Wine Tasting

Wine tasting is the structured evaluation of a wine’s appearance, aroma, palate and overall quality or condition. It is used by sommeliers, winemakers, buyers, educators and hospitality teams to assess style, identify faults, compare wines and make food-pairing recommendations. A consistent tasting method helps tasters describe wines clearly and objectively.

Four stages of tasting

1. Appearance: assess clarity, brightness, colour, intensity, bubbles and any visible sediment.
2. Nose: smell the wine before and after swirling. Identify aroma intensity, fruit, floral, herbal, spice, oak, fermentation and ageing notes, and check for faults.
3. Palate: assess sweetness, acidity, tannin, alcohol, body, flavour intensity, texture and finish.
4. Conclusion: consider balance, complexity, typicity, quality, readiness for drinking and suitability for food pairing.

Structured tasting methods

Professional systems such as the WSET Systematic Approach to Tasting (SAT) provide a consistent vocabulary and framework. Other organisations and competitions use their own structured methods. The purpose is to improve accuracy and communication rather than to force every wine into the same flavour description.

Professional tasting practice

Taste in a clean, odour-free environment using suitable glassware. Use moderate pour sizes and, when comparing wines, keep serving temperatures and tasting conditions as consistent as possible. Spitting is standard practice in professional tastings, particularly when assessing many wines.

Example: a tasting note might describe a wine as clear, deep ruby, with black cherry and cedar on the nose, dry and full-bodied on the palate, with firm tannin and a long finish.

Chef’s note: tasting should distinguish personal preference from technical assessment. A wine can be sound and well made even if it does not suit an individual’s taste.