If you’re starting to get into wine, you might find that there are a million rules when it comes to tasting wine. I find there is so much about what not to do, you’re left feeling lost and confused. You don’t really know the right way of how to taste wine because as there are plenty of resources out there that use snobby wine terms that no one really understands.

Learning how to taste wine is actually really fun, and shouldn’t have the snobby stereotype it has developed. I feel tasting wine has become one of those things that keeps us everyday drinkers from being classed as fine wine tasters because it is seen as a skill and art form. I am not saying it isn’t, and there are plenty of incredible wine tasters out there who are really good at what they do (and quite frankly have one of the best jobs). But there’s no reason why the everyday drinker can’t enjoy tasting wine like the pros.

I’ve decided to write a bit of a guide for you so that you know how to taste wine with confidence. You don’t need to know all the fancy wine terms to grasp the basics, but there are a couple of simple steps to tasting a wine that will help to get you started!

A simple guide on how to taste wine

There are varying steps to tasting wine out there, and everyone seems to put their own spin on it. So I’m going to join the party and do just that. I’m going to share with you how I’ve been taught to taste wine through various winery visits and wine tastings. I mean, this by no means makes me an expert, so if you want the expert wine opinion you might need to go elsewhere. But I do really love wine, which I feel gives something, and so if you want to learn the way I taste wine, here it is!

The way I taste wine is using 4 simple steps which from now on will be known as the 4 S’s of wine tasting (you heard it here first!): See, Swirl, Sniff and Sip.

See

The first step in tasting wine is to take a good, long, loving look at it. I usually look at it with a longing gaze because I really want to skip to step four and taste the damn wine, but each step is important. And don’t worry, this step shouldn’t take you any longer than 6 seconds.

The reason you look at the wine first is to check out the colour, clarity and the legs or viscosity (how the wine runs down the side of the wine glass). This may not mean much to you, and to be honest I often don’t pay that much attention particularly to the viscosity (I can hear the shock of wine critics everywhere). You can also find a lot of the information you’d find from looking at a wine on the wine bottle such as the age and variety. So really don’t sweat it if you don’t suddenly feel like you know the wine as well as your mother from looking at it.

How to do it

My best tip for this step is to get a white piece of paper as it’s much easier to see the wine this way. Look for the following:

• Variety – you can, if you are familiar with a variety, often tell it by the colour. As you drink more wine you’ll notice it more, but some wines are a lighter colour than others. The best example of this is a Pinot Noir, which is quite light, versus a Shiraz, which is quite dark. A heavier wine will tend to be darker in colour and thicker, whilst a lighter style will let more light through and be a lighter colour
• Age – you can also usually tell how old a wine is by checking it out. The older the wine for red wines, the browner the colour. For white wines, older wines typically go a deep yellow. Young red wines will tend to be ruby in colour, almost purple
• Treatment – You can also sometimes tell if a wine has been oaked or not by the colour of the wine, as well as if it has had a lot of skin contact (the longer the wine has had contact with the skin the deeper the colour).  If oaked or left with the skin for longer they will tend to have a deeper colour (deep straw yellow for whites and dark maroon and purple for reds), and therefore have deeper flavours. Wines that are clear and light coloured will tend to be zestier and fresh and are less likely to have been oaked

Again, unless you’ve got a blind tasting, most of what you see will be on the bottle. But it is nice to check out the wine and give it an appreciative wink before you move to the next step.

Swirl

The next step is super important but is also the wankiest part of tasting wine. I’m sure we all know someone that won’t sip a glass of wine without first swirling it with vigour in the air for what feels like an age. You may have tried it yourself only to be nervous you’ll spill the wine everywhere (I know I have).

As much as no one wants to seem like a wanky wine critic, swirling the wine is actually incredibly valuable when tasting it.  Swirling allows the aroma of the wine to be agitated out of it so that you can more easily detect the taste of the wine. It’s actually an interesting exercise to smell the wine, swirl it and then try it again. I never used to believe it, but you really do get more aroma once you swirl the wine.

The reason we swirl wine is that it introduces oxygen which allows the wine to start breaking down an ‘opening up’ (to use the official wine term). When a wine opens up the flavours become more pronounced and the wine softens. This is all good stuff and the reason that oxygen is so important for wine. This is why we use aerators as well!

How to do it

There are a few different ways you can swirl the wine. If you want to channel the obnoxious wine drinker in you, feel free to make grandiose motions in the air with your wine glass. However, make sure you practice with water first, because your large gestures may result in you and those around you covered in the wine you’re trying to taste. The same swirling can be achieved with a small flick of the wrist, and it is far more subtle.

