When it comes to wine, you will inevitably hear people around you talking about "tasting". Why is wine tasted, and what can this process enrich us with? You will find out in our series of publications on "Basic Concepts of Wine Tasting".

There are few products that undergo a "testing" process not only by those who produce and evaluate them but also by those who buy them. From ancient times, it has been known that wine is not just alcohol but is deeply connected to the geography, history, and culture of a given land. From a purely practical perspective, wine is a complex combination of substances that needs to be examined closely to be better understood, and this is where tasting rules come into play.

The first step is related to the appearance of the wine and occurs after it is in your glass. The glass should be colorless, without ornamentation, with a sufficiently large bowl, and filled no more than 1/3 of its volume. The logical action is to look at the liquid in it – preferably against a white background and in natural daylight. The color of the wine is an important characteristic, as it helps us distinguish between types of wines: white, rosé, red. The coloring depends on three main factors:

Grape Variety – for example, two common varieties come to mind: Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. Cabernet Sauvignon berries are smaller, with thicker and darker skins than those of Pinot Noir. The color of the wine is extracted from its skin, and accordingly, the color of wines made from or based on Cabernet Sauvignon will be much darker than that of Pinot Noir wines.

Vinification methods or how the wine is made – for red wine, the grape skins are left to ferment with the grape juice, and the coloring agents are found in the skin. Logically, the longer the contact of the juice with the skin, the darker the color of the wine.

The age of the wine – the development of the liquid in the bottle also affects its color. Young red wines are rich in coloring agents, and their color is more saturated and dense. Over time, these substances react with each other and separate as sediment at the bottom of the bottle. From red, the color lightens to garnet, brick, or amber. For white wines, it's the opposite – their color darkens over time.

Looking at the wine in the glass, we observe whether it is clear and what the intensity (brightness) and hue (shade) of its color are. Here, light and background are especially important.

The intensity or density of the color is best assessed by holding the glass without tilting it and looking at the liquid in it from above. Keep in mind that color density is not a criterion for quality. It could be an indication of the wine's structure and body. In red wines, color and tannins often go hand in hand. If the coloring is very dense and almost opaque, expect a wine with a complex, tannic body.

Color hues are observed by tilting the glass in front of the eyes at a 45° angle towards the light source. Almost always, different nuances are observed in the core of the liquid and at its edge. The color hue is also not a criterion for quality; it relates to age and indicates the stage of the wine's development.

How do we describe the color of wine?

For white wines, we use the nuances of yellow. They have greenish hues in their youth, which transition through golden and reach amber-mahogany in old age: greenish-yellow, lemon yellow, straw, golden-green, golden, old gold, amber, mahogany, walnut, brown, reddish-brown.

Red wines: purple, violet, violet-red, ruby, garnet, brick, orange-red, brownish-red, golden-red.

Rosé: neither white nor red wine, rosé is found in all shades between yellow, brick, and light red: gray, violet-pink, yellowish-pink, bright pink, light red, orange-pink, salmon, orange, brick, onion skin.