Evaluation of Taste and Finish

Taste

There are four taste sensations that people can sense: sweet, sour, bitter, and salt. Understanding which parts of your tongue identify each sensation will help you understand what you are drinking. 

How to taste wine:

1. Take a "shocker" sip and don't think about what you are tasting at all
2. Take another sip and slowly tilt your head back, letting the wine cover your tongue
3. Think about what you are tasting and try to identify some key components

There are five components that you should try and identify when you are drinking wine:

• Sugar - sweet sensation
• Acidity - sour sensation
• Body - combined
• Tannin - bitter sensation
• Alcohol - tactile sensation
• Flavors and fruit - combined

Acidity in wine:

• Understanding the types of acids that are in your wine can help you become a more knowledgeable wine drinker. For instance, if you sense lactic acid, the only way that acid can be in the wine is if the wine went through Malolactic Fermentation (see Evaluating the Smell of Wine). Knowing this fact can help you identify additional components. These are the key acids in wine:
• Tartaric - not often found in wine but when it is the taste is tart and bitter
• Citric - lemon/lime
• Malic - aggressive tartness
• Lactic - sour buttermilk
• Succinic - slight bitter/salt
• Acetic - slight vinegar (a hint of acetic acid is okay)
• When drinking wine it is often helpful to identify acids in three "attacks". There is an order when acids will be noticeable. Knowing this order will help you identify which acids are present:
• Attack 1: malic and tartaric
• Attack 2: citric then lactic
• Attack 3: succinic
• *acetic acid can attack at any time

Is the wine I am drinking balanced?

• Balance often reveals quality
• Balance is the combination of SUGAR, ACID, TANNINS, and ALCOHOL
• Balance means that these factors are in appropriate combination, not that they are all of equal intensity

Finish

Great wines have a long, pleasant, and persistent finish. However, do not use lingering sweetness, acidity, bitterness or astringency to define persistence. Persistence means that the wine is still in balance and you are still able to identify multiple flavors.


Tasting Chart
This is the tasting chart that I use to help me separate the components of the wine when I am tasting. Using the chart is a helpful tool and will also help you remember the wines you drink.

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(from the International Wine Guild)