LOOK
Come out and buy your favorite bottle of wine. Then you pour a glass and take a really good look at it. You can tilt the glass away from you to admire the color of the wine from the rim edges to the middle of the glass. If you can find a light colored background to hold it against, you'll look especially snobby. What color are you seeing? Look beyond red or white. Is the red shade a maroon, purple, ruby, garnet, red, brick or even brownish? Does your glass of white wine have a clear, pale yellow, straw-like, light green, golden, amber or brown appearance? These are observations that you can write down in your wine notebook so that you don't forget a single detail of your favorite Lake of the Ozarks wine. Next, you will inspect the opacity. Is the wine watery, or dark, translucent or opaque, dull or brilliant, cloudy or clear? Tilt your glass a bit, give it a little swirl, and look again. Do you see sediment, bits of cork or anything else? An older red wine will often have more orange tinges than a younger wine. An older white wine can be darker than younger varieties, even when comparing the same varietal different ages.SMELL
Your sense of smell can be your most powerful sense when sipping a glass of wine. Get a good impression of the wine's aroma by swirling your glass for at least 10-12 seconds. This helps vaporize some of the wine's alcohol and release more of its natural aromas. After you've swirled it for a bit, take a quick whiff to get the first impression of this amazing wine. Now you can stick your nose down into the glass and take a deep inhale through your nose. What else do you catch in this whiff? Do you recognize scents of oak, berry, flowers, vanilla or citrus? The aroma of a wine can tell you so much about it, the quality and unique characteristics. If you want to really look like you have a nose for wine, you can swirl it again and let the aromas mix and mingle, finally sniff once more.TASTE
Now for the best part, tasting your sparkling glass of wine. Start with a small sip and roll it around in your mouth. First, you'll want to notice the initial impression that the wine makes in your mouth. You'll want to notice if the alcohol content, tannin levels, acidity and residual sugars are well balanced, and that one isn't more prominent than the other. Next, you'll start to observe the wine's actual taste on your palate. Discern the flavor profile of the wine you're drinking. If it's red, you may notice fruit, berry, plum, prune or fig - maybe even some spice like pepper, clove, cinnamon, or a woody flavor like oak, cedar or some smokiness. Are you tasting a white wine? You may observe apple, pear, tropical or citrus fruits. You may even begin to pick up on hints of honey, butter, herbs or some earthiness. Finally, how long does the wine leave an impression on your taste buds? This is called The Finish. The wine culminates, and you will notice the aftertaste.Wine Tasting at the Lake of the Ozarks
If you would like to find the perfect place to show off your wine tasting skills, we would love to give you some wine to try! When you visit our winery, you can try three FREE wines, and if you want to try all of them, for a small fee you can. Come out and visit our Lake of the Ozarks winery for an evening, afternoon, or even the whole day!
Come for the wine...Stay for the atmosphere...Remember the view!
Seven Springs is the finest Winery at the Lake of the Ozarks with a full-service facility perfect for outdoor weddings, receptions, rehearsal dinners, corporate events and parties. Call us today to make reservations for your special event!
Seven Springs Winery
573.317.0100
846 Winery Hills Estates
Linn Creek, MO 65052