How to Taste Wine…a couple of tips
1. Look
Check out the color, opacity and viscosity (wine legs). You don’t really need to spend more than 5 seconds on this step.
2. Smell
Pick out at least 2 flavors and take your time identifying them. There are 3 types of wine aromas:
Primary Aromas come from grapes and include fruit, herb and flower notes
Secondary Aromas come from fermentation and yeast aromas.
Tertiary Bouquets come from aging, oxidation and oak such as baking spices, nutty aromas and vanilla.
3. Taste
Two elements make up taste: flavor and structure.
Flavors such as lemon, raspberry or coconut.
Structure such as the level of sweetness, body, alcohol, acidity, and tannin.
Profile The taste of wine is also time-based, there is a beginning, middle (mid-palate) and end (finish).
4. Conclude
Did the wine taste balanced or out of balance? Did you like the wine? Was this wine unique or unmemorable? Were there any characteristics that shined through and impressed you.