A Comprehensive Guide For Writing Useful Tasting Notes

Wine tasting notes act as a guideline to help you select a wine that caters well to you. While there are no standard formats, there are some key elements for a good set of tasting notes.

Purpose

What is your purpose of writing tasting notes? Are they to record personal experiences or are you writing to share your opinions about a particular wine to someone else?  I believe that when it comes to tasting notes, one should use standard wine lingo so that it is easier to comprehend as well as personal comments to better recount the experience.

Simplicity – Keep It Simple

While it makes your tasting notes look good, abusing bombastic words confuses the readers. Use key words e.g, For the intensity of the aroma, use light instead of airy or feathery.

Identifying Wine Flavours

To get the best whiff of the wine's aroma, spend a good 10 seconds swirling the glass with some vigour 

Primary Aroma: Aromas from the type of grapes and the terroir. E.g. Lychee, raspberry, apple and black currant.

Secondary Aroma: Bouquet from the winemaking process including fermentation and oak aging. E.g. Butter, honey and truffles.

Tertiary Aroma: Bouquet developed through bottled aging. E.g. Hazelnut, almond and spices

Finish

The finish of a wine is one of the most important element of a wine's quality. A long and complex finish can signify the use of high quality grapes and good processing methods.

When writing about the finish of a wine, consider the following pointers,

- What is the length of the finish?

- Are there new flavours or characteristics emerging?

- How tasty is the finish?

Winefamily has launched a new tasting note function on GrapeVine. Check out these hot deals and put these pointers to the test at the same time! Download a tasting note template, courtesy of Winefamily for your personal use. Happy writing!

Free Winefamily Tasting Note Template: http://goo.gl/LkUjYk