Definition: taste

To appreciate the taste and quality of solid food or liquid; to savour; to delight in; in a colloquial sense, déguster curiously means: to be overwhelmed by blows, insults; to take blows, to endure misfortune. What he tasted!

In the past, wine was tasted and sampled. It is only since the early 19th century that wine and food have been tasted in order to appreciate their qualities. Over the last few decades, tasting techniques have evolved considerably, as has the quality of wines.

Professional tastings

It is common for wine professionals to conduct lengthy tastings where numerous samples are tasted and compared.

Of course, it takes a certain amount of practice, or even training, to give an objective opinion on the first product as well as the 53rd!

After tasting numerous wines, it is easy to imagine the taster becoming tired and less focused, but the first samples do not always have the best place either!

Of course, every professional tries to overcome this tendency, but when tasting the first product in a long series, one sometimes feels a lack of reference points and comparisons. Even though the product must be judged on its own merits, one always waits (perhaps wrongly) for something better to come along.

Nature has endowed us with five senses, intellectual faculties, memory and emotions.
This is why taste can be learned and educated. Taste evolves with our bodies and minds, as well as with time and trends.
We can enjoy wine without being a true connoisseur; we can taste it without any prior training. This perception is immediate and comprehensive. However, this behaviour does not allow us to translate or communicate the nature of the sensations we experience.
We naturally appreciate wine without really being able to explain why.

Knowledge of wine comes through the development of our sensory activity and then through the technique of tasting. This allows us to describe our sensations and talk simply about the wine we are tasting.