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Appearance |
Clarity
This refers to how clear the wine is. To determine: Look at a small amount of the wine through a glass held at 45º with a white piece of paper behind it. |
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Clear - The wine is perfectly clear and transparent. Wines with sediment can still be considered clear. |
Hazy - The wine has some suspended particles, haze, or turbidity. This could indicate that the wine is faulty. This does not include sediment from aging. |
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Color Intensity
This is how opaque or deep the color of the wine is. To determine: Look at a the core (the center) and the rim of the wine through a glass held at 45º over a white background.
White wines tend to get darker with age. Red wines tend to get lighter with age. Intensity Chart |
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Pale - For Reds, you can easily see writing on a white sheet of paper through the liquid. For Whites, this could be described as "watery-white" and is the most common intensity. |
Medium - You can some-what see through the liquid, but not as clearly as Pale. For Reds, seeing text on a piece of paper through the wine can't be seen. For Whites, this could indicate some oxidation, age, or oak maturation. |
Deep - For Reds, you cannot see the stem of the glass at all through about 50ml-75ml of the wine. For Whites, this is a rare intensity. |
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Color (White)
This is the specific hue of the white wine. To determine: Look at a small amount of the wine through a glass held at 45º with a white piece of paper behind it. White wines will darken to brown as they age. Color Chart |
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Lemon-Green (Straw) - This wine will have an obvious light-green tint to it. It is a rare color. Examples are Pinot Grigio, Albariño, Vinho Verde, and Muscadet. |
Lemon/Yellow - This is a pure yellow wine without any green or brown. This is the most common color for Whites. Examples are Sauvignon Blanc, unoaked Chardonnay, and Chenin Blanc. |
Gold - The yellow is a deeper yellow with a trace of orange or brown. Examples are aged Chardonnay, Viognier, and Merssanne. |
Amber - This wine has hints of brown in its color. This is a sign of an aged white wine. |
Brown - This wine is brown. Examples are fortified wines. |
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Color (Red)
This is the specific hue of the red wine. To determine: Look at a small amount of the wine through a glass held at 45º with a white piece of paper behind it. Red wines will lighten to brown as they age. Color Chart |
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Purple - This wine will have a bit of a bluish/purple-ish tint to the rim of the liquid. |
Ruby - This wine will not have any blue in it and will appear pink at the rim of the liquid. |
Garnet - Ruby in the center with a bit of orange or brown on the edge (aka Bricking) |
Tawny - This wine has hints of brown in its color. This is typically an aged wine such as Port. |
Brown |
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Other Observations
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Legs/Tears - Thick legs indicates high alcohol content and/or sweetness. Thin legs indicates low alcohol. |
Deposit - Deposits can indicate the wine is unfined and/or unfiltered. |
Pétillance - This is a slight sparkle or fizz in wine, often associated with low-alcohol sparkling wines such as Pét-Nat. |
Bubbles - Bubbles can be small or large. |
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Color (Rosé)
This is the specific hue of the rose wine. To determine: Look at a small amount of the wine through a glass held at 45º with a white piece of paper behind it. Color Chart |
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Pink - There is no orange in the color at all. |
Pink-Orange (Salmon) |
Orange/Copper - This wine is made from white grapes, but in the manner of red wine where it is maceratized with the grape skins. |
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Nose |
Condition
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Clean - The aroma is not flat and does not have any faulty aromas. |
Unclean - This could indicate that the wine is faulty. Aromas include cork taint, vinegar, or bruised from oxidation. |
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Nose Intensity
This is how intense (strong) the smells from the wine are. It is judged by holding your glass at various distances from your nose. |
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Light - You have to put your nose in the glass to smell the wine. Aromas are difficult to identify. |
Medium Minus - You can identify a couple of aromas with some effort. |
Medium - You can easily smell the wine with the glass at your chin. You can identify a couple of aromas. |
Medium Plus - You can easily identify a couple of aromas. You might think, "there's quite a bit going on." |
Pronounced - You can easily smell the wine with the glass from below your chin. You can easily and quickly identify several aromas. |
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Aroma Characteristics
These are the actual smells of the wine.
Primary aromas come from the grape and fermentation.
Secondary aromas come from post fermentation (ex. barrels).
