How to taste wine
Wine tasting is a skill, not a talent. Anyone can learn it. It comes down to four steps: sight, smell, taste, and finish. Work through them on every glass and you will notice how quickly your palate develops.
Sight
Look at the wine
Tilt your glass against a white background. Note the colour and its intensity. A pale ruby suggests a young Pinot Noir; a deep purple-black points to Syrah or Malbec. Whites range from almost clear to deep gold. Colour also tells you about age: reds fade toward orange at the rim as they mature, whites darken toward amber.
Smell
Nose the wine
Swirl the glass to release the aromas, then take two or three short sniffs. Start with the primary aromas: fruit, flowers, herbs. Then look for secondary aromas from fermentation: bread, yeast, cream. Finally, notice tertiary aromas from ageing: leather, tobacco, earth, vanilla, spice.
Taste
Take a sip
Let the wine coat your whole mouth. Notice sweetness first at the tip of your tongue, then acidity on the sides, tannin as a drying sensation on your gums, and alcohol as warmth in the back of your throat. Body is the weight of the wine on your palate, light, medium, or full.
Finish
Notice the aftertaste
After you swallow, how long do the flavours linger? A short finish of a few seconds is typical of simpler wines. A long, complex finish that evolves over 30 seconds or more is the mark of a great wine. Note whether the finish is pleasant, bitter, or acidic.
A few tips to get more from every glass
- •Taste blind when you can. Knowing the price or producer before you taste biases your perception more than you think.
- •Write down what you smell before you taste. Once the wine is in your mouth, your nose registers flavour differently.
- •Taste at least two wines side by side. Contrast sharpens your perception of acidity, tannin, and body far more than tasting alone.
- •Avoid strong flavours for 30 minutes before tasting. Coffee, mint, and spicy food can numb or distort your palate.
- •Temperature matters. Reds served too warm taste flabby and alcoholic. Whites served too cold hide their aromas. Aim for 14-16C for reds, 8-10C for whites.
Taste with guidance in the app
SomeWine walks you through every step live, on any wine you scan. Earn XP as your palate grows.
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