Wine Tasting Tips

The Scan, Swirl, Sniff, Sip and Swallow Approach to Tasting and Evaluating Wines

Appearance

  • Color – tilt the glass slightly and look at the wine against a white background. White wines can vary from almost transparent white to golden yellow to amber color (for sweeter whites). Red wines can vary from pink to ruby red to garnet to brick red. Some older vintages may exhibit a brown or orange tint at the edge
  • Clarity – white wines should look clear and bright. With reds, cloudiness or haze may reflect sediment.

Bouquet or nose

Gently swirl the wine in the glass to release the flavors. Notice how the wine runs down the inside of the glass. These rivulets, called “legs,” are a function of the alcohol content. Generally, the higher the alcohol, the more pronounced the legs.

Put your nose right into the glass and inhale the aromas — associate what you smell with familiar aromas, such as:

  • Fruits — apple, blackberry, cherry, fig, lemon, melon, plum, prune, raisin, raspberry, etc.
  • Herbs and spices — cardamom, cinnamon, clove, curry, pepper,  nutmeg, ginger, etc.
  • Flowers — iris, violet, rose, etc.
  • Beverages and foods — cassis, chocolate, coffee, honey, tea, toast, vanilla, etc.
  • Woodlands — wild mushroom, cedar, leaves, leather, tar, oak, tobacco, moss, pine, smoke, etc.
  • “Off” odors — cork, mold, sulfur, etc.

Taste

Take a generous sip, slosh the wine around in your mouth and hold it for several seconds – you want to coat your tongue and the roof of your mouth so that the aromas will percolate in your nasal passages. Factors to consider in tasting the wine:

  • Acidity – the juicy, zingy quality of a wine. The right amount makes the wine crisp and fresh while too little makes the wine flat and uninteresting and too much is unpleasant.
  • Body – refers to the heft and weight of the wine in your mouth. Is it light, even watery, or heavy and full-bodied?
    • This is to some extent a function of the wine’s alcohol content.  High alcohol wines will generally have a heavier mouthfeel while lighter alcohol wines feel lighter in the mouth.
  • Residual Sugar – especially important in white wines which can vary from bone dry to dolce (sweet).
  • Flavor – as with bouquet, associate the flavor with familiar flavors or aromas.
    For example, a wine's flavor may be described as berry-like, floral, peppery or earthy.
  • Tannin – an antioxident and natural preservative found in red wines that imparts a bitter or astringent taste in your mouth and back of throat Red wine glass with iris in background(also found in tea). Tannins are extracted from the grape skins, seeds and stems (and to a lesser extent from ageing in new oak barrels) and so are found exclusively in red wines.
    • Tannins give substance and structure to a wine. Young red wines may have pronounced tannins that may need cellar time to soften. The tannins will soften with time and enable other characteristics to emerge.
  • Texture – the feel of the wine in the mouth – smooth, velvety or perhaps astringent are common terms used to describe texture. "Creamy" is a term often used to describe the texture of rich wines that are low in acid. The best wines will have a great mouthfeel, being either silky or velvety in texture.
  • Balance – one of the most desired features in a wine is good balance whereby the various flavor components are in harmony with no individual component (such as acidity, tannin or oak, for example) present in excess. When all the parts are in harmony, the wine will have a sense of elegance and completeness and will also tend to age gracefully.

Finish

This is the llast impression of the wine after it is swallowed. How long does the wine's taste linger? Fine wines have a clean, long finish, A lingering aftertaste is considered a plus while a short finish or little, if any, lingering aftertaste is undesirable.

Stop and reflect on what you have tasted. Did you like it? If not, why not? Write down your comments. Notes are a handy reference in the event you have the opportunity to taste the same wine in the future.

It's OK to dump the remaining wine after tasting. All tasting rooms have pour-buckets for this purpose and if you don't see one, ask the tasting room staff to dump it for you.

 

For information about scheduling a wine tasting event for you or your company, club, church group or organization, see winetastings or contact me directly via email at winetasting@WineWordsWisdom.com.