The most important thing to keep in mind

The most important thing to keep in mind when tasting a wine is to be sure to use your senses. Enjoying a glass of wine is not simply about drinking and noting the taste, but about inspecting all aspects of the wine.

Color is very important in wine which is why people are often seen holding a glass of wine up to the light before drinking it. As wine ages the color of the wine changes. Red wines in general begin as a very dark red or purple color. Over time, red wines tend to fade from this dark shade to a garnet and finally a brick red. At first this color change might only be noticed around the rim of a wine, but over the years the entire wine will fade. White wine on the other hand tends to darken with age. White wines usually start out straw or lemon in color and age to dark amber.

Why is the color of a wine so important to inspect? The color of a bottle of wine with respect to it's age can be an important key in determining if a bottle of wine has been manufactured poorly. For example, if a one-year-old bottle of Sauvignon Blanc is already a very dark, deep amber color when the bottle is first opened, this could signify that the bottle has not been manufactured and processed correctly causing the wine to age prematurely and not taste it's best. The same can be said for red wines, if a young bottle of Merlot is already a brick red or brown color when opened, chances are good there was a problem with the bottle and it will not have optimal taste.

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