Twin Cities Wine Tasting with John Glas
Host your own wine tasting with John Glas

Tasting Process

 

Learning How to Evaluate Wine

The five steps (elements) used in rating wine are as follows:  color (hue), nose (bouquet), taste (palate), finish (aftertaste) and evaluation (score).  These critical components determine the actual score.

 

Color

STEP 1: COLOR

Very rarely does the color of the wine really determine the outcome of your evaluation.  Most reds will have a purple/ reddish hue, with whites more yellowish to clear.

Color

STEP 2: NOSE

The nose is your first real impression of a wine.  Does this wine smell like cherries, plums, chocolate, earth, etc?  Common smells of a cabernet are fruits (cherry, plum, blackberry) and earth elements (tobacco, spice, floral).  The nose also determines if a wine is past its prime or damaged in some way. 

Taste

STEP 3: TASTE

The most important component to the senses is taste.  If you don’t like the taste, then the nose, color and finish are meaningless.  Taste, like the nose, will contain fruit and earth elements.  Each grape variety has certain characteristics, which will bring forth unique tastes based on its origin or terroir.

Finish

STEP 4: FINISH

Finish is the aftertaste of the wine drinking experience.  Some wines have little or no aftertaste or detectable elements, while some are multi layered and linger on your palate. 

 

Evaluate

STEP 5: EVALUATE

You are the professional when it comes to evaluating the wine. If you don’t like what you tasted then your score will quantify your impression. 

At John's Wineglas events or tastings you will learn to rate wine and discover the true components of a great wine.

» Back to Top