It is becoming increasingly common for wine enthusiasts to take part in a wine tasting—an experience in which participants receive guidance while going through a series of stages designed to help them evaluate a wine.
At WINERYON, we know this process well and encourage all our followers and friends to try it, so they can fully appreciate the many qualities of our DEMUERTE wines.
Tips and Stages in a Wine Tasting
A wine tasting is a sensory evaluation process. During it, the senses of sight, smell, and taste are used to appreciate the wine’s characteristics and highlight its qualities. It’s not simply about drinking wine, but about analyzing and describing the different elements that make up the wine in your glass—qualities such as its color, aroma, flavor, structure, and overall quality. And while there are professional wine tastings, here we will focus on the recreational kind—the one done purely for the joy of the experience.
Stages of a Wine Tasting
A wine tasting is made up of three stages. Each one focuses on a different aspect of the wine’s sensory experience and has its own particular features. We will present them in order, as each stage provides insights that influence or complete the next. They are:
Stage 1: Visual Examination
In this stage, participants observe the wine’s color, clarity, and density. They assess, for example, whether the wine is clean, bright, or has any particular nuances in its hue. Color can reveal information about a wine’s age: a red wine with a ruby or purplish-red hue indicates youth, as with our DEMUERTE CLASSIC, aged 9 months in French oak barrels, or DEMUERTE ONE, which shows an intense cherry-red color from its 6 months in French oak. On the other hand, when the color leans toward garnet or tile tones, it suggests the wine has aged, as is the case with our DEMUERTE BLACK, which has a bright, clean, intensely colored cherry-red appearance.
For white wines, younger ones tend to have a very pale yellow or greenish tinge, while age gradually deepens the color. Our DEMUERTE WHITE, for example, has a pale, straw-yellow hue with a bright finish, making it particularly distinctive.
Stage 2: Olfactory Examination
In this second stage, the wine’s aromas are analyzed. The scents reveal clues about how the wine may taste, uncovering its intensity, stage of development, style, grape varieties, and complexity.
Typically, this phase begins with a general first impression before moving on to identifying specific aromas such as fruits, flowers, spices, and more. This often surprises beginners, who discover nuances they had never noticed before. For instance, when tasting our DEMUERTE DELUXE, participants detect an elegant aroma of ripe red fruit over a base of smoke and spices. With DEMUERTE GOLD, they find a bouquet filled with spices like pepper, clove, and nutmeg.
Stage 3: Gustatory Examination
The tasting stage provides clues about the wine’s origin. A wine with higher alcohol content and low acidity often comes from warm climates, whereas one with lower alcohol and fresh acidity tends to originate from cooler climates or high-altitude vineyards.
In this final stage, tasters assess the flavors and sensations in the mouth as they sip from the glass. Here, sweetness, acidity, bitterness, and salinity can be perceived, along with the wine’s texture and body. For example, in our DEMUERTE BLACK, tasters notice its full texture, smooth and pleasant entry, silky tannins, rounded mouthfeel rich with fruit and jam, and subtle toasted and chocolate notes—finishing with the sensation of having enjoyed an intense, lingering wine.
Tips for Making the Most of a Wine Tasting
To get the most out of a wine tasting, it’s essential to start with a quality wine—one that offers complexity and allows you to discover new nuances. As mentioned throughout this article, the DEMUERTE range is ideal for this, offering sensory experiences that evoke associations you might never have linked to wine before. So, if you’re planning to host a wine tasting at home with friends, we recommend choosing one of them. That way, you’ll be sure the experience leaves everyone with an excellent taste in their mouth—literally and figuratively.
