Why swirl wine in a glass

At this point, you can always look more closely at your wine and observe its color, texture, and general aroma. While it can be tempting to take a big gulp, downing all of the wine at once may mean missing out on all the flavors. The best way to sip your wine is by filling your mouth halfway and then gently sliding your tongue side to side. While red wine, white wine, and sparkling wine may have plenty of differences, the one thing they do have in common is that you should swirl both of them.

Regardless of what kind of wine you buy, swirling is always beneficial. Some other types of alcohol, like whiskey , may also taste better after a little swirling too. Now that you understand why do you swirl wine and how to swirl wine, you can begin impressing your family and friends with your new trick.

Feb 26 Written By Matthew Goldman. Why Do You Swirl Wine? You simply won't spill wine this way. And here's a bonus! What's the difference between aroma and bouquet? A wine's aroma typically refers to the pleasant smells in a wine that give it specific character varietal character. We say that Merlot has aromas of cherry and Chardonnay has aromas of tropical fruit. A wine's bouquet comes from the smells created by the winemaking process or the wine's aging.

When we smell oak, for example, that's considered to be part of a wine's bouquet. Previous Next. View Larger Image. She's not tasting it. She's not even looking at it yet. Just swirling it around and around her glass. Is this the ultimate in pretense or does she know something you don't? The truth is, she may know 5 things you should know about swirling wine These may include byproducts of the common use of sulfur in winemaking, like sulfur dioxide matchstick or hydrogen sulfide rotten eggs.

Or volatile acidity may be in evidence, with the telltale sign being an aroma like nail polish remover. These of course sound and smell awful, but in many cases — and in the absence of a serious flaw -- a vigorous swirl will allow these scents to blow off quickly. There are literally hundreds of compounds in wine, many of them esters, terpenes and others that impart the aromas and flavors we enjoy. The inherent volatility of these molecules — the ease with which they evaporate — is enhanced by swirling.

This means you get extra helpings of those pleasant aromas wafting upward. Put your nose right in the glass and take a few authoritative whiffs! Okay, we know what swirling does, but why does smell matter?

In short, because it is enormously important in how we taste. We actually have two centers of olfaction, one of course in the nose and one at the back of the mouth, and the millions of nerve cells therein definitely earn their keep. The tongue is also important, allowing us to assess texture as well as the primary characteristics of sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory.

But smell rules the day.