A Guide to Wine Tasting: Experts’ Tips on Choosing, Tasting, And Pairing Wine

Wine experts Ignacio Calvo de Mora and Besay González share their insights on selecting bottles, appreciating different styles, and creating memorable combinations.

At Gallery by Chele, lunch became an education in wine. During an exclusive experience with Macán Wine, Txanton and one-Michelin-starred Gallery by Chele welcomed Ignacio Calvo de Mora, general director of Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild and Vega Sicilia Macán, for an afternoon centered on the nuances of Spanish wine. A special six-course menu by executive chef Chele González was served alongside Macán and Oremus wines, with each pairing offering a different way of experiencing what was in the glass.

After the exclusive lunch, Vogue Philippines spoke with Ignacio and Besay González, general manager of Txanton, about the fundamentals of wine tasting. From choosing your first bottle to understanding labels, here is their guide to wine tasting.

You don’t need to know everything before choosing a bottle

Choosing a bottle of wine can be intimidating, but Besay advises focusing on what you already know about yourself: “What do you normally enjoy drinking, what you are eating, or whether you prefer something fresher or lighter or something richer and more structured.” If you’re just beginning to explore wine, he also recommends having a guide, whether it’s a sommelier, wine merchant, or a knowledgeable friend.

There are grape varieties that are easier to understand when you’re starting: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, or Albariño in white wines; Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, or Cabernet Sauvignon in red ones. While these are useful reference points, Besay encourages you to try something different. “Wine becomes much more interesting when you are not only drinking what you already know. More than chasing scores, famous labels or grapes, the goal at the beginning should be to taste widely and slowly discover what excites you.”

Case in point: the Oremus Mandolás they served during the Macán lunch. “For many guests, it was their first real encounter with the variety, and the reaction was fantastic,” he says. “It was approachable and immediately enjoyable even for some attendants with less wine experience, but at the same time, interesting enough for experienced wine drinkers.”

Beyond the label, appreciate what is in the glass

There is useful information on the label: the producer, origin, vintage, and depending on the region, the grape variety or classification. The vintage tells the year that the grapes were harvested, which may be simple enough on the label, but it also tells consumers about the conditions it was grown in. “Temperature, rainfall, and the conditions throughout the year influence ripeness, acidity, concentration, and ultimately, the personality of the wine,” Ignacio explains.

Meanwhile, the varietal refers to the grape or grapes used. When the label says “Estate bottled,” it indicates that the wine was produced and bottled by the estate responsible for growing or controlling the vineyards. Meanwhile, terms such as “Reserva” require more context, depending on the country and appellation. In Spain, these terms can be legally regulated and linked to ageing requirements.

However, he advises to not read too much into the labels. “Ultimately, a wine should be appreciated for what is in the glass: its origin, personality, balance, and ability to express where it comes from.”

There is a proper technique for tasting wine, but one aspect matters more

When you drink wine, you can first look at the color, smell the wine before and after gently swirling the glass, and taste it slowly. While smelling the aromas, take note if they are fresh, ripe, floral, spicy, earthy, or influenced by aging. When it comes to tasting, pay attention to acidity, tannins, alcohol, and how long the flavors linger after swallowing.

But for Ignacio, there is an important question you need to ask yourself: Did you enjoy it? “With time, the technical part becomes natural. You should not be thinking about 10 different steps every time you have a glass of wine with dinner,” he says.

Food pairings can reveal different sides of a wine

Many dishes can pair well with wine, but for Besay, there are a few standouts: Champagne with oysters, Chablis with seafood, Pinot Noir from Burgundy with duck, and a mature Rioja with lamb. At the Macán lunch, one of the highlights for him was the Rubia Gallega “Tculetón,” a bone rib-eye cut from a six-year-old mature cow, paired with the Macán 2019 in magnum alongside the 2018 vintage. “Tasting them together showed beautifully how food can reveal different sides of a wine, and how two vintages of the same wine can behave very differently at the table,” he says.

Decanting is not always necessary

According to Ignacio, there are two main reasons to decant wine: to separate an older wine from sediment, and to give a younger or closed wine greater exposure to oxygen. “But decanting should never be automatic,” he says. “Some mature or delicate wines can evolve very quickly once exposed to air, and too much oxygen can take away precisely the nuances you wanted to preserve.”

Meanwhile, Besay believes in giving a wine time before deciding if it needs a decanter. He prefers to open the bottle one or two hours before serving, tasting it immediately after opening, then coming back to it after 20 or 30 minutes to see how the wine is evolving. “Sometimes it starts opening beautifully just from being uncorked, and you can serve it directly from the bottle,” he explains. “Other times you realize it needs more oxygen and decide to pass it through a decanter, or perhaps it really benefits from spending some time there.”

Wine glasses make a difference

While a decanter isn’t always necessary, wine glasses are. “I do not think someone needs 10 different glasses at home, but the shape and quality of the glass influence how the aromas reach you, how the wine feels in the mouth, and even which aspects of the wine become more noticeable,” Ignacio says.

He recalls a recent experience with Macán 2014, where they tasted the same wine from a Zalto Burgundy glass and a Josephinenhütte No. 3 glass. While the wine came from the same bottle, the aromatic expression and perception of the wine changed. “Experiences like that make it very difficult to say that glassware does not matter. At the same time, I do not think people need to become obsessed with it,” he says. “The glass should enhance the wine, not become more important than the wine itself.”

Start by drinking comparatively

If you are just beginning to explore wine, Besay suggests drinking wines comparatively. Instead of buying one random bottle, he recommends trying two or three wines with the same theme. For example, two Chardonnays from different regions, a young Rioja next to a mature one, or a Pinot Noir from Burgundy and from another country.

“You learn much faster when you can compare wines side by side,” he says. “The Macán tasting is a good example: Comparing different vintages, or even drinking the same wine from two different glasses, teaches you much more than tasting each one months apart.”

He encourages you to visit wine shops, speak to sommeliers, attend tastings, and taste as much as possible with people whose palate and experience you trust. When it comes to taking notes, it can be as simple as writing “I loved this,” “very fresh,” or “I would drink this again,” focusing more on your personal preferences than getting caught up on the technical tasting vocabulary. And while online apps and ratings have become popular over the years, they should never be the final judge of whether a wine is good or not. “Ultimately, somebody else’s score cannot tell you what your own palate enjoys,” he says.

Ignacio agrees with Besay: “Curiosity is probably the most important thing. The more origins, vintages, and producers you taste, the more reference points you develop. Confidence comes naturally after that.”