Welcome to Sip & Learn!
Evaluation & Sensory:
See.
The first step in wine tasting is simply to look at it. A wine’s color can tell you a lot about the wine you’ll be drinking. Wine gets it’s color from the amount of time it has been in contact with grape skins. The longer the wine has been in contact with the skins, the more those skins will impart their color on the wine.
Smell.
Before tasting, smell the wine! Be sure to give it a quick swirl to help aerate the wine and release all of the scents! Your sense of smell has a significant impact on the way your brain processes flavor. As you smell the wine, think about the scents you’re picking up- What flavor notes stick out to you?
Taste.
It’s time to taste! Take a sip and swirl it around in your mouth. This will warm up, aerate and help release all the flavors in the wine. Assess the flavors you are tasting (sour, bitter, sweet), and focus on how the flavor changes after you swallow.
Barrel Aging
The process of aging spirits in a wooden barrel is equal parts art and science. It is an intimate process of altering spirits through planned chemical reactions between air, liquid, and material. The wood both infuses the liquid with it’s natural flavors and slowly introduces oxygen to the spirit. The aging process plays a significant role in both character and taste.
Mixology
Mixology is the skill of mixing various drinks and ingredients to create cocktails. Mixologists learn how to pair flavors, combine ingredients and create drinks with precision, consistency and attention to detail.
