How to Refine Your Palate

Somebody who is new to wine may be able to do some research and find out all the top brands, years, and hot spots for wine tasting, but without a refined palate, these facts become unimportant! In order to truly appreciate a good bottle of wine, you must train your taste-buds. Few people are able to naturally pick up on the slight differences between vintages, it takes practice. If you find yourself unable to tell what makes a "good" wine good, follow these simple steps, and in no time you'll be able to distinguish the subtle differences that really make a wine stand out.

1. Taste a variety of wines to find a specific kind that you like. This is important, because you'll have to drink a lot of this specific wine in order to refine your palate, so it better be one you actually enjoy and you're not likely to get sick of!

2. Aerate your wine and drink it slowly in order to really get a taste for it.

3. Stick to two or three vintages. Resist the urge to try different wines, that step will come later. By tasting two or three vintages of the same kind of wine over and over again, you'll begin to notice the differences between them. At first, the wines may taste very similar, but you'll notice the subtleties given time and repeated tasting.

4. Branch out to other vintages within your chosen variety of wine. After spending so long tasting the same two or three vintages, the new vintages will taste very different, you'll notice every little difference. Keep this up for a while, occasionally returning to your original vintages as a baseline.

5. Branch out to other kinds of wine within the same family.

6. Lastly, after you begin to taste the differences between each variety within the same family, you're ready to take the final reciprocal step. Cross over from whites to reds (or vice versa) and repeat the same process. But during this repetition, remember to keep grounded by returning to that original vintage for a refresher on the subtleties that your tongue can now detect.

There are other tricks to refining your palate, but this simple strategy of starting out small and branching out will help you detect the differences between most wines. Any beginning connoisseur will also want to research appropriate foods to go with each variety of wine, further enhancing the experience. Also, learn to appreciate different wines by participating in the wine community. Go to wine tastings and ask experienced connoisseurs what they taste in each glass, then see if you can pick up on those same tastes. If you know what flavors you're looking for, it may be easier to recognize them.

The more you practice the better you'll get at it. Just remember to practice in moderation; if you get drunk then you can't really focus on the unique tastes and aromas in your cup. Follow these steps and you'll be well on your way toward increased wine appreciation.