For those who don’t know about wine tasting, it is indeed an art. Those who partake of this activity do so in the same way an artist may look at a painting or an author might evaluate a book. It is not just a quick tasting of the wine but rather an entire process upon which the taster embarks. In fact, one must know a great deal about wine to be a wine taster—it is not simply tasting to see if the wine is fit for consumption but rather actually becoming involved in the process and taking it all to heart.
There is not an entire glass of wine provided for wine tasting but just enough in the bottom of the glass to provide the taster with a good sample. After swirling the glass back and forth, the taster will take a small amount of the liquid in his mouth and swirl it around like mouthwash. The purpose of this is to take in all of the wine’s flavor and discover the full tasting process. The wine taster does not drink any of the wine but only grasps the flavor on his tongue and in his mouth. Since your tongue is the organ that contains the taste buds, it is unnecessary for the wine taster to drink the wine in order to evaluate its flavor.
In most cases a wine taster will be tasting many different varieties of wines in the course of the day—another good reason for him to only swish it around in his mouth and not attempt to drink it. Even though the glasses only contain small amounts of wine, the taster may be asked to taste ten or more varieties in the course of a day. The purpose of wine tasting is for the taster to determine if the flavor and aroma of each wine is up to standards and not to drink the wine for recreational purposes. Some wine tasters also participate in contests that are created for the sole purpose of comparing various wine varieties, and again they do not actually drink the wine but swish it around on the tongue and the inside of their mouth to grasp the entire flavor of the wine. It is not something one chooses to do in order to feed a need for alcohol but to become a critic of good wines.