Wine Bars: Your guide to wine tasting

A wine bar is the perfect place to try wine from all over the world. Each wine you find at a wine bar will taste different depending on the climate and winemaking process in its country and region of origin.

Many wine bars hold tasting evenings, but arm yourself with their wine list and a little knowledge, and you can create your own.

Introducing the grape varieties

A tour of a wine bar's wine list will also introduce you to some of the most popular grape varieties:

• The reds Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah (otherwise known as Shiraz), Pinot Noir, Malbec and Zinfandel.
• The whites Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris, and Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Semillon.

Ask the wine bar staff if you're not sure where to start.

The three stages of tasting wine

The tasting experience itself is divided into three basic stages: the appearance, the nose and the taste.

1. The appearance

• Hold your glass against a pale surface—a wine bar with white walls or tablecloths makes this part easy.
• The wine should be clear and bright, not dull or cloudy. Try to choose a well-lit wine bar for your session!
• Intensity refers to colour and is described as pale, medium or dark. As a general rule, wine darkens with age.

2. The nose

• This is also known as the bouquet or aroma. A good wine should smell fresh, not musty.
• Aromas fall into certain categories such as fruit, floral, spicy, savoury or the natural world (e.g. flinty or woody).
• Corked refers to wines affected by bacteria from the cork, which makes them smell dank and mouldy. Wine bars will let you return a corked bottle.

3. The taste

A professionally organised tasting session in your local wine bar will show you how to drink the wines on offer.

• Swirl a mouthful around your mouth and suck in air to develop the flavours.
• Spit it out rather than swallow: too much imbibing will spoil your judgement—although for the sake of other wine bar customers, don't do this unless you're at an official tasting!

Understanding the terminology

An evening spent tasting in a wine bar will also introduce you to the relevant terminology:

Balance: a harmonious blend of fruit, acidity, tannins and alcohol.

Body: the weight, texture and alcohol content of the wine. A wine may be light-bodied or full-bodied.

Dry: a wine without any sweetness.

Finish: the flavour that lingers in your mouth.

Full: the term used to describe wine with a high level of alcohol. Thin refers to those with much less.

Legs/tears: the rivulets that form when wine is swirled in a glass and allowed to run back down the inside surface. They are a measure of alcohol content.

Length: how long the taste remains in your mouth after swallowing.

Mature: a wine that's fully developed and ready to drink.

Soft: wine with a pleasing finish.

Sweet: when grape sugar is not completely converted to alcohol, the wine tastes much sweeter.

Tannin: most prominent in red wine, tannins come from the grape skins, seeds and stems and act as a natural preservative.

Once you've got the hang of the language and the basics of tasting, you can show off your new skills at the wine bar when you're ordering.

Happy tasting—and happy drinking!