The Wine Novice's Guide to the Tasting NoteOnce, people were embarrassed to know little or nothing about wine.It was as if this knowledge was passed down via divine intervention to the debonaire and metropolitan, and anyone who was not inherently knowledgeable on the topic was an unsophisticated yokel who has no place in proper society.Well, have no shame. Today’s wine community is increasingly welcome to new members; the web is overflowing with resources for the connoisseur of tomorrow, and wine groups geared for the novice wine lover seem to be gathering in every street-corner café and BYO restaurant in town.What once seemed an elitist, exclusive, and intimidating world is quickly becoming a welcoming community of wine lovers. There is no fear in asking questions. No shame in having an inexperienced palate. As long as you have a genuine interest, desire to learn, and see the joys of experiencing a fine bottle of wine in the company of like-minded friends, there is a place for you.But, of course, as with any endeavor, there are certain hurdles for any budding oenophile. Today, we will tackle what is arguably one of the most daunting of the bunch.Tasting notes. Nothing is more intimidating to the new wine drinker than someone asking them what they thought of a bottle of wine. Well, maybe some things are more intimidating - like trying to figure out what the heck German wine labels mean - but tasting notes are way up there.“It has subtle hints of a rare, aged Mongolian huckleberry jam, slight charred graphite notes and an undercurrent of Swiss barnyard on the nose. The midpalate is strong, with ripe tannins, crisp acidity, and a lingering finish leaves one wishing for more. 72pts. Best after 2028.”What the…? Who actually talks like that? What are they getting at? Do I need to have eaten burnt Mongolian graphite dipped in jelly on a decrepit farm in Switzerland to be able to be a wine lover???I have encountered many wine lovers who refuse to give tasting notes, refuse to give a number score, even refuse to offer their opinion on a wine, simply because they are afraid of reprisals from “those in the know” who might disagree. And this is not only true noob wine drinkers recently graduated from White Zin. Some of these folks include quite experienced drinkers with cellars in the hundreds, if not thousands, still intimidated to go out on a limb with their thoughts on a wine.Why the fear? What is the challenge? Would anyone be as shy to offer their opinions on a pizza, or a hawaiian shirt, or a steak? For some reason, traditional wine culture has decided that judgements on a wine should not be a matter of personal preference, but instead that there is some objective determination that regardless of what you think, "there is good wine and bad wine, and it takes experience, knowledge, and perhaps even a natural talent to be able to tell the difference."In reality, there is no reason to fear the perils of the tasting note, and really anyone could write a meaningful and useful tasting note by following some simple steps:1. Buy some wine.2. Just kidding. If you didn’t know about that part of the process, you have bigger problems.3. Taste4. Write a note on what you think.OK, OK, so #4 is where it gets tricky. But it is only as tricky as you want it to be, and now that we’ve tossed your preconceived notions, it really can be quite straightforward.Consider some of the primary components and descriptors of any wine: Color, Bouquet, Acidity, Tannins, Oak, Mouthfeel, Alcohol level, Fruit, Integration, and Finish.“Color” is pretty easy. Is it dark or light? Transparent or opaque? Is it a deep red, or a more ruby? Does the color change as you look closer to the edge of the glass, sometimes turning browner or "brick-like" at the edges? If so, this is often a sign of an older wine that has reached maturity, but can also be just an aspect of some varietals. Either way, note the color. Someday it might mean a bit more to you, but do it now just cause that’s what you do.“Bouquet/Nose/Smell.” This, too, can be as complex or simple as you might want to make it. Does the wine smell fruity? Like dirt? Like your old wrestling coach Mr. Jepson?On the nose, look for evidence of Oak ("oak-treatment" if you want to sound cool.) Often oak imparts itself on a wine in the "Old Men’s Club” kind of scents... Picture the two old guys from Trading Places and what they probably smelled like, or at least the library rooms they hung out in smelled like – pipe tobacco, cigarbox, leather, smoke, wood, roasted meats, fireplaces, and the like.But, maybe it smells like nothing? Like wine? Sometimes a wine really doesn’t give too much on the nose. It could be because it is young, or needs more time in air... or it could just have a simple bouquet.In fact, here’s a fun game…Search some professional tasting notes that describe a nose as “vinous.” You'll find a lot. Know what that means? “Wine-like.” They are saying that the wine smells wine-like. And trust me, if it’s good enough for James Suckling, it’s good enough for you and me.Down the road a bit, you might find that analyzing bouquet can get pretty complicated, but it also becomes one of the most fun parts of tasting. There comes a time when you smell a wine, and there is something in the nose that is just so familiar, but you simply cannot place it. That is when the game - the puzzle - begins. When you sit, and sniff, and think, and sniff, and think, and (sometimes) finally land on the scent you’ve been trying to identify, it is an incredibly fun and rewarding experience. Soon, you’ll find yourself passing your wine around the Thanksgiving dinner table to family members saying “Smell this and think of grandpa’s office armchair when Snuffy had just been sleeping there!! Do you get that? Did you get that!?”Yes, they will think you’re a nut. And yes, they will be right. And, guaranteed, they will roll their eyes. But now that you've "caught the bug" you'll just revel in your wine geekiness and enjoy the puzzle to yourself.Now comes the part we’ve all been waiting for. Tasting. Take a sip, but, don’t just sip it and down it and eat your Salisbury steak. Take your time, enjoy it, hold it in your mouth and pay attention to what you are experiencing. And as you are experiencing the tastes and sensations of the wine, one other element to consider is the timing. When do you notice them? If something is noticeable straight away, it is recognizable on the “entry,” or “attack.” If you first sense or taste it as you hold the wine in your mouth, it appears in the “mid-palate,” and if it comes later, after you have swallowed or spit, it has emerged in the “finish.”So now, armed with all kinds of useful knowledge, we’ll consider the components we discussed before – acidity, tannins, mouthfeel, alcohol level, fruit, integration and finish.