Tertiary aromas come from aging. |
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Development
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Youthful - There are no Tertiary aromas at all |
Developing - There are some Tertiary (at least 1) aromas, but mostly Primary and Secondary aromas. |
Fully Developed - The vast majority of aromas are Tertiary, but maybe a few Primary aromas, too. |
Tired / Past its Best - There are no Primary aromas; the wine is tired. |
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Palate |
Body
This is the 'weight' or viscosity of the wine on the tongue. |
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Light - This feels delicate, like flavored water. |
Medium Minus |
Medium - This will feel like 2% milk or unpulped OJ on the tongue. |
Medium Plus |
Full - This feels viscous and mouth-filling, like cream or light syrup. |
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Acidity
Acidity makes your mouth salivate which you feel on your lower teeth and sides of your tongue or below it. |
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Low - Takes 4+ seconds for mouth to water. These wines might not be as refreshing. |
Medium Minus |
Medium - Takes 3-4 seconds for mouth to water |
Medium Plus - Takes 1-2 seconds for mouth to water |
High - Takes only 1 second or less for mouth to water. These wines might taste acidic. |
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Tannin Level
Tannins make your cheeks and lips feel dry. It can also give an astringent feel to the mouth. They come from the grape skins, seeds, and stems, so thin skinned grapes will result in low tannin wine. |
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None - There are no tannins at all (ex. white wines) |
Low - There is only a very little bit of a drying sensation, but not none. |
Medium Minus - There is some dryness, but only enough to feel in 1 part of your mouth. |
Medium - Only 1 or 2 areas of your mouth feel a drying sensation (ex. top of tongue) |
Medium Plus - Definitely 2 areas of the mouth feel dryness. |
High - Everything feels a drying sensation: your tongue, gums, cheeks, lips. |
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Tannin Nature
Tannins make your cheeks and lips feel dry. It can also give an astringent feel to the mouth. They come from the grape skins, seeds, and stems, so thin skinned grapes will result in low tannin wine. Aged wines will have softer tannins. |
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Ripe |
Soft |
Smooth |
Unripe |
Green |
Coarse |
Stalky |
Chalky |
Fine Grained |
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Sweetness
This is the level of dry-to-sweetness of the wine and is related to the amount of sugar left after fermentation stops. |
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Dry - All of the sugar was been converted to alcohol and none can be tasted. |
Off Dry - A tiny amount of sugar can be detected. Finishes dry. |
Medium - There is a distinct presence of sugar, but is not too sweet. Typically White or Rose wines, either the yeast was stopped early or unfermented grape juice was added. |
Medium Dry - Medium, but finishes Dry (ex. Demi-Sec Vouvray) |
Medium Sweet - Medium, but finishes Sweet (ex. White Zinfindel) |
Sweet - Sweetness is the prominent feature. These wines can feel thick and syrupy. They are often Fortified. (ex. Sauternes) |
Lucious - Sticky Sweet (ex. PX Sherry) |
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Alcohol
This is the level of percent alcohol in the wine. This is usually listed on the bottle. A warmer climate leads to more sugar in the grapes which leads to more alcohol. |
Low - You can only feel the alcohol in your mouth.
Normal: below 11%
Fortified: 15%-16.4% |
Medium - You can feel the alcohol in the back of your palette.
Normal: 11%-13.9%
Fortified: 16.5%-18.4% |
High - You can feel the warmth of the alcohol down your throat.
Normal: 14+%
Fortified: 18.5+% |
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Mousse
This is how the carbonation of a sparkling wine affects your palate. |
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N/A - Not applicable |
Delicate - The bubbles are small and feel calm on your tongue (ex. Champagne) |
Creamy - Similar to Delicate, but creamier. |
Aggressive - The bubbles are large and aggressive, like a soda. |
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Flavor Intensity
This is how powerful the flavors are. Spice flavors tend to be prominent on the palette than on the nose while floral flavors tend to be less prominent than they appear on the nose. These factors might make a wine more or less intense on the palate verses the nose.
Typically matches the Nose Intensity, though is often 1 step above it. |
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Light - You are searching for flavors with your tongue. |
Medium Minus |
Medium |
Medium Plus |
Pronounced - Makes you think, "Wow!" when you taste it. |
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Flavor Characteristics
These are the actual flavors of the wine.
Primary flavors come from the grape and fermentation.
Secondary flavors come from post fermentation (ex. barrels).
Tertiary flavors come from aging. |
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Other Characteristics
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Texture - Oily, Creamy, Austere, Lucious |
Petillance - This is a slight sparkle or fizz in wine, often associated with low-alcohol sparkling wines such as Pét-Nat. |
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Finish
This is how long the flavors of the wine linger on your tongue after you swallow. This does not include dryness from the tannins or salivating from the acidity. It only includes Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary flavors.
Focus on the strongest flavors and count until they dissipate. |
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Short - The flavors linger for only 1-2 seconds on your tongue. |
Medium Minus - The strongest flavors linger for about 2 seconds on your tongue |
Medium - The strongest flavors linger for 3-4 seconds on your tongue. |
Medium Plus - The strongest flavors linger for 5-6 seconds on your tongue. |
Long - The strongest flavors linger for 8+ seconds on your tongue. |
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Conclusions |
Balance
Sugar should be balanced with acidity making the wine seem refreshing. Alcohol burn is balanced with sufficient fruit flavor intensity. High acidity should be balanced with sufficient fruit flavor so it doesn't seem thin and unpleasant. |
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Unbalanced |
Balanced - The structure is balanced across its attributes. |
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Complexity
Complexity can come from the primary aromas and flavors or from a combination of secondary and tertiary characteristics. Complexity can come from a range of different flavors or from a purity of the definition. |
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Simple - The wine demonstrates aromas/flavors from less than 4 categories. |
Complex - The wine demonstrates aromas/flavors from 4+ categories. And they should be clearly defined. |
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Quality Level
Based on the above four criteria: Balance, Finish, Intensity, and Complexity
Balance: Balanced only
Finish: Long only
Intensity: Medium+ or higher
Complexity: Complex only |
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Faulty - The bottle is faulty in some way. |
Poor - Does not show positive for any of the criteria. |
Acceptable - Shows positive for only a single criteria. |
Good - Shows positive for two of the criteria. |
Very Good - Shows positive for three of the criteria. |
Outstanding - Shows positive for all four criteria. |
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Level of Readiness of Drinking or Potential for Ageing
This is whether or not the wine can be consumed and when. |
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Too Young - The wine should be aged further before drinking. |
Can Drink Now, but Could Age - The wine is balanced and could be drunk now, but has potential for ageing. The flavors/aromas would benefit positively with further aging. |
Should Drink Now; Do not Age/Further Age - Drink now; not suitable for ageing or further ageing. The flavors/aromas would only diminish with further aging. Wine in clear bottles should not be aged. |
Too Old - The wine has been aged too long. Flavors aren't bright and/or the structure has collapsed. |
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Bottle Ageing
This is whether or not the bottle could/should be aged 3 to 5 years. |
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Can Age - Suitable for bottle ageing for 3 to 5 years |
Do not Age - Not Suitable for bottle ageing. Wine in clear bottles should not be aged. |
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