurant with some colleagues, or opposite your loved one in a warm and cosy atmosphere. You've ordered a nice bottle of red wine from the wine list. Perhaps even an organic wine from Château Beau Rivage, Domaine la Cabotte, Château de la Bonnelière or the Allegria winery that you know well and are particularly fond of. The wine waiter arrives and asks THE embarrassing question. "Who would like to taste the wine"? Those in your company refer the waiter to you, and you're overcome with panic. How to taste the wine correctly and what to say?

Not to worry! Here are a few pointers to help you cover the basics, and to help you enjoy the wonderful moment when your senses are stimulated and enchanted by the "robe" of the wine, its fruity "nose", and its lingering length on the "palate". These are the three senses that called upon the most when tasting wines, and the trick is to find the words to describe what you perceive. Let's start with the sight, one of the first senses to be aroused when some wine is served in your glass.

Start by analysing its robe, which is a combination of its colour, intensity and viscosity. Is it ruby or brick red? Is the colour intense? Or even shiny? A wine's colour can tell you a lot about its evolution. A "young" red wine will tend to be more purple in colour, compared to an older wine which has started to turn an orangey-red. When inspecting the colour, it's best to do so against a white background such as a napkin or piece of paper. A coloured background can hide the true colour of the wine.

It's also useful to look for other visual references such as how clear the wine is from impurities, which can be a measure of quality, and its viscosity. How much a wine clings to the edge of the glass when you tilt it and watch the wine flow back gives an indication of the level of alcohol present. The more the wine forms legs or tears around the glass and flows slowly, the higher the alcoholic degree.

Let's move on to the smelly side of things. This analysis is done in two stages. The first is called the "first nose". There's no need to swill the wine around your glass yet, as a simple sniff above the glass will enable you to judge if a wine has a fault or not, and to give you a first idea of the primary aromas to be found in the wine.

The "second nose" calls first upon your skills to gently swill the wine around your glass in a circular motion to allow a little oxygen to mix with the wine and to release a more complex bouquet of fruity, floral, spicy or other aromas depending on the wine that you are tasting. Here the difficulty is not so much being able to smell the different aromas, but in correctly identifying them. You need to call on your memory, and it's often a frustrating experience because you know that you have already smelt the aroma somewhere, but you just can't put a name on it. Only training can help!

By now your mouth has started to salivate and your taste buds are fully alerted. The most important moment of your tasting has arrived, to taste the wine on your "palate". No need to take a big swig, a small amount is sufficient to open up a plethora of sensations. You will first notice the "attack" of the wine, which is what you experience immediately when you take the first sip. Then you will start to notice nuances and aromas, and to note whether you can detect any notes of salinity, sweetness, acidity or bitterness. You'll also get a feel for how tannic the wine is. And we also talk about the length of a wine, which is how long the tasting sensations stay in your mouth after swallowing or spitting out the wine. If you are tasting multiple wines, it is best to spit, and some tasters even think that by spitting out the wine, you can give a finer analysis to the tasting.

So a few of the basics to think about when tasting wine. You might at first think it's a little too much to take in for a simple dinner, but don't forget that the most important thing of all to guide you is whether you like the wine or not, and then it's just a matter or practice to better understand the whys and why nots!

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A reminder on how to best conserve wines

To best store and age your wines in the optimum conditions, it's best to have as stable a temperature as possible, between 10 and 14°C. You also need to adapt the humidity depending on the length you wish to keep the wines. The wine should also be shielded from light and protected from vibrations because these can speed up the ageing process. For more information on storing wines, please refer to our article « Storing and serving wine for the festive season ».

Wine fridges for different purposes

Given the range of price and the different capabilities of the wine fridges, your choice will be made according to your budget and the person for whom the gift will be made. An adept wine connoisseur with precious wines to store will likely have more precise requirements than someone who wants a machine to simply bring the wines to the desired temperature before serving.

Generally speaking there are three types of wine fridge. Those designed for keeping wines for a long period where the temperature is kept constant at about 12°C throughout the fridge. The capacity can vary between 170 and 230 bottles for the largest ones, depending on the type of bottles to be stored.

Serving fridges are designed for the opposite purpose, not for storing wines, but for stocking them anywhere between a few hours or days before opening. The idea is to bring the wine to the ideal temperature for serving. They generally have a smaller capacity, between 10 and 40 bottles. The most advanced models have several zones to set different temperatures, enabling red wines to be warmed slightly, and white wines to be chilled at the same time.

And then there are general purpose wine fridges that enable all of the above, to either store or prepare wines for serving, with zones in the fridge ranging from 7 to 20°C. Some even allow open bottles to be stored in a vacuum to keep them a few days longer. But be careful, because general purpose doesn't always mean quality and efficiency! What are the criteria to take into account when buying a wine fridge?

The questions to ask

The first point to check is how the fridge is to be used. Storing wines for a long time, bringing wines to the correct temperature, or for storing a small number of bottles for example. Depending on the use, you'll choose between the three different types mentioned above. Another factor to take into account is whether the humidity level needs to be controlled. This is less important if the wines are to be stored for a relatively short period of time, compared to laying bottles down for many years.

Where the fridge will be located is the next question to ask. The available space will determine the dimensions. The design will also be more or less important depending on how visible the fridge will be. For the very design conscious, be aware however of glass doors, which aren't recommended for long term storage. It's better to go for solid or anti-UV treated doors.

It's also good to check the energy rating of the fridge, which has to be legally mentioned. The rating from A to C is specific to wine fridges and is useful to consider, because they can consume lots of energy.

The last advice is to go and physically see the fridges because you can also evaluate other factors such as the amount of noise it generates if you live in a relatively confined space, or the style if it is to feature in the middle of your living room.

So even though, there may be a large choice available, hopefully these few pointers will help you find the type of wine fridge best suited to your budget and use. All that's left to do is get out there and do some shopping

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