Learning the five 'S's of tasting: the first step on your tasting journey

Blind tasting -- the act of identifying a wine, including the variety, region, vintage, winemaking techniques (or any and all of the above) is intimidating. You may see wine professionals give a glass of wine a swirl, stick their nose in it, and declare exactly what it is -- but this is rare, and like an athlete at the top of their game, it is a finely honed skill that tacks years of practice to master. And while yes, doing the above may be impressive at parties, there is a deeper purpose to blind tasting. We blind taste in order to assess a wine in a non-biased manner. There may be varieties, regions, or producers that are not your personal faves – totally fine. But, when trying to assess the quality of a wine or if a customer might enjoy it, these personal preferences can bias how you feel about the wine in the glass. Blind tasting removes these biases. Most formal wine certification programs include some sort of blind tasting component, and offer various grids and lexicons to help guide students (such as the WSET Level 3 SAT). These grids are not meant to be all encompassing, but they do provide a framework to allow students and educators to find a common language. In the Wine and Spirits Education Trust program, students are introduced to a very basic version of the Systematic Approach to Tasting in Level 1, and it gets more complex with each level. By the Master of Wine program, the formal grid is abandoned, and candidates should be able to discuss the wine at a deeper and more nuanced level.

For those not enrolled in a formal program, or just wanting to get their feet wet with wine tasting and evaluation, I recommend the 'five S's' approach. These steps are for assessing a wine thoroughly and thoughtfully. I’ve found that the more I think about a wine, the more likely I am to appreciate it. That said, there are absolutely times when it is totally acceptable to just enjoy a glass on the patio without all of the analysis. Apply these as is fitting for you and the situation.

See: What color is the wine? If it's a white, the deeper or more golden the color usually implies oxygen exposure, either through time in barrel or age (oxygen transmission through the cork). The opposite is generally true with red wines, which lose color and become more garnet or brick as they age. How concentrated is the color? Is it saturated from the core (the deepest part of your glass) to the rim? Does it stain the sides of the glass? How thick or viscous is the wine? You’ll especially notice this during the next step. Wine is made up of water, alcohol, sometimes sugar, acids, and other compounds. A thick, syrup wine typically indicates more sugar and/or alcohol. Is there any sediment in the wine?

Swirl: Give the wine a nice swirl or two in the glass. This introduces oxygen into the wine and ‘wakes up’ the aromatics. You can also notice the viscosity as the legs or tears run down the side of the glass.

Smell: So, we’ve all seen images of people sticking their noses as far into the glass as possible and making a big show of smelling the wine. Totally ridiculous and unnecessary. In fact, you’re going to get mostly evaporating alcohol that way. The better option is to place the bridge of your nose on the upper rim of the glass and smell from there – the alcohol has had more space and time to dissipate, so you get clearer aromas. Also, try smelling with one nostril at a time – you might be surprised if one side is much stronger than the other! Think about the intensity of the aromas – are there several things you pick up on, or just one or two? Are the aromas pronounced or more subtle? Does the wine seem complex or more simple?

Sip: finally, wine in your mouth! Take a sip and swoosh it around like mouthwash so it coasts your mouth and erases any traces of what you had for lunch or your mid-day coffee. Think about the structure first – is the wine dry or sweet? Tannic or soft? Balanced, or does one aspect (the acidity, alcohol, sugar) stick out unpleasantly? Notice the texture of the wine – is it grainy, oily, waxy, thin? As with aromas, are the flavors interesting and varied, or one note? Are they intense or barely there?

Savor: Now that all that nonsense is over, you can sit back and enjoy your wine. Seriously though, the point of all of this is to assess the wine on a deeper level. Is it of good quality? Do you like it? Based on the price point, does it seem like money well spent?

With the framework, you can also begin to identify specific aromas and flavors. Aromas refer to what the wine smells like, and flavors are what it tastes like. Thanks to the complexities of our olfactory systems, these are often very similar yet distinct. At the beginning of your tasting journey, it can be challenging to identify what you’re experiencing in the glass. There’s this strange sensation of something seeming familiar, but not quite being able to put a finger on it. Start by thinking about aromas and flavors in terms of primary, secondary, and tertiary. Also, start with broad categories (i.e. stonefruit) and start to narrow it down (peach...white peach...just ripe white peach).

Primary flavors are the fruit, green, and floral notes that come directly from the grapes themselves.

Secondary character derives from winemaking influence: oak use, different fermentation techniques, and so on. Oak usually means notes of spice, vanilla, tobacco, and cedar. Other common aromas and flavors that come from winemaking include dairy (milk, cheese, butter) and kirsch.

Tertiary notes develop with time in bottle. As a wine ages, the fresh fruit and floral notes often become more dried, and notes of nuts and honey can develop.

If you’re stuck on identifying different aromas and flavors, it usually helps to start with fruit. Is it a white wine? Think about citrus, stone fruit, orchard fruit, and tropical fruit. Red? Think berries, cherries, plums…as in, red fruits. Makes sense, right? Rosé is usually in the middle, with watermelon, strawberry, and white cherry character.

The next level would be to think about the nature of the fruit: underripe, ripe, fresh, cooked, dried.

Many wines also have a floral character to them. Again, a handy trick is to consider white flowers (‘white blossom’) for whites and red and purple flowers (roses and violets) for reds. Hack: if you want to call something white blossom but get more specific, go back to your fruit. Did you have lemon? Then go for lemon blossom. Apple? Apple blossom. Cherry? Cherry blossom. You get the point.

All of this probably seems overwhelming, and really, it is unnecessary for casually enjoying a glass of wine. However, for those of you looking to dig a little deeper, and to truly get the most out of each sip, these can be some helpful jumping off points.