How to Properly Taste Wine?

Sight is the first of our senses to be used when tasting a wine. Visual analysis allows us to appreciate the colour of the wine, its general appearance and to identify some qualities or defects of the wine, its type, its age or its state of conservation. Start by examining the wine's brightness and clarity by placing it in front of a light source to assess its colour and intensity. This information is a clue to the grape variety and age of the wine. The colour varies according to the type of wine (red, white, rosé), the grape varieties used and the age of the bottle. It should be noted that the colour evolves with time, a young wine, purplish red, will evolve towards orange-red, while white wines will take on golden hues with age. Finally, turn your glass slightly while tilting it to observe the richness of the wine: if "tears" appear on the side, it is the sign of a full and structured wine. They are mainly due to the sweetness of the wine and its alcohol content. The longer the tears, the higher the alcohol content of the wine.

Whereas the olfactory assessment is quite personal because it draws on your own prior experience, the gustatory assessment is much less personal. The search for taste is an important part of the tasting process and calls on your sensory memory. The harmony of a wine and its quality lies mainly in the balance of its flavours and aromas. Some flavours that are too pronounced neutralise others. More precisely, this harmony is essentially found in the balance between sweet, sour and bitter tastes. Through the palate, we can analyse the quality of the tannins, the degree of alcohol, the body and the length of the mouth.

Tasting a wine is a three-step process:

The attack: this is the first impression that the wine gives in the mouth and provides information on its structure. Take a small sip of wine in your mouth and move it around to impregnate your taste buds. Hold it in your mouth while inhaling small quantities of air. You need to distinguish between a short or lingering attack.

The mid-palate: the sensations develop in the mouth for a few seconds and allow you to analyse the tannins, the astringency (harsh, rough sensation) and the balance of the wine. Move the wine around in your mouth and swallow slowly. Your tongue has over 8,000 tastebuds for different flavours, sweet, salty, acidity and bitterness, so it is important to move the wine around in your mouth to determine the degree of flavour harmony. It should be noted that, according to scientific consensus, there is no such thing as mouth mapping (sweet on the front, bitter on the back, salty, acidic and unami on the sides). In reality, all the taste buds react to all tastes. Some areas are just more sensitive than others to certain flavours, depending on the cellular composition of the taste buds involved. The retro-nasal channels allow you to characterise the bouquet of the wine.

The Finish: once the wine is swallowed (or spit out), the aromas linger in the mouth. The length in the mouth, called caudalie, is counted in seconds. Estimate the time during which the aromas remain in the mouth, knowing that the good average is 10 to 12 seconds.

Related to the texture (not to the taste), this term evokes the sensation of a wine that is coated on the palate and whose aromatic range in retro-olfaction fully occupies the mouth.

It refers to the clarity and colour of the wine. The eye is the first sense to be awakened in a tasting.

A wine with a somewhat harsh, rough character on the palate. Astringency often appears in young red wines rich in tannins.

First impressions after the wine is put in the mouth.

A good balance is the harmony between acidity, sweetness, tannins and alcohol. An important aspect to look for during a tasting.

Fragrant characteristics perceived by the nose when the wine has aged in bottle and has begun to exhibit secondary or tertiary notes.

Unit of measurement of the duration of persistence of aromas in the mouth after tasting (1 caudalie = 1 second).

A wine that produces the sensation of a lack of moisture in the mouth. This effect is the result of a wine where all or most of the sugars have been converted to alcohol during fermentation.

The impression that is felt in the mouth once the wine has been swallowed. The finish can be short or lingering.

Said of a wine that is slightly acidic, but not excessively so, that gives a sensation of freshness.

Said of a wine, generally young, whose aromatic palette is dominated by fresh fruit aromas.

A term used to describe all the smells perceived when breathing in the wine. The "first nose" refers to the first scents smelled, before the wine is stirred.

Term designating all the characteristics of the wine perceived in the mouth.

Refers to the perception of aromatic characteristics in the mouth. A term, therefore, which is similar to the sensations of the nose and mouth, and often evoked during the finish.

A wine whose suppleness and mellowness give an impression of roundness. Term to describe the tannins present in a wine, but without aggressiveness, roughness or harshness. Make the mouth expand and welcome rather than contract as with an acidic wine.

A positive term for a wine with pleasant and harmonious levels of acidity and tannins.