It would be very easy to ‘over think’ the conditions required for a perfect wine tasting, especially when chances are, that your best tasting memories will occur when you are totally relaxed and sharing your bottle in good company.

From a purely professional point of view however, to conduct a more ‘analytical’ tasting (as you might do as a wine buyer or journalist), there are actually a huge number of considerations to take into account, many of which I have written about in the past. To make it a little easier to digest, I will list as many as I can think of (albeit there are so many that I might well miss a few):

Environment

• What is the weather doing? Atmospheric pressure can change your perception of a wine, whilst some will claim that the phase of the moon can do the same.

• Is the room where you are tasting light and airy – not too hot or too cold, with no breezes (that might detract from the smell) and with good natural light so that you can visually examine your glass?

• Is the room free from other distracting smells (some tasters are particularly sensitive to this, myself included)

• Are you in a place where you can concentrate, free from other distractions?

Personal

• Are you fit and healthy? Colds and flu are the wine professionals worst nightmare, and tasting with a hangover just doesn’t work!

• Are you wearing perfume or after shave – these will certainly confuse your sense of smell.

• Is your palate clean – have you been eating garlic, or other strong, lingering foods that could affect your taste? Or have you recently cleaned your teeth or been drinking fruit juice?

Wine

• How many wines are you tasting? Tasters will dispute how many you can reasonably taste to make an effective judgement (possibly depending on your experience as a taster).

• Is your wine at the correct temperature (cellar temperature is not a bad start)? For example, too cold will exaggerate acidity in white wines, and tannins in red, whilst alcohol will dominate if the bottle is too warm.

• To be truly objective a completely blind tasting is much more effective, after all, a quick glimpse of the label is worth at least 20 years tasting experience!

Other 

• Is your wine glass clean, odour free and suitable for a tasting? (This is actually a subject that demands a separate blog post, especially as some wine glass manufacturers invest huge amounts of time and money in researching the perfect glass for every imaginable grape variety).

• Time – What time of day are you tasting? Many will say that the best time of day is around 11.00am or 12.00am, as this is the time when both your palate and your brain are at their most receptive. Certainly before lunch is a good idea, and never just after a meal.

• Time – have you allowed enough time to taste your selection, if necessary going back to re-assess your favourites?

• Notes – make copious tasting notes. Few people have a photographic memory, or perfect recall (although a truly memorable wine will certainly stand out)

Let me know if you think I’ve missed something.

It would be very easy to ‘over think’ the conditions required for a perfect wine tasting, especially when chances are, that your best tasting memories will occur when you are totally relaxed and sharing your bottle in good company.

From a purely professional point of view however, to conduct a more ‘analytical’ tasting (as you might do as a wine buyer or journalist), there are actually a huge number of considerations to take into account, many of which I have written about in the past. To make it a little easier to digest, I will list as many as I can think of (albeit there are so many that I might well miss a few):

Environment

• What is the weather doing? Atmospheric pressure can change your perception of a wine, whilst some will claim that the phase of the moon can do the same.

• Is the room where you are tasting light and airy – not too hot or too cold, with no breezes (that might detract from the smell) and with good natural light so that you can visually examine your glass?

• Is the room free from other distracting smells (some tasters are particularly sensitive to this, myself included)

• Are you in a place where you can concentrate, free from other distractions?

Personal

• Are you fit and healthy? Colds and flu are the wine professionals worst nightmare, and tasting with a hangover just doesn’t work!

• Are you wearing perfume or after shave – these will certainly confuse your sense of smell.

• Is your palate clean – have you been eating garlic, or other strong, lingering foods that could affect your taste? Or have you recently cleaned your teeth or been drinking fruit juice?

Wine

• How many wines are you tasting? Tasters will dispute how many you can reasonably taste to make an effective judgement (possibly depending on your experience as a taster).

• Is your wine at the correct temperature (cellar temperature is not a bad start)? For example, too cold will exaggerate acidity in white wines, and tannins in red, whilst alcohol will dominate if the bottle is too warm.

• To be truly objective a completely blind tasting is much more effective, after all, a quick glimpse of the label is worth at least 20 years tasting experience!

Other 

• Is your wine glass clean, odour free and suitable for a tasting? (This is actually a subject that demands a separate blog post, especially as some wine glass manufacturers invest huge amounts of time and money in researching the perfect glass for every imaginable grape variety).

• Time – What time of day are you tasting? Many will say that the best time of day is around 11.00am or 12.00am, as this is the time when both your palate and your brain are at their most receptive. Certainly before lunch is a good idea, and never just after a meal.

• Time – have you allowed enough time to taste your selection, if necessary going back to re-assess your favourites?

• Notes – make copious tasting notes. Few people have a photographic memory, or perfect recall (although a truly memorable wine will certainly stand out)

Let me know if you think I’ve missed something.