“Acidity.” Is it at all tart? Does it make your mouth water? Imagine eating a raspberry, or biting into a huge, juicy red strawberry, and how that makes your mouth water in its sweet, tart flavor. Your mouth is probably watering right now just thinking about it. If this is what you get from the wine, it has higher acidity. Now, on the other side, think about drinking a glass of milk, and the complete lack of tartness inherent in that experience. Now you can imagine a wine that is missing the acidic component.So, now that we’ve identified the acidity of the wine, here are some fun stock words to juice up your tasting note - if you get a lot of tartness, say “ripe acidity,” “sharp acidity,” “overall tart qualities” or simply refer to the berry-like flavors. Don’t you sound like a pro now?So, now “Tannins.” Initially one of the easiest components in a wine to recognize, tannins provide a lot of the mouth drying and bitter aspects of stronger red wines. Is there a high level of tannins? Does your tongue feel dry, is the wine at all bitter or chalky?Now, for your cool wine-geek terminology: If there are a lot of tannins, call them “drying” "dusty," "chewy" or “palate coating,” and if they are present but not so strong, call them "fine-grained," “soft,” “well-rounded” or simply, “present.”Now we’ve hit acidity and tannins, and - just because it has such a high WGQ (Wine Geek Quotient) - we’ll toss one other characteristic in here: “Structured vs. Flabby.” This one confuses the heck out of a lot of folks, and some quite experienced wine drinkers among them. The two components we just discussed, acidity and tannins, combine to create a wine’s structure. If you have them both, the wine has “sufficient structure”. If sadly absent, call the wine “flabby,” and anyone reading will either know what you’re talking about or pretend to, since you’re obviously such an expert.OK, overwhelmed yet? No? Good, let’s move on to “Alcohol level.” Sure you can get this off the label. But, how does it affect the subjective experience of the wine, other than getting you closer to having a lampshade on your head?Higher alcohol levels often present in spiciness, and bite to the wine. But, the reason higher alcohol levels have been increasingly popular to new world wine producers and drinkers is that they can also give a wine a sweeter, softer, fuller feel – to cure some common misconceptions, often sweetness in a wine is sometimes less due to residual sugar than high alcohol level, and alcohol level is also more at the root of weighty mouthfeel than are tannins! So, the wine feels more viscous, heavy, and meatier in your mouth and lends to perceived substantiality."Fruit.". This is the basis for a good wine. With all the other junk and none of this, the wine will taste like kerosene. So, give 'er another sip, and think about the sweeter components. Would you say that the wine taste bright and racy, like strawberries or raspberries? Maybe more juicy and tart like a blueberry? Perhaps it tastes more mellow and dark, like a blackberry or boysenberry?To be honest, the fruit component is probably the hardest to grasp, so give yourself some time to get experience under your belt on this one, sone knowledge of what is "varietally correct" and a good basis of comparison is definitely a big help here.“Integration.” This is a great word, really because it the concept is so simple, and immediately gives you some real wine geek credibility. Quite plainly, integration is how well all of these components mesh together in the wine. If none greatly outweigh the others, you can call the wine “integrated.” If however, the wine is overrun by any component, toss out a good “disjointed,” and you’ll get a few approving and knowing nods from your fellow oenophiles.Now, while integration may be simple in concept, it is less so in practice, and it might take some experience to be comfortable with identifying this component of a wine. When is acidity overpowering, vs. sharp? How much oak treatment is too much, causing a disjointed wine? This all goes back to the subjective nature of wine tasting – it is really up to personal preference, and what you – not “they” – think.So, let’s finish with “Finish.” Easy one. What happens after you swallow the wine? Does the flavor and experience die off quickly, or hang around for a while? The longer the finish, the more powerful the flavors, the more extended and enjoyable the experience.So now, we’ve hit some primary points for your first tasting note. Let’s put it all together:You come across a wine that is very deep, deep red, that gets slightly brownish toward the edge of the glass. It smells like wine, but also has some smokiness to it. It is nicely tart as soon as you sip, has noticeable, but not overwhelming, tannins that you first truly recognize after you swallow. It has nice weight to it and slight sweetness while you are holding it in your mouth, no flavor outweighs the others and you can still taste it long after you swallow. So, here goes (deep breath):“Dark color, with slight bricking at the edges. Overall vinous bouquet, with the subtle oak presenting itself in hints of smoke. Ripe berry-like acidity on the attack leads to full mouthfeel and the slight sweetness one would expect from the 14.5% alcohol level. Soft, round tannins on the lingering finish that goes on and on, providing great structure overall. All in all, a nicely integrated example of the varietal.”Now that you are done channeling Robert Parker, here is how these components could come together in a real note that is simple, easy to write, and informative for other wine drinkers. This is a note I wrote for the 2006 Ridge Three Valleys:Purchased by the glass, so no telling how long the bottle had been opened, but we'll assume a while. But - this was good! A surprisingly significant amount of dirt and barnyard. Great dark fruit, a real nice zin bite on the palate, and perfectly balanced tannins and acidic backbone. Definitely jammy, but enough other stuff going on to give it intrigue, and enough acidity to keep the fruit from being overly sweet. 89pts.To close up, toss a 100pt-scale number at the end of it like you’re grading a midterm, and voila! Your first tasting note. You’ve shed the yoke of Noob-dom, Congratulations, Certified Wine Geek!
