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Isabel’s Eight StepsRenowned Spanish enologist Isabel Mijares, the author of 13 books, says that the real way to taste wine is to use all five senses. She recommends following these eight steps. 1. Take the glass by the stem and hold it waist high. Using the light from above, observe the wine’s texture, determining whether it is meaty, hollow, silky or harsh. 2. Hold the glass at eye level and observe the color. In older wines, yellow pigments dominate. In younger wines, red pigments dominate. “This is how they tell us the story of their lives.” 3. Smell the wine, at first without moving the glass. The aroma will tell you if the wine comes from a wooden barrel or a steel tank. 4. Forcefully swirl the wine around in your glass. “Don’t be afraid that you’re going to drop the glass or spill the wine. This is why we only fill the glass a third of the way.” 5. Bring the glass to your nose and identify the smells: flowers, fruits, spices, woods and grasses. 6. Taste the wine, letting it pass throughout your entire mouth, until it reaches the back of your tongue. Determine whether the wine is bitter, sweet, salty or sour. 7. Feel the liquid in your mouth. “This is why we speak of ‘velvety’ wines and ‘harsh’ wines. This is how we determine a wine’s form and body.” 8. Remember that “tasting is subjective and that, for the taster, what counts is what he or she feels at each moment, what produces pleasure.”
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