The appreciation of wine can be broken down into three different areas: appearance, smell and taste. All three are important aspects of each wine's character, but taste is considered to be the most critical as it encompasses both flavour and texture and confirms the wine characteristics.


Once poured into a clear glass for drinking, an assessment about the wine's colour, both intensity and hue, can be made. This is best done by slightly tilting the glass over a white surface and looking down through the wine.

If assessing the visual appearance of a wine, note the clarity and colour and any changes in colour between the edge (or rim) of the wine and the centre. Generally a darker colour and a difference in colour from the centre of the glass to the edge can indicate oxidation, which may be a deliberate part of the winemaking, an error, or a part of the natural process of maturation in bottle. Among white wines it can also be indicative of the amount of time spent on lees and/or in wood.


The next step in wine tasting is to smell the wine with an aim to identify as many flavour compounds as possible. Swirl the wine gently to coat the interior of the glass and release the wine aromas (very gently for sparkling so as not to release all the gas) and start smelling the wine &


Taste is the next and most important step and your mouth, or palate, should confirm what your nose has already determined.

Take a small mouthful of wine and hold it in your mouth. With the wine still in your mouth carefully and slowly draw air in through your lips, bubbling it softly through the wine. This releases more aromas that are perceived as flavour. Finally, wash the wine around your mouth a little and swallow (or spit into a spittoon if you are tasting many wines).


source: wineaustralia.com