How to Professionally Critique Wine

There is a multitude of factors that contribute to the flavor, aroma, texture and appearance of wine. For something so complex, a grading system just as complex must be applied. Here are some of the factors on which the professionals base their critiques.

Instructions

Appearance

1. Evaluated for color and clarity. The color of a wine indicates its age, variety and any oxidation or flaw. Any particles in the wine can, and most often do, represent a flaw; and any flaw in it can be detrimental or beneficial.

2. Hold the wine glass at an angle against any white surface and swirl. The color of white wines varies from nearly colorless (called very pale straw) to dark amber. Red wines range from pink or rose to dark and brick red.

3. Inspect for any obvious intruders that might affect its taste. This includes pieces of cork or pulp floating in the wine. Note that these pieces of floating debris are not removed. They are to remain in the glass throughout the entire inspection process. In some instances, floating pulp is considered beneficial.

Smell and Taste

1. Swirl the wine glass and place the lower rim of the glass just below the nose. Inhale deeply and repeatedly. Swirling the glass allows oxygen into the wine, what is called "letting it breathe," which releases its aromas. What the critic is searching for here are several different smells, including any and all fruit scents, such as berries, apple, grapefruit and melon; non-fruit scents, such as grass, hay, minerals, chocolate, coffee and wood; and any flaws indicated by smells like adhesive bands, kerosene and musk.

2. All or none of these smells may be present in a wine. Some may be surprised to smell things like grass and mineral, but these are actually quite common in any wine, as all the smells (and flavors) represent what is called the terroir, which means the inclusion of every influence on a wine dating back to its years on the vine, that give it its personality. The type of soil, weather, sunlight, surrounding regions and wind patterns all affect the smell and flavor of a wine. This is why there can be any number of smells or flavors in a wine.

3. Swirl the glass and take a small sip of the wine. The first characteristic a taster generally encounters is the dryness of the wine. A wine's dryness is determined by how much residual sugar remains in it. When a wine is made, the sugar in the pulp of the grape is converted into alcohol. The percentage of sugar left after this process results in either a dry or sweet taste. One to two percent remaining sugar is considered dry, three percent sweet and five percent is a dessert wine. So the more sugar converted, the drier the wine. A dry wine will commonly leave the taster feeling thirsty; whereas a sweet wine will commonly quench a taster's thirst.

4. Evaluate the body of the wine. Body is the weight of the wine on your tongue and how it coats your tongue. The heavier a wine is on your tongue, and the longer it remains on your tongue after swirling or spitting, the more full bodied it is. Body can also be gauged on how it coats the wine glass. The longer it takes the wine to recede down the sides after being swirled usually indicates a more full bodied wine. Generally, light bodied wines are white, and heavy bodied wines are red; but this is not always the case.

5. Evaluate its level of acidity. The sides of the tongue gauge acidity, so the taster will want to make sure the wine touches these parts of the tongue. The more acidic a wine is, the more the taster will feel it on the sides of his tongue.

6. Evaluate the tannin level. Tannin is a result of the involvement of the skins and seeds of the grape in the wine-making process, and hence is not usually critiqued in white wines, since white wines are made without the skins and seeds. Tannin is seen as the backbone of a red wine because it gives the structure and longevity of the wine. It increases the lifespan of a wine, allowing it to age longer. A young wine will commonly have harsh or strong tannin, which is indicated by a shrink-wrap or puckery taste on the tongue. As a wine ages, its tannin softens for a more balanced taste.

7. Taste for fruit qualities, non-fruit qualities, indication of wood flavors from its barreling (if barreled) and any flaws similar to the olfactory characteristics.

8. Evaluate the balance. The balance concerns how well all the complex parts of a wine come together and compliment each other. In a well balanced wine, all the flavors, including the acidity, tannin and dryness, flow together in harmony, while maintaining the individual characteristics of each flavor. An unbalanced wine is one in which the acidity level is too high, or the tannins are too strong.

9. Grade what is called the "finish." Every sip of the wine up to this point has been spit out by the taster (the reasoning being that the alcohol from overindulgence in the consumption of the wine will impair the taster's ability to accurately evaluate that wine and every subsequent wine). For the finish, the taster will swallow a small amount of the wine to evaluate how long the flavors and other characteristics (such as the coating quality of the body) of the wine remain in the mouth and throat. The longer the flavors last, the more complex the wine.

Tips & Warnings

• Many people have different ways of smelling a wine, such as inhaling through the mouth at the same time as through the nose, or leaving the mouth closed and inhaling solely through the nose. It is widely considered that the first sip, and consequently the first taste, of a wine results in a shock to the palette, rendering much of the tasting process difficult. For this reason, each wine should be tasted several times to overcome this initial reaction and encounter all flavors available in the wine. Tasting and evaluating wine accurately and with great degree takes time and experience. To be able to professionally critique wine, one must sample many different wines.