For those that are uncoordinated like me, you might opt for my favourite method. I pop the wine glass on a table and make a few circles with the base. You can swirl the wine really well and the best part is you don’t end up with it all over you. You also don’t look as obvious when you’re swirling the wine, which is great when you’re trying to fly under the radar and swirl in peace.

Sniff

Ok so you’ve checked out the wine, swirled it, but you don’t get to drink it yet (I know, it’s so unfair). The next step is sniffing the wine. This step is really important as a lot of what you taste comes from smell. There’s a reason you blocked your nose as a kid to eat broccoli! Sniffing the wine prepares your brain for the tastes you are about to experience when you get to drink the wine, so it’s a really important step.

I find this takes a lot of practice, as often you’ll smell a wine and just smell, well, wine. This is because your brain will only pick up smells it knows, so if you’re not used to smelling wine for different aromas you won’t know to find them there. What I did for a while was read tasting notes and then try to pick them in the wine. It makes it a lot easier than going from a blank canvas, and a lot less scary. When you have the tasting notes and then smell the wine, you can often connect the smells to those tasting notes, and over time you’ll be able to pick them out without any help!

How to do it

So this step is pretty easy. Often it is recommended that you smell the wine with your eyes closed. This does help you concentrate, but I usually smell with my eyes open. Get your nose right in that glass, and take a big, long sniff. Then have a think about what you smell. Is there a hint of something that reminds you of a fruit? Or is it something like leather or tobacco? Does it smell like butter or wood?

The thing about sniffing wine is that everyone is different. This is because everyone has had different experiences and so will pick up different smells in the wine. A room of 10 people may come up with completely different smells, and that’s completely ok! Just remember what you smelt for the next step.

Sip

And now for my favourite part: drinking the wine! But don’t go crazy, because as much as you’ve been working up to this special moment of finally tasting the wine, you shouldn’t just gulp down the glass. This is a step in itself in tasting the wine, and so you’ve got to go slowly with little sips (that’s why this step is called sip not drink).

There are definitely some super wanky ways to sip wine. To aerate the wine it is recommended that you slurp it in like you’re drinking hot tea, as this allows the wine to open up as you drink it. I don’t know about you, but I get irritated when people chew with their mouth open, so the thought of being in a room full of people slurping is like something out of a nightmare.

There is also a school of thought that you sip the wine and move it around your mouth like mouthwash before swallowing, but this really isn’t necessary. What you need to do is just ensure it sits in your mouth long enough for you to experience the wine.

How to do it

When you take a few sips of wine and hold it in your mouth, ask yourself the following:

• What does the wine taste like? Is this different to the smells you noticed?
• Does the wine linger in your mouth or does it cleanly cut off in its flavour?
• Where does the flavour sit on your tongue?
• Does the wine dry your mouth out?

Once you taste the wine, swallow, and do it again. You’ll need about 3-4 sips to really get a feel for the wine, especially if you’re tasting other wines.

And that’s all there is to it! It really isn’t that difficult but is something you need to practice. How terrible, an excuse to drink more wine! My best tip for you is to try this out when you visit wineries and go on wine tours. It’s the best way to hone your skills across different wines.

Handy tips for your wine tasting

Here are a few tips I’ve learnt that I’ve found helpful when tasting wine:

• If you get overloaded by tasting the wine, smell the back of your hand. Weirdly, the smell of yourself helps to neutralise smells
• You can swirl in between steps. Although swirl is step two, I encourage you to keep going back to this as it continues to open up the wine. Smell, swirl, smell, swirl, taste, swirl, smell, swirl – there really isn’t a correct order. Just as long as you feel like you’re experiencing the wine you’re doing the right thing
• Keep your tastings to 5-8 wines ideally. We’ve all been there. You’re at a winery and they bring out 10 wines, and they all start tasting the same. If you are trying to taste wine, don’t try too many different ones. Your palate becomes overwhelmed after time and soon everything tastes like wine. Aim for 5-8 wines
• If you’re not getting any aromas, try changing up the way you sniff and sip the wine. Alternate between short and long sniffs, and large and small tastes as this will bring out new flavours

There is no right or wrong – just drink it!

There are many resources out there that will make you feel like you are not tasting the wine correctly. Trust me, I’ve read a lot of them! But the fact of the matter is that wine tasting is incredibly subjective, as we are all so different. I mean you might love coriander, which could make you a monster to other people, or you could love oysters which I will never understand.

Everyone has different tastes, and what you might like another person may not. This is why you shouldn’t be fussed if you find you like a wine that someone else hates. Who cares? Just drink the wine you love! The best part about tasting wine is finding a wine you enjoy, and really that shouldn’t come down to the ‘hint of jammy blackberry’ that was written on the tasting notes.

So next time you are tasting, just ask yourself a simple question: Do I like the wine or not? If you do, great! If you don’t, ok move to the next one. It truly is as simple as that.