Below is a simple aide memoire that we use for our Society meetings on how to taste wine. This gives a total objective score out of 20 – up to:

3 for Appearance,
7 for Nose, and
10 for Palate

I find it useful to make an additional, subjective score out of 10 for ‘Likeability’. This helps me to recall the wines I liked most (or least) and does not always mirror the objective score for quality.

We use our senses to taste wine using 3 objective steps: Appearance, Nose and Palate.

• Look at the wine tilted away from you at an angle of 45°, holding the glass stem
• Swirl the glass to increase the aromatic intensity and evaporation
• Sniff the wine deeply, swirl and sniff again. Think of what you are smelling
• Sip the wine, a good amount, followed by air
• Swish it around, to coat all inside your mouth and hold for 3-5 seconds
• Savour the wine to assess any lingering aftertaste. You don’t need to swallow to taste
• Clean the palate between with an unsalted cracker

Appearance: (score out of 3) tells you about age, quality, sweetness and condition

• Figure out the colour and hue:
  • Assess the wine for colour depth by looking from above at the glass stem. Is it light-, medium- or full-bodied?
  • White wines darken by barrels, age, density and sweetness
  • Red wines are darkened by grape-skin compounds; lightened and browned by age
• Consider clarity and opacity:
  • Wine must be clear and bright, not hazy or cloudy
  • Are there bubbles? What size?
• Swirl and look at the ‘legs’ or ‘tears’: this viscosity tells you about the alcohol concentration

Nose: (score out of 7) tells you about the cleanliness, fruit intensity and oak presence

• Off-odours can be caused by oxidation, reduction or poor corks
• What are the primary (grapes), secondary (yeast and bacteria), tertiary (ageing) odours? Does the smell remind you of anything specific?
• Aromas are more subtle and make up 75% of taste perception (10,000 smells; 6 tastes)

Palate: (score out of 10) tells you about sweetness, acidity, body, tannin, alcohol, flavour, balance

• Tastes are sweet (honey), sour (lemon), salty (soy sauce), bitter (tea), fat (butter), umami (MSG)
• Sweetness (tongue tip) is from residual sugar and tells you if the wine is dry, off-dry or sweet
• Acidity or sourness is sensed on first contact with the tongue (front sides). It makes your mouth water. Acidity lessens as grapes ripen
• Body refers to the weight and feel of the wine in the mouth
• Tannin (red wines) dries your mouth out. It comes from grape pips, stems, skins: also wood
• Alcohol feels as heat in the throat and as a fuller mouth feel. It conveys aromas to your nose
• Flavour informs quality and can be simple to complex. Look for those you recognize. Consider the fruit and non-fruit flavours and their intensity
• Balance is about whether the components are in harmony, or does one dominate
• Finish (Aftertaste). The longer the finish the better the quality

Likeability: (score out of 10) to remind you how much you liked the wine