White, red or sparkling, wine has the ability to charm us in a number of ways. The way it looks at you from inside the glass, the way it tastes and smells, or the way it rolls around inside your mouth. Why not take a bit of time to enjoy all the tastes and aromas that are there inside each and every bottle?

You don’t have to be a qualified wine professional to enjoy the process of tasting. It’s not difficult to do and even the so-called experts started from scratch. If you pay a little attention then gradually you can build up a library of smells and flavors in your head that you begin to recognize in different wines. You can even keep a little notebook around to record the different bottles of wine that you get through - much like a recipe book. It’s completely up to you.

I guarantee that if you follow the steps below, you’ll quickly find how much more interesting and enjoyable drinking wine can be. And before long, you’ll start to see the differences between a Sauvignon Blanc grown in South Africa and one from Sancerre. Just let your own curiosity lead the way!



How to taste wine


Step 1 – Look at the Wine

Find yourself a clear glass – preferably tulip shaped – and fill about ¼ of it with wine. Then hold the stem and tilt the glass away from you on an angle of about 45°. It works best if you do this against a white background to avoid distractions (This can be anything you have lying around - a piece of paper, a napkin, or a tablecloth.)

Is the wine clear or cloudy? Almost all wines can be described as clear but those that are cloudy are generally not good. It could simply mean that the wine has some sediment and should probably have been decanted first. But it can also mean the wine is faulty or slightly fizzy.

Next, look at the difference in color between the center of the wine and its outside rim. Red wines tend to fade and lose color with age, from deep purple or ruby to a more of a brick red or brown-tinge. You’ll notice this change more clearly near the rim. color is also a sign of the type of grape that’s in the wine. Thin-skinned varieties, like Gamay and Pinot Noir, will be lighter in colour. Thick-skinned grapes, like Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon will be darker, richer in the centre. Some grapes, such as Italy’s Nebbiolo, can confuse you by having a lighter shade yet still produce powerful wines.



White wines do the opposite with time - they gain colour. Starting out pale lemon, straw or green, they develop a deeper, golden appearance. White wines aged in oak can also pick up a little extra color from the barrel.

Another feature of the wine’s appearance, which people get excited about is what’s called the ‘legs’ or ‘tears.’ If you tilt the wine back towards yourself, you may notice thin streaks or streams of wine forming on the inside of the glass. Nice to look at, but they don’t have a lot to do with the quality of the wine. The way they cling on to the glass is simply a measure of the amount of alcohol or residual sugar in any particular wine.


Step 2 – Smell the Wine

Some say this is the most important part of the process - certainly the most revealing – as much of what we taste is first noticed on the wine’s nose.

An interesting exercise is to first smell the wine with the glass sitting still on the table. Then pick it up and give it a good swill before sticking your nose in again. By swirling the wine around in the glass you release the wine’s aromas. Notice the difference? You should be able to smell a lot more.

Our sense of smell and our memory are closely linked so try to work out what the aromas remind you of – fruit, spice, fresh herbs, flowers, wood, wet earth, nuts, or even savory and chemical smells? Also think about how intense the wine’s bouquet is. Quality wines are usually more powerful and concentrated and often more complex.

As a general rule, young wines will show off their primary aromas. Each grape has its own unique profile, and this is more noticeable when the wine is in its first year or two. With time the fruit becomes less obvious and the wine starts to develop a more mature bouquet. You’ll start to smell secondary aromas that are funkier, earthier, and even a little ‘animal.’

Of course, it’s at this stage that we may start to notice unwanted smells in our wine. Dank, musty smells, rotten egg smells, burnt match smells, vinegar or nail polish smells. All of these are wine faults - but, more on that later.


Step 3 – Taste the Wine

Finally it’s to taste. Take a nice, big mouthful of wine. Hold it in for at least 5 seconds and make sure it reaches all the corners of your mouth. It’s important that all your taste buds get a good coating of the wine.

The first thing most people focus on at this stage is the flavours. But there’s a lot more going on. This is the time to concentrate on the texture and the feel of the wine. Notice how it affects the different parts of your mouth. The various ingredients that are there in every wine - sweetness, acidity, tannins, and alcohol – all come from the grapes and you can feel them in different parts of your mouth.

Sweetness can be felt at the tip of the tongue. It’s how you can tell whether a wine is dry or not. The big supermarkets often use a numbered scale to help you work this out. Acidity is also felt on the tongue, but this time on the sides. It makes the wine refreshing and is very important in keeping a wine’s overall balance. Tannins have a drying affect, similar to a strong cup of tea, on your cheeks and gums. Alcohol can leave a warming sensation on the back of the throat.

Combined together, these separate elements give a wine its overall body and structure. As far as quality goes, that’s completely dependent on your preference. But a harmonious balance of all these parts is what most top winemakers and most keen wine drinkers look for.




Wine Faults and Flaws

Corked wine
Wines can develop a mouldy, musty smell similar to wet cardboard or wet carpet. Forget the harmless pieces of cork floating in your glass. The fault comes mainly from contaminated corks that pass their nasty aromas onto the wine.

oxidized wine
This is where wines have a dull, sherry-like smell caused by over exposure to air and the wines usually have a brownish colour. The fault may occur in the winery or be caused by an ill-fitting cork. It is often the result of wines being left too long in the cellar.

sulfur Dioxide
Some wines can have a prickly, burnt match smell to them due to the overuse of this preserving chemical during winemaking. This can be a real problem for asthmatics.

Hydrogen sulphide
This is a somewhat dirty smell of rotten eggs that sometimes develops inside the bottle. Once the wine is exposed to air it often ‘blows off.’

Volatile Acidity
Excess acidity causes a strong vinegary smell similar to nail varnish. Some winemakers believe a small amount can give their wine a lift.