Wine Tasting Notes

Sipping wine brings a focus on the balance of sweetness, acidity, alcohol and tannin, combined with an overall texture.

• Sweetness is one of the first sensations on your tongue.  A wine’s residual sugar levels can be anywhere between 0 g/L (dry wine) to 220 g/L (sweet wine.)
• Acidity gives you clues on whether the grape vines were grown in a cold or hot climate and the wine’s aging potential.  Less acidic wines have a smoother mouthfeel.
• Alcohol content can vary from 5% to 21% ABV.  A dry wine would usually have a higher alcohol content, resulting in a warm sensation in your mouth, while a sweet wine, on the other hand, would have low alcohol content.
• Tannins are primarily present in red wine and impart an astringent taste and dry sensation in your mouth.  Wines aged in oak barrel vessels usually have softer and rounder tannin levels. Young wine would have harsher tannin levels, while older wines have softer and rounder tannin mouthfeel.
• Texture of wine could also be full-bodied or light.  A heavy wine with a high alcohol would have a fuller body, while wines with a low alcohol will be lighter.  To understand the texture of the wine you’re tasting, just swirl it gently in your mouth and try to understand how it feels.

Descriptive Terms

Primary

• Floral – perfumed, iris, peony, elderflower, acacia, lilac, jasmine, honeysuckle, violet, lavender, rose, geranium, orange blossom, potpourri, hibiscus
• Citrus – lime, lemon, grapefruit, orange, marmalade
• Tree Fruit – apple, pear, peach, nectarine, apricot, persimmon, quince, prune
• Tropical Fruit – pineapple, mango, guava, kiwi, lychee, bubblegum, banana, melon
• Red Fruit – cherry, sour cherry, strawberry, raspberry, pomegranate, cranberry
• Black Fruit – blackberry, blueberry, boysenberry, black currant, black cherry, plum, olive
• Dried Fruit – raisin, fig, date, fruitcake
• Noble Rot – beeswax, ginger, saffron
• Spice – white red or black pepper, almond, cloves, chocolate, brown-sugar, caramel, cinnamon, anise, fennel, licorice, eucalyptus, mint, thyme
• Vegetable – hay, leaves, grass, tomato leaf, gooseberry, bell pepper, jalapeno, almond, tomato, sun-dried tomato, black tea
• Earth – dusty, clay pot, slate, wet gravel, potting soil, red beet, volcanic rocks, petroleum, tar, phenolic, medicinal

Secondary

• Microbial – butter, cream, sourdough, lager, truffle, mushroom, yeast

Tertiary

• Oak Aging – vanilla, coconut, baking spices, cigar box/cedar, toast, smoke, dill
• General Aging – dried fruit, nuts, tobacco, coffee, cocoa, leather

Faults

• Corked – musty cardboard, moldy, wet dog
• Mercaptans & Sulfides – cured meat, boiled eggs, burnt rubber, match box, garlic, onion, cat piss
• Brettanomyces – excess yeast, black cardamom, band-aid, sweathy leather saddle, horse manure
• Cooked – toffee, stewed fruit
• Volative Acidity – vinergar, balsamic
• Tannins – inky, silky, leathery, musty, sweaty
• Balance – Xs acid, Xs sugar, Xs tannin, Xs alcohol
• Abnormal Odors – yeast, oxidized, corky, woody, sulfur, phenolic, mousey, mercapten, beery, cidery,
• Terroir – nonexistent, faint, noticeable, marked
• Sickness – grease, turned, aldehyde, sweet, sour, rancid, lactic, bitter, burning, salty, sappy, watery, resinous, carbonated, stewed
• Accident – stagnant, mold, woody, corky, metallic, acrid, herb

Watch out for these

• A musty or moldy smell indicates a “corked wine” or a wine contaminated by cork taint (due to musty aroma compounds.) 
• A burnt matches smell means the presence of sulphur dioxide during bottling and usually disappears after a short period of aeration.
• A nail polish or vinegar smell is volatile acidity in wine (an unpleasantly acidic wine.)
• A yeasty smell caused by the Brettanomyces yeast which may impart a hint of earthy scents to the wine in small amounts, but it can become unpleasant if too much.