Wine Basics

A Wine Baby’s Guide: How to Taste Wine

Have you ever faked your way through the sniff-and-swirl motions at a restaurant? I’m willing to bet that most of us have at one point or another.

How about nodding along like you understand the tasting attendant at a winery while secretly having no idea what they are talking about?

You can “taste” the wine and determine if you like it or not, sure, but can you *taste* the wine and determine if it’s good quality? Pick out aromas and flavours? Break down the different compounds?

I think it’s safe to assume that if you are reading this article right now, it’s because you want to learn more about wine, and why you like what you like or don’t like what you don’t.

And the best way to do that, is through tasting.

Today we are going to break down the proper tasting technique you need to know in order to start getting more acquainted with this magical liquid.

If you have read any of my articles on different varietals or wine reviews, then you will see that I *always* follow the same structure. Repetition and consistency are key, so you don’t miss anything.

I’ll break down all of the components here for you, but I also recommend that you pick up a bottle and walk through some of my articles and reviews with me as a kind of guided practice.

The Look

We start off by using our eyes to examine the contents of the glass.

Get the obvious out of the way first: are there any little bits of cork floating in there? That’s bad. But sediment, that’s fine.

Next up is colour. Beyond just white or red, there are different hues within each category. You will want to hold your glass at a 45 degree angle over a white surface if possible, to assess it without any interfering colours.

For a white wine, most will be a nice lemon yellow, but heavier or slightly older whites may appear more gold. Even older whites will start to creep into amber.

If it’s red, most will be a true ruby red, but some will be a little more on the purple side, and some will lean towards an orange-tinged garnet, or even tawny brown as they get older and older.

We also want to assess the intensity of that colour.

Reds are easier to assess for intensity because they can be so deep and dark that you can’t even see through them, or so pale they are almost pink, or somewhere in between.

For whites, however, you will want to assess intensity by how much the colour extends from the centre out towards the rim. If the rim has barely any colour to it, it’s pale. But if the colour stays strong a fair ways out, it’s deep.

The Sniff

The second step is to assess the “nose” or aromas that are in the glass.

You’ve probably seen people swirling their wine glasses around and around, but do you know why?

Swirling the wine helps to release the aroma compounds into the air so they are easier for your nose to pick up. Try it for yourself by comparing the intensity of a wine before and after you swirl it.

After you’ve swirled, the first thing you want to assess is the intensity. If you only have to lift your glass to chest height and you can already smell it, then those are some powerful aromas. For the average wine you will likely be able to smell it from around chin height, whereas you may have to put it right under your nose for a closed-off wine.

Side note: this does depend a fair bit on your sense of smell. Mine sucks! So I always give it a bit of extra wiggle room.

Now that you have assessed the intensity, we are going to start looking for the actual aromas. This is the part that most people have trouble with when first starting out, but don’t worry, I have a whole separate article on that! Check out “A Wine Baby’s Top 5 Tips to get better at Tasting”.

Ideally, start by aiming to pick out three to five different aromas. They can be as broad or specific as you like. It takes lots of practice, but that’s half the fun!

Insider tip: try holding nose at different spots over the glass and different distances away. It will help you pick up different aromas because they tend to sit in different places.

Need more nose training? Check this out: The BEST Way to Train your Nose.

The Sip

Finally, we get to drink it!

The technique, as funny as it may look, involves swirling the wine around as much of your mouth as possible (almost like you are using mouthwash, without the gurgling). And if you can do it without choking (it took me some practice), try to pull air into your mouth at the same time to really ruffle up those aromatic compounds.

There are quite a few things we are going to be examining for this one, but if you are at a restaurant and the sommelier/server is waiting for an answer, there’s only one part that matters: is it flawed?

The sommelier/server doesn’t care what you think of the tannins, or even if you like it or not. Once the bottle is open, it’s yours, and you don’t get to send it back just because you don’t like the peppery notes. What they need to know is if the bottle has been “corked”, or tainted somehow. So if it doesn’t taste like wet cardboard or a sewer, you can tell that sommelier it’s good and carry on with your tasting in peace.

Next up we are going to break down the components of the wine that you will be sensing on your palate. I could go on and on about each of the different components, but instead I will briefly summarize what you need to know in order to evaluate them.

They are acidity, tannins, sweetness, alcohol, and body.

To assess acidity, the most reliable test is to see how much it makes your mouth water. High acidity = lots of saliva, just like sucking on a lemon. You may also notice a stinging sensation on your tongue, but this can be confused with the burning sensation of high alcohol, so mouth watering is the most consistent evaluation tool.

Tannins can be bitter or astringent. They make your mouth feel dry, especially your gums. Run your tongue along your upper gum line after your sip and see if it gets stuck along the way. The drier and stickier your gums, the higher the tannins.

Note: a wine that has really well balanced acidity and tannins can make it seem like neither is high because they almost cancel each other out. You will need to pay close attention to each sensation individually.

Sweetness is often misunderstood among beginner wine drinkers, because the fruitiness of the wine can play tricks on our brain. But when wine pros are talking about sweetness, what they are referring to is the actual level of residual sugar left behind after fermentation. A sweet wine will be incredibly obvious. The sugar makes it feel thicker and stickier on your tongue. Most wines are “dry” or “off dry”, which means there is very little to no residual sugar left behind. I find a good cue is to make the distinction in your brain – “is this wine actually sweet, or just fruity?”

Alcohol is an easy one because you can cheat by looking at the label! But if you want to guess, you can assess it by the burning sensation after you swallow. If it burns all the way down to your chest and tummy, that’s a high alcohol wine! But if it stays just in your mouth, then it’s on the lower end of the scale.

Body is the overall mouth-feel of the wine, and it’s impacted by all of the components above. Higher acid makes a wine feel lighter in body, whereas higher tannins make it feel fuller. Alcohol and sugar can also increase the body of a wine.

Next up are the flavours. These should generally be similar to or the same as the aromas we picked up during “The Sniff”. But make note of any new flavours that weren’t apparent on the nose, or if any on the nose have now disappeared from the palate.

And finally, the finish. This refers to how long the flavours – not the components – last in your mouth after the wine is gone. Anything over 30 seconds is a long finish, but some will disappear immediately.

And that’s it! You’re done!

Just kidding, there’s one more step.

The Evaluation

When I first started out, my evaluation consisted of one question: would I buy this again?

And that is a perfectly find place to leave it at. After all, isn’t that what’s really important? Whether or not you actually liked it?

But if you want to assess quality and not just taste, here’s how you score it.

Was it balanced? Where any of the components overly aggressive, or did they all work cohesively together?

Was it intense? Were the aromas and flavours powerful? Weak aromas and flavours don’t show good quality because it’s too hard to pick them out.

Was it complex and/or consistent? Wines that are bursting with different aromas and flavours are generally considered higher quality. BUT there are some exceptions where the varietal or style itself if meant to be simpler, like ice wines. In this case, assess whether or not it was consistent with what you would expect from that style.

Was the finish long? A long finish is an indicator of quality.

The more of these four categories you can check off, the better quality the wine, regardless of your personal preferences.

Looking for a great tool to make this process super easy? Look no further than that WSET Tasting App. Check out my tutorial here.

And there you have it.You no longer have to fake it at tastings! You’ll be a pro in no time. Don’t forget, practice makes perfect!