Tasting wine properly allows drinkers to understand the complexity and subtle flavours that are incorporated in each glass. To really taste the wine as the winemakers intended and to appreciate the beauty of the wine is a skill that must be learned.

6 Steps to Wine Tasting:

1. Look at the Color

Look at the wine for its color and clarity, especially at the edges. Pour a glass of wine into a wine glass and tilt the glass away from you. Hold the glass in front of a white background, such as napkin, tablecloth, or sheet of paper and check out the color of the wine from the rim edges to the middle of the glass.

It is important to examine the intensity, depth and saturation of colour. Is the red of the wine a ruby red or more brownish? Is the white wine more clear or a darker amber? Older red wines will have orange tinges at the edges while older white wines will be darker than younger ones.

2. Follow Your Nose

Hold the glass a few inches from your nose. To get a good impression of your wine's aroma, swirl your glass for about 10 seconds. What do you smell?

3. Consider the Taste

Start with a small sip and let it roll around your mouth. What flavours come out immediately? What kind of aftertaste lingers in your mouth?

4. Feel for the Body

The flavours of the wine may be the most obvious, but you can also taste for alcohol content, acidity, sugar and body. Slurp the wine and note the subtle differences in flavour and texture. Before swallowing, take in a little air to further activate your senses. Notice how the wine feels in your mouth. How does the touch affect your tongue and throat as you swallow? Was the feel of the wine lean or rich, velvety or smooth?

5. The Aftertaste

How long does the taste last? Was it light-bodied (like the weight of water), medium-bodied (similar in weight to milk) or full-bodied (like the consistency of cream)? Can you taste the remnants of the wine on the back of your mouth and throat? What flavours linger after that first sip – fruit, butter or maybe oak?

6. Tannins in Wine

In red wine, "tannin" is a term that is used very often, generic Nolvadex, It refers to the bitter compounds found in the skins, stems and seeds of the grape as well as those found in the oak barrels where the wine aged. Like biting a grape stem, tannins are initially bitter and dry but the aging process transforms them into a much silkier taste.