Tasting wine with some attention is not a party trick. It is a way to figure out what you like and to describe it, so the next time you are standing in a shop or reading a wine list you can ask for more of it. You need a few glasses, a sheet of paper and about 20 minutes. The four steps below follow the same order the professional courses use: look, smell, taste, conclude.

Where the method comes from

Two wine education bodies with large programs in the United States both teach a structured tasting. The Wine & Spirit Education Trust, known as WSET, uses its Systematic Approach to Tasting, which runs in four parts: appearance, nose, palate and conclusions. WSET describes it as a shared framework that gives tasters a common vocabulary. The Court of Master Sommeliers Americas teaches its own Deductive Tasting Method, which starts in its Introductory Sommelier Course and becomes a tested skill at the Certified Sommelier level and above. The home version below borrows the order and a few of the scales, without the exam.

Step 1: Look

Pour about two ounces into a clear glass and hold it against a white sheet of paper or tablecloth. Check that the wine is clear rather than hazy. Then note the depth of color, from pale to deep, and the hue. WSET's Level 2 sheet gives the vocabulary: whites run from lemon-green through lemon and gold to amber, and reds from purple through ruby and garnet to tawny. A purple tint in a red usually points to a younger wine, and gold or tawny tones often come with age.

Step 2: Smell

Swirl the glass gently to release aromas, then take a few short sniffs. First, ask whether the wine smells clean. Then judge how strong the aromas are: light, medium or pronounced. Finally, try to name what you smell. WSET sorts aromas into three groups. Primary aromas come from the grape and fermentation: fruit, flowers, herbs. Secondary aromas come from winemaking after fermentation, such as the vanilla or toast of oak or the bread-dough notes of time on yeast. Tertiary aromas come from aging: dried fruit, leather, earth, honey, nuts. Start broad (citrus, red fruit) and narrow it down (lemon or grapefruit, raspberry or cherry) when you can.

Step 3: Taste

Take a small sip and let it move around your mouth. The WSET sheet asks you to rate each of these on a simple scale:

  • Sweetness: dry, off-dry, medium or sweet.
  • Acidity: the mouthwatering, fresh feeling, from low to high.
  • Tannin: in reds, the drying grip on your gums and tongue that comes from grape skins, seeds and oak.
  • Alcohol: the warmth you feel at the back of the throat.
  • Body: how light or full the wine feels, a bit like the difference between skim and whole milk.
  • Finish: how long the flavor lasts after you swallow or spit, from short to long.

Keep a cup nearby for spitting or pouring out. It is standard practice at tastings and lets you taste several wines with a clear palate.

Step 4: Conclude

Put the pieces together. WSET's Level 2 sheet ends by rating quality on a scale from faulty through poor, acceptable, good and very good to outstanding. At home, the more useful questions are personal: Did the parts fit together? What did you like or not like? Would you buy it again, and what would you eat with it? Write down one or two words for each step and your answer. That page of notes is what makes the next purchase easier.

Build a side-by-side flight

Tasting wines next to each other is the fastest way to learn, and WSET's own advice on training your palate recommends comparing wines side by side. A flight is a small set of wines tasted together. Three glasses is plenty. Good ways to set one up:

  • One grape, three places. Sauvignon Blanc from France's Loire Valley, New Zealand and California, or Pinot Noir from Burgundy, Oregon and California.
  • Three grapes, one place. Three reds from the same region, to see what the grape itself contributes.
  • Oak or no oak. An unoaked Chardonnay beside an oaked one, to learn what barrels add.

Pour the same amount into matching glasses, taste them in order from lightest to fullest, and go back and forth. Taste somewhere with good light and no strong smells, since WSET also notes that temperature, lighting, noise and what you have recently eaten all change what you perceive. A plate of plain crackers and a glass of water between wines helps.

If you want to go further

WSET offers its wine courses at several levels, and the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas offers its Introductory Sommelier Course in person over two days (listed at $949, wines included) or online at your own pace. Both teach tasting with structured sheets like the one above.

Your first tasting

Pick a theme from the list above, buy three bottles in the same price range, and invite two or three friends to split them. Print the WSET Level 2 sheet linked below so everyone uses the same words, and compare notes once all three wines are tasted.

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