How to Taste Wine

First of all, consider the look of the wine. In less than five seconds, you can examine its color, opacity, and viscosity. Don’t forget to read the label on the bottle, either, to determine its alcohol percentage, year, and the type of grape.

Next is the smell, where it’s better to first focus on the primary aromas which are the fruit and grape-oriented scents. The secondary aromas come from the winemaking process, and they will appear as yeasty, nutty, and stale beer type smells. Tertiary aromas will come from the aging process, forming in either the bottle or in oak barrels resulting in the sensation of autumn leaves, old tobacco, and vanilla.

Then there is the actual taste of the wine, and the mouth’s taste buds can differentiate between salty, sour, bitter, and sweet. Nearly every wine is going to be a little sour due to the natural acidity, and some will be bitter such as a Pinot Grigio. Some wines maintain their sugars during the fermentation process and taste sweet, but salty wines are exceedingly rare.

When tasting, it is necessary to examine the texture of the wine. Generally, the higher the percentage of alcohol, the coarser the texture it will have, and many red wines will contain tannins that are actually abrasive to the tongue.

One must also evaluate the taste of the wine in terms of time since the wine will have a beginning, middle, and end (finish). How long did the wine remain on the palate? In conclusion, was the wine balanced (acidic, heavy on alcohol, overly tannic)? Was the wine enjoyable or memorable? If so, what were the wine’s characteristics that were impressive?