There is a saying that life is too short to drink bad wine. Bad does not necessarily mean off in this particular case. Wines have many facets, and much is a matter of personal taste. But what can be done to better categorize and judge a wine? How can an ideal be defined? Various factors are important in wine tasting.

The basic question is always: what can a tasting glass achieve in this context, and for what purpose will it be used? According to Martin Darting, sommelier trainer and internationally renowned expert on wine senosry perception, a wine tasting glass must basically support the discernment of two different criteria. On the one hand, the aroma peaks that clearly show the aromas of reductively made wines are generally fruity aromas with few but clearly discernible variations. On the other hand there is the concentration of aromas, which involves smelling the depth of an aroma composition, and not to be too impressed by fruity, extroverted and slightly volatile aromas. A glass must be able to show up aromas that are actually present at or below the perception threshold.

To ensure optimum tasting conditions, the shape of the glass must be adapted to the wine. Thus Martin Darting recommends that heavy, mature red wines with a high extract and few secondary aromas should be tasted from the Harmony 53 glass by Rastal. In an independent study, this glass showed up less dominant aromas, when compared to other glasses. Alternatively, round glasses can be used for such wines. On the other hand, he prefers to use the glass 35 from the same series for white wines.

According to sommelier expert Darting, speaking at his most recent glass seminar, one can generally say that alcohol in a wine with little aroma will appear more spirity in an oval glass, or one that does not have straight edges in the bowl. In addition, the total area of the glass must be seen in relation to the total volume of wine. The total volume poured is also responsible for the concentration of aromas. Given the same content conditions (the same wine), there are more aromas, for instance, in 200 ml of wine compared to 100 ml. This brings up the question of the individual stimulus threshold, as more is only perceived once a certain concentration of aromas is achieved. As far as the fill height of the glass is concerned, one is generally on the safe side filling a glass to one fifth its height - when in doubt, pour a little more rather than too little.

According to Darting, the following can be said: the way in which a wine glass presents the wine depends on the surface area of the glass, the total surface area of the wine, its temperature, its total volume, the length of the glass chimney, the degree of tapering in the glass, and the swirling of the wine.

Wine lovers will not drink the wine, but taste its secrets.

Taste consists of four key points of perception:
- smelling in order to identify and name the aroma
- tasting to distinguish between sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami and fat
- feeling for mouthfeel and taste sensations
- Seeing the colors, forms, structures and viscosity.

According to the tasting expert, up to 95 per cent of the potential of recognizing and categorizing a wine lies in its aromas.

A classic tasting will begin in a quiet room, with no music or loud noises, by swirling a small amount of wine in the glass, in order to remove any unwanted odors. Then, the appearance of the wine is judged in white lightt. Then one smells the contents of the glass without swirling them, then add wine to the glass once again, swirl actively and smell again. To recognize all the aromas, the glass should be held by the stem and not by the cup, in order not to warm the wine. The better the wine is spread over the surface of the glass, the more aromas will become volatile. However, you should not swirl so aggressively that foam is formed.
Martin Darting uses various smelling techniques: first sniff, then breathe in slowly and deeply, then breathe in in short, flat breaths. On the palate, sweetness, acidity, bitterness, alcohol, length, concentration, balance, carbon dioxide and tannins are evaluated (broken down into fractions and quantified). In order not to affect your ability to taste, you should not smoke before a wine tasting, nor should you eat heavily spiced food. A slightly acidic, low-salt water taken in between sips of wine will make things easier for the receptors on the tongue, and the sense of touch or mouthfeel will then be perceived at lower thresholds (prevention of adaptation). To truly neutralize stimuli physiologically, one could use an isotonic saline solution, which however does not taste too good. For tasting purposes, wine should always be served warmer than if one were drinking it, as fewer volatile substances are released when the wine is colder.

„If you have a career in wine ahead of you, you must practise tasting, and continue to practise, and not stop when you have found a wine that "tastes good" - no master has been born as such in this field“, advises Martin Darting in conclusion. „Sensory analysis is not about good or bad, but about the documentation and representation of differences between individual products. The suitable tool, the tasting glass, plays an important part in achieving this goal“.