|
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. |
|
Clear - The wine is perfectly clear and transparent. |
Hazy - The wine has some suspended particles, haze, or turbidity. This could indicate that the wine is faulty. |
|
Color Intensity
This is how opaque the color of 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.
White wines tend to get darker with age. Red wines tend to get lighter with age. Intensity Chart |
|
Pale - You can easily see writing on a white sheet of paper through the liquid. |
Medium - You can some-what see through the liquid, but not as clearly as Pale. |
Deep - You cannot see through the liquid at all. |
|
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 |
|
Lemon-Green (Straw) - This wine will have a bit of a light-green tint to it. |
Lemon/Yellow - This is a pure yellow wine without any green or brown. |
Gold |
Amber - This wine has hints of brown in its color. |
Brown |
|
Color (Rose)
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 |
|
Pink |
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. |
|
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 |
|
Purple - This wine will have a bit of a bluish tint to it. |
Ruby - This wine will not have any blue in it. |
Garnet |
Tawny - This wine has hints of brown in its color. |
Brown |
|
Other Observations
|
|
Legs/Tears - Observed legs indicates high alcohol content. |
Deposit |
Petillance - 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. |
|
|
Nose |
Condition
|
|
Clean |
Unclean - This could indicate that the wine is faulty. |
|
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. |
|
Light - You have to put your nose in the glass to smell the wine. |
Medium-Minus |
Medium - You can easily smell the wine with the glass at your chin. |
Medium-Plus |
Pronounced - You can easily smell the wine with the glass at your chest. |
|
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. |
|
Development
|
|
Youthful |
Developing |
Fully Developed |
Tired / Past its Best |
|
|
Palate |
Body
This is the 'weight' of the wine on the tongue. |
|
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. |
|
Acidity
Acidity makes your mouth salivate which you feel on your lower teeth and sides of your tongue or below it. |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
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 |
Medium - Only 1 or 2 areas of your mouth feel a drying sensation (ex. top of tongue) |
Medium-Plus |
High - Everything feels a drying sensation: your tongue, gums, cheeks, lips. |
|
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. |
|
Ripe |
Soft |
Smooth |
Unripe |
Green |
Coarse |
Stalky |
Chalky |
Fine-Grained |
|
Sweetness
This is the level of dry-to-sweetness of the wine and is related to the amount of sugar left after fermentation stops. |
|
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. |
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-Sweet |
Sweet - Sweetness is the prominent feature. These wines can feel thick and syrupy. They are often Fortified. |
Lucious |
|
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+% |
|
Mousse
|
|
Delicate |
Creamy |
Aggressive |
|
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, but can be as much as 1 step away from it. |
|
Light - You are searching for flavors with your tongue. |
Medium-Minus |
Medium |
Medium-Plus |
Pronounced - Makes you think, "Wow!" when you taste it. |
|
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. |
|
Other Characteristics
|
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
Short - The flavors linger for only 1-2 seconds on your tongue. |
Medium-Minus |
Medium - The flavors linger for 3-4 seconds on your tongue. |
Medium-Plus |
Long - The flavors linger for 5+ seconds on your tongue. |
|
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
Quality Level
Based on the above four criteria: Balance, Finish, Intensity, and Complexity |
|
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. |
|
Level of Readiness of Drinking or Potential for Ageing
This is whether or not the wine can be consumed and when. |
|
Too Young - The wine should be aged further before drinking. |
Can Drink Now - Can drink now, but has potential for ageing. |
Should Drink Now - Drink now; not suitable for ageing or further ageing. Wine in clear bottles should not be aged. |
Too Old - The wine has been aged too long. |
|
Bottle Ageing
This is whether or not the bottle could/should be aged. |
|
Can Age - Suitable for Bottle Ageing |
Do not Age - Not Suitable for Bottle Ageing. Wine in clear bottles should not be aged. |
|