How does a sommelier taste oil?

29 September 2022

Tasting the oil means carrying out, through some Organs of Sense, a careful analysis of the oil.

Rules for performing the analysis correctly:

The glass, strictly without stem, should be held tightly in the hands, possibly covered to concentrate the scents inside.
The glass must be brought at eye level to examine Luminosity (= Opalescent, Veiled, Limpid, Crystalline), Density (= Fluid, Not very dense, Quite dense, dense) and Color of Oil (= straw yellow, golden yellow, amber yellow, yellow green, golden green, topaz green, emerald green, bottle green) based simply on the perceived brightness and richness of the liquid. The visual appearance of the oil must not in any way affect the quality judgment expressed.
Once heated enough, you can begin to smell it with strong inspirations at regular intervals to describe the Perfumes, their Intensity and Quality. The olfactory analysis is the most demanding: it allows us to identify defects such as Morchia, Mould, Rancido and others that, often caused by various external factors such as climate, time of harvest, processing systems compromise their quality. As for perfumes it is important to catalogue them in families e.g. Fruity, Citrus, Herbaceous.
After observing and smelling, the last stage is the tasting of a small sip of oil. Sip to hold in the mouth a few seconds, chewing it elegantly by passing air through the mouth (stripping) in order to amplify the odorous molecules and then swallow and evaluate the aromatic characteristics and evaluate the balance, the quality, the final taste and the evolutionary state. Balance means evaluating its balance between bitter, spicy and sweet sensations in order to properly match the oil to a dish.