Tuesday 11 March 2014

WINETASTING: USING YOUR EYES


I recently took up an online wine tasting course and the things I'm learning are amazing.  There's so much to learn about wine and even the connoisseurs don’t know everything there is to know about wine. The classes are fun and Ill share some tips with you.
Wine-tasting is an art that involves the senses.
EYES
Colour
To check for wine colour one is supposed to look at the glass against a white background. This reminds me of chemistry and how we would investigate the colour of a solution using a white tile.Wine is organic and it changes over time. The more a wine ages the more the colour range and becomes mature.
Clarity
All the wines should be clear. They should not have any cloudiness or haziness.When you notice haziness the wine may not be good or it might be exposed to air. However it is okay to find sediments at the bottom of white wine. White wine sometimes gets crystals at the bottom when it ages.
Body
I was always curious why people swirl their wine glasses during wine-tasting. They do this to determine the viscosity of the wine. To determine the body, one should swirl the wine in a clean glass and then look art the drippings/ the treads left by the wine. A dry and light wine has thin legs that flow freely while a heavy wine should have thicker and solid legs.
In the next post I will share about how to use your nose when tasting wine.
Enjoy...

4 comments:

  1. I always wondered why they swirled their glasses. Some things we do just to conform and we haven't a clue why they are done.
    Next time I'm swirling a glass of wine, I will have some witty comments to match, Thanks

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  2. Wangu, I also didn't know why they do that but now we know. Wine tasting is a great experience. Thanks too.

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  3. Hi Jean!

    Great post! Excited to see that there is a thriving scene for wine enthusiasts in NBO. I live in the UK, and will be in Nairobi in 2 weeks. Any personal recommendations for the buzzing food and wine scene? I've been to Kenya twice but I'm sure everything is constantly changing.

    Warm wishes,
    Ireti

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    1. Hi Ireti, Thanks For your comment. Well there are a few wine tasting events like there is one on 6th April. As for food, the capital has a wide array of gourmet restaurants in the capital like the Talisman, Tribe ,The Stanely etc It depends on what you are looking for. With regards to wine, there is a great place called The Wineshop along Ngong road. For more information you can contact me on jeanwandimi@gmail.com.

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