Descriptive Tasting Practical Rules for Wine Tasting The Three Main Tasting Phases The Ideal Wine Tasting Cup Physiological Principia Visual Perception The Colours of Wine Olfaction - Aroma and Bouquet Types of Aroma Tasting, Evolution and Persistence Tasting Phases Summary of the Tasting Process Tasting Sheet

1. The Art of Wine Tasting
A Feast for the Senses
A Treasure of Culture
A Pleasure of Gods
Alberto P. Martínez Borja
Jose Insenser Nieto

2. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Wine moistens the soul
and lulls our grief
and wakens kindly feelings
and feeds life’s short-lived flame
If we drink with moderation
and in small sips,
wine distils to our lungs
as the morning dew
In this way,
it does not break our heart
but brings us to a sweet joy
Socrates

3. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Summary
Descriptive Tasting
Practical Rules for Wine Tasting
The Three Main Tasting Phases
The Ideal Wine Tasting Cup
Physiological Principia
Visual Perception
The Colours of Wine
Olfaction - Aroma and Bouquet
Types of Aroma
Tasting, Evolution and Persistence
Tasting Phases
Summary of the Tasting Process
Tasting Sheet

4. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Descriptive Tasting
Attention & Interpretation
Tasting a wine consists of analysing it, studying it, describing it,
appreciating it, enjoying its qualities and the sensations that
it produces on us.
Tasting requires a series of sensorial faculties, including:
Sight, Smell, Taste and particularly Attention.
This last factor is the one that
differentiates
Consuming vs. Tasting

5. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Practical Rules for Wine Tasting
• You should be rested and calm.
• Do not smoke two hours before tasting.
• Do not use strong eau de colognes,
perfumes or tooth pastes.
• Best time for tasting is noon with daylight
avoiding artificial light.
• In any case use white light (halogen –
fluorescent), not neon lights.
• A spacious, ventilated, quiet and white room is advisable.
• The room temperature should be around 20º. Humidity 70%.
• Wine should be resting at least two or three days. Avoid last minute moves.
• Open the bottle at least half an hour before tasting.
• The capsule must be cut far below the neck not close to the upper edge.
• When opening the bottle, only the corkscrew will turn, never the bottle.
• The wine cup must be filled up to around one quarter to avoid pouring.

6. The Art of Wine
Tasting
The Three Main Tasting Phases
Observation: To gather sense stimuli. Colours, aromas
and tastes, which are gathered by the peripheral nervous
system and transmitted to the brain, who orders, analyses
and compares them.
Comparison: Based on past experiences and always
using a similar model as baseline.
Judgement: Consists on describing, with the proper
terminology, both the product and the sensations
experienced.
It´s indeed a subjective exercise.

7. The Art of Wine
Tasting
The Ideal Wine Tasting Cup
The more universally accepted wine cup
(“catavinos”), is the AFNOR cup complying ISO
3591-1977. (AFNOR NF 09110)
The cup has to be taken by its foot, avoiding heat
transfer from the hand to the liquid.
It is important to wash the cup each time a new
wine is going to be tasted. This can be done with
some water or a few of the new wine.

8. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Upper Diameter : 46 mm
Total Height : 155 mm
Maximum Diameter : 65 mm
Total Volume : 215 cc
Crystal thickness: 0.8 mm
Base to Foot : 55 mm
Transparent and smell-less
crystal
with 10-12% lead content
Base Diameter : 65 mm
The Ideal Wine Tasting Cup

9. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Physiological Principia
Visual Perception. The visual organ provides the first information.
It allows to distinguish the so-called ASPECT of a wine;
Colour, cleanliness, fluidity, intensity,
effervescence and transparency
Is it transparent or blear-eyed?, its brilliance and tint, carbonic bubbles...
You have to examine:
The Disc (or Crown – the upper part of liquid in the cup):
It must be clean and bright.
If it is dim it may indicate micro-biological alterations.
If it presents white or pink particles the wine is spoiled.
If it shows carbonic slippage that indicates a young wine or special
elaboration.

10. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Colour and Transparency
Colour and tint provide information about wine
age (Evolution) and its manufacturing and
maturation. Intensity will announce us its
structure, volume and final taste in mouth
(mouth transit).
Visual Perception
Tears
You will see them during the liquid line disgregation
created in the internal cup surface after soft circular
movements once the wine recovers its static position.
Its number, size and viscosity indicate glycerine,
alcohol and sugar contained.

11. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Red Wines
Clear Red - Dark Red - Ruddy - Violet
Red - Poppy Red - Cherry Red -
Currant Red - Blood Red - Brick Red -
Brown Red - Crimson - Ruby - Garnet
- Purple - Violet - Blue - Black - Tile -
Partridge Eye - Ochre - Coffee
Cleanliness
Bright - Crystalline - Limpid - Clean -
Sludge - Broken - Artless
Bleary
Suspicious - Dim - Cloudy - Opaque -
Dirty - Sludge - Muted
The Colours of Wine

12. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Olfaction - Aroma and Bouquet
Olfaction will allow us to discover the different wine aromas and its bouquet.
First Nose Test
Without moving the cup, so-called stopped cup.
First notice of the wine aromas.
Second Nose Test
While turning around softly the cup. (Opening the Wine)
It allows a detailed perfume analysis. You can improve the
smelling by performing short and frequent successive aspirations.
If you feel your nose closed, you can douse water on it.
Third Nose Test
Breaking the wine surface with stronger circular movements.
Only in case we have detected unusual aromas and we want to identify the origin.
Retro-Nasal Route
Aromas perception trough the existing internal communication mouth-nose.

13. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Olfaction - Aroma and Bouquet
Aroma
Primary: It comes form the grapes. Fruity
character.
Secondary: It comes from the fermentations.
Wine character.
Single-Variety vs. Coupage
Bouquet (Tertiary Aroma)
From oxidisation: Wines aged being in contact with the open air.
The air passes trough the pores of the wood cask.
From reduction: Wines aged without being in contact with the open
air. Airtight casks or bottles. (Vintages)

14. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Types of Aroma (Part One)
Empireumatic Group
Tobacco smoke, smoked, burned, toasted, candy, gunpowder, burnt wood,
rubber, leather, coffee, cocoa, chocolate, dust, ground, ...
Floral Group
Flowered, almond flower, from orange, from apple,
from peach, from grape, honeysuckle, lemon,
hyacinth, polyanthus, jasmine, geranium, heather,
magnolia, honey, rose, camomile, lime, iris, violet,
carnation ...
Fruits Group
Raisins, marmalade, cherry, kirsch, plum, pistachio,
wild berry, blueberry, currant, strawberry,
raspberry, blackberry, apricot, quince, peach, pear,
apple, cantaloupe, lemon, orange, grapefruit,
pineapple, banana, dry figs, grenade, nuts,
hazelnut, olives ...

15. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Types of Aroma (Part Two)
Animal Group
Game, deer, skin, damp dog, grease, mouse urine, cat urine, meat, fleshy, sweat .
Balsamic Group
Oil , fir tree, resin, turpentine, incense, vanilla, ...
Woods Group
Green wood, old wood, oak, cedar, sandalwood, pencil, humidor, acacia, bark,
firewood, rancid ...
Chemical Group
Acetic, alcohol, carbonic, phenol, sulphur, celluloid, medical, pharmaceutical,
antiseptic, iodine, chlorine ...
Spice Group
Dill, fennel, champignon, mushroom, truffle, cinnamon, ginger, clove, nutmeg,
pepper, green pepper, basil, mint, thyme, liquorice, garlic, onion, oregano ...

16. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Tasting, evolution and persistence
Taste is located in the tasting papillae of the tongue. These organs detect four
elemental flavours: sweet, acidic, salty and bitter.
The sweet substances in the wine constitute its lightness, body and softness.
The acidic taste come from the organic acids as tartaric, lactic and acetic, which
transmit the feeling of freshness.
The wine contains 2-4 grams per litre of salty components which are part of the
wine flavour and its structure.
The bitter substances belong to the family of tanics (grape peel). This bitter
sensation causes astringency and it is better perceived in low acidic wines.
bitter
salty
sweet acid
Tongue Location of Basic Flavours

17. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Tasting Phases (Part One)
While evolving, the taste passes through several stages where
sensations change and their complexity increases.
These phases are: Attack, Evolution, Final Taste and
Persistence.
First Phase - Attack
–Pour the wine in the mouth and
analyse the basic flavours: sweet,
acid, salty and bitter.
–The equilibrium is based on the
balance of all flavours.

18. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Tasting Phases (Part Two)
Second Phase - Evolution
–Study of primary tasting sensations, what it is called the mouth aroma.
–In this phase also the nature of secondary aromas are analysed
including its alcohol power, wine body, tanines, …
Third Phase - Final Taste and Persistence
–Finally in this phase we analyse the different flavours coming from the
cellar (both oxidisation and/or reduction). Also tertiary aromas due to
maturation defects, terrain memory, wine diseases or others are
analysed.
–When we swallow the wine, the feeling we keep in the mouth for some
seconds is what is called persistence. It is positive if it is nice and lasts
for a while.

19. The Art of Wine
TastingSummary of the Tasting Process
Organ Sense & sensations Perceived Characteristics
Eyes
Nose
Mouth
Sight
Visual sensations
Smell
Smelling sensations
(Direct nasal route)
Smell
Smelling sensations
(Retro nasal route)
Colour, cleanliness, fluidity, intensity,
effervescence, transparency
ASPECT
Aroma, “bouquet”
ODOUR
Taste
Tasting sensations
Mouth aroma,
Internal “bouquet”
TASTE
Tact
Chemical sensations
Mucosal relationships
Taste.
Persistence. Equilibrium
Astringency. Asperity. Itching.
Irritation
Tact
Tactile sensations
Thermal sensations
BODY
Consistency. Fluidity.
Viscosity. Body.
Temperature

20. The Art of Wine
Tasting
Taste Smell
Sight

21. The Art of Wine
TastingWine Identification:
Date & Place of Tasting :
1. Sight
Colour/Tint:
Intensity/Evolution:
Cleanliness/Bright/Tear/Carbonics:
2. Smell
Initial description:
Opening/Final:
Aroma Type/Nature:
3. Taste
Attack:
Evolution:
Astringency:
Structure:
Final Taste:
Mouth Transit/Persistence:
Conclusions (body, structure, bouquet, balance,…)
Defects:
Out standings:
Price vs. Quality: