Alcohol Hierarchy: The Order of Wine

As you embark on a wine tasting, you maygauge whether a wine is light or heavy. Lighter
require a variety of things: bottles of wine, a corkwines are dense and tend to leave thick streaks
screw, wine glasses, a wine tasting kit, perhapsinside the glass when swirled. Heavy wines are
even an English accent. While this stuff may bedeeper in color and their odor is more intense.
essential, unless you know the hierarchy of theAfter you have predicted whether a wine is light
wines, they become useless.or heavy to the best of your ability, put the
When it comes to order of wine, it's easy to getwines in an order where you will consume the
ahead of yourself. As bottles line the shelves, thelighter wines first and the heavier wines second.
labels coiled around their bodies like curled fingersOn occasion a defective wine may find its way
calling you over, it takes some self discipline tointo your tasting. These wines may smell of
not dive in too quickly, no matter how much yourotten egg or cork and should be tasted last, if at
are drooling. Patience, when it comes to tastingall.
wine, is more than a virtue: it's the law.Once the lighter wines are separated from the
Proper wine tasting demands that wine beheavier wines, the order of the wine gets a little
consumed in a specific order. Drinking incorrectlymore complex. Sparkling wines, such as
won't only change the way wine tastes, but it willchampagne, have the honor of being in the front:
change your perception of it: if consumed in thethey are the wines that have called shotgun.
wrong order, you may unfairly judge a wine,Next, light whites wines, such as Albariño,
spitting out your drink and cursing the bottleshould be consumed. These are followed by
because its taste is altered. When a wine is tastedheavier whites. A full bodied Chardonnay fits into
in the wrong order, it doesn't stand a chance; itsthis category.
taste and reputation become inferior: it practicallyAfter whites have all been tasted, it's time to
becomes light beer.switch colors. The change is gradual at first as
Wines that are heavy and full bodied canrose wine comes to the table. These wines are
overpower the lighter wines, leaving the lighterpink in color and may be known as "blush,"
wines to taste differently than they really do. For"Rosado", or "Rosata." Light reds , such as a
this reason, lighter wines should be tasted first.Bardolino, and heavy reds, such as a Cabernet
However, this can be tricky when you don't knowSauvignon, respectively follow.
what a wine tastes like. It's hard to know whichOnce you've got the order of your wines down,
ones are light and which ones are heavy: a scalethe rest of the wine tasting process is simple. You
is of no help and if you simply ask the winesjust need to get a few bottles of wine, a cork
about their mass, they will probably just lie aboutscrew, wine glasses, and a wine tasting kit. Some
their weight. This is when the other senses mustwine tasting kits may even include all the
step in.aforementioned supplies. But, even for these kits,
Using the senses of sight, smell, and - if you'reEnglish accents are sold separately.
lucky enough to have it - ESP, you can usually