Systematic Approach to Tasting Wine Flashcards

• Good natural light
• No strong smells (perfume, lotion, foods, etc.)
• Space for wine glasses, a water glass, and note-taking
• Spittoon

1.7 fluid oz (5cL, or 50mL)

• Clarity
  
  • ‘hazy’ or ‘clear’
• Intensity (how pigmented the wine is)
  
  • ‘pale,’ ‘medium,’ or ‘deep’
• Color
  
  • see white, rosé and red cards for color ranges

Pale

• a white wine that has a wide, watery, almost colorless rim
• a red wine that is mostly see-through and has light saturation from rim to core

Deep

• a white wine with color that reaches or almost reaches the rim
• a red wine that has deep, concentrated color and is near-impossible to see through from rim to core

1. Lemon-Green
2. Lemon (most common)
3. Gold
4. Amber
5. Brown

1. Purple
2. Ruby
3. Garnet
4. Tawny
5. Brown

• Pink
• Salmon
• Orange

• Legs/tears
• Sediment/deposit
• Bubbles (for sparkling wines)
• Pétillance (spritzy quality for still wines)

• Depending on the rate at which they form and fall, can indicate sugar and/or alcohol content (though not definitively!) – higher sugar or alcohol levels are more viscous and have thicker, more persistent legs;
• If intensely pigmented, they can indicate a warmer climate or carbonic maceration (again, not definitively!).

Wine legs are the droplets or rivulets that form on the inside of a glass of wine that has just been swirled. They’re caused by the evaporation of alcohol from the sides of the glass.

High alcohol wines collect a higher density of “tears” or legs on the sides of the glass than low alcohol wines.

Sweeter wines are more viscous and, therefore, the tears will flow slower down the sides of a glass.

Try this at home! Swirl a glass of 8% abv Riesling Kabinett and compare it to a 22% abv Port to see the difference, and read more about it here and here.

Primary

• Aromas that come from the fermentation process and the grapes themselves.

Secondary

• Aromas that come from stylistic winemaking choices after fermentation (e.g. vanilla from oak, or butter from malo)

Tertiary

• Aromas that come from the aging process (e.g. caramel from extended oak aging or mushroom from extended bottle aging).

1. Youthful
2. Developing
3. Fully developed
4. Past its prime/tired

1. Cork taint/TCA
2. Reduction
3. SO₂
4. Oxidation
5. Volatile acidity
6. Brett
7. Out of condition/poorly stored/stale

1. Dry (no {perceptible} sugar)
2. Off-Dry (a kiss of residual sugar)
3. Medium-Dry (perceptible sugar but not enough to pair with desserts)
4. Medium-Sweet (higher detectable sugar than medium-dry, but still generally not sweet enough to partner most desserts)
5. Sweet (e.g. Sauternes, Port)
6. Luscious (e.g. PX, Rutherglen Muscat)

Acidity makes your mouth water and can cause a tingly feeling on the sides of your tongue.