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to do is develop markers (flavor and scent profiles) that work for you and will trigger the same response each time you taste. Remember, this takes practice, but will work well if you stick with it long enough. What follows is an abbreviated tasting process that works well for those of us who want to take full advantage of the tasting room visit. The four basic steps are pretty simple; look, smell, taste, evaluate, all of which are critical to developing a wine memory. It’s best if you practice this at home the first few times so that you understand the process before trying it in a busy tasting room.
APPEARANCE:
When evaluating a wine, never pour more than 2 ounces in your glass (most winery pours are 1 oz) to allow enough room to swirl the wine without spilling. Good lighting is critical to a good visual evaluation; so if the tasting room is a little dark try to get near a window. Hold the glass up to the light and look at the wine from the side and then from the top down to determine the depth and quality of the color of the wine. Below are some colors suggestions commonly used by many tasters to describe red and white wines:
White Wine: Green, Straw, Yellow, Golden or Brown/Gold Red Wine: Blue, Purple, Ruby, Garnet, Orange, Brown
These colors are basically ranked from what can be generally considered young to old. Be specific in your notes about the color, and the depth of that color, by using further descriptors such as light yellow or deep ruby. This will make it easier to identify that same wine, or similar wines, in future tastings. The most commonly used words to describe color depth are: Light, Medium, Deep, Dark, and Black.
Next look at the wine’s basic appearance. Hold the glass to the light above a white cloth or piece of paper and see how much light passes through it. Does the light dance and sparkle, indicating it is bright, or maybe even brilliant. If the light simply illuminates the paper, it may be considered just clear. Can you read print through it? Then it is definitely at least clear. In red wines that are very deep in color you may not be able to actually see through it, but it should still be bright, lively and clean looking in a good quality wine.
Swirl the wine in the glass and watch to see how the liquid flows down the side. The streams of wine flowing down the side of the glass are called tears or legs. These legs indicate the alcohol, glycerol and residual sugar content of the wine, which are the things that determine the wine’s body. If the legs are thin and flow quickly down the side of the glass, the body will be light with little or no sweetness and a low alcohol content. The slower and fatter the legs are, the bigger the body and the higher the alcohol and/or residual sugar. This can give you a hint on the wine style and ripeness of the grapes.
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