In this first instalment of our two-part series, learn how to describe the look and smell of a wine.
Have you ever heard people use terms like ‘forest floor’ or ‘worn leather’ to describe a wine and wonder how that could ever be a good thing? The smells that some wine folk detect can be pretty out there – wet stones, anyone? But with a little practice, you’ll be whipping out some killer descriptions of your own in no time.
So, where to begin? Well, you’ve gotta start tasting the stuff. The more you try, smell and discuss what you’re drinking, the closer you’ll get to becoming a pro taster. Of course, this lingo isn’t crucial for enjoying wine – but it can be fun to get to know what’s in your glass and learn about how things like growing conditions and soil affect the flavour. It gives you the ammo to find more of what you like (and stay away from what you don’t). Look at it as a light-hearted exploration. No rules – just guidelines to help you along.
Here in part one of our deep dive into tasting, we’ll run through a few ways to interpret the appearance and smell – or nose – of a wine. Next week in part two, we’ll tackle how to taste and describe those flavours.
So, grab yourself a glass, and let’s get this show on the road.
When describing wine, people often jump straight into how it smells and tastes, but a wine’s appearance can tell you plenty before you’ve even stuck your nose in.
Firstly, don’t overfill your glass. We know it's tempting, but you’ve got to give the wine a chance to breathe and, as they say, develop. Otherwise, you’ll have no chance of detecting those gooseberries or, yes, even wet stones on the nose. When we say ‘breathe’, we mean exposing the wine to oxygen – either in the glass or in a decanter. There’s a lot of debate around whether or not this is necessary, but for some wines (particularly big reds) a bit of breathing time really helps to release more aromas, draw out specific flavours, and soften the tannins (the bitter compounds in wine that create that grippy, dry sensation).
Next, make sure you’ve got good lighting. Then grab your glass, pour a sample, hold it up against a white background (a sheet of paper does the trick), tilt it slightly, and take a good look.
Check out the colour. Is the wine you’re drinking a white, rosé or red? Within each of these categories, consider the colour’s intensity. There’s no hard-and-fast rule here, so use the words you think best describe what you see with your own eyes.
If you’ve a white in front of you, consider if it’s a pale lemon colour, or more of a rich, golden amber. Is your rosé bright pink, pale salmon, or does it have an orange tinge? And is your red wine purple, ruby or more of a brownish-orange? Sometimes this can be a lot easier to do when you’ve got something to compare against – a wine may not look particularly salmony until you sit it next to another.
The colour of a wine can give you clues to its age, variety and style. As wines age, so too does their colour. Red wines lose vibrancy, developing a brownish hue, while white wines tend to become richer in colour, with yellow tones.
The longer the winemaker keeps the skins in contact with the juice, the more intense the colour. For example, with rosé, skin contact is brief, hence its blush appearance rather than deep red. It follows that wines that are more intense in colour tend to (often, but not always) be bolder on the palate.
Does your wine have good ‘legs’? In wine, it’s nothing to do with strutting the catwalk, and everything to do with the droplets or streaks your wine forms inside the glass as you move it around. There are some who think legs (also referred to as ‘tears’) say something about the quality of a wine, but we strongly disagree. What it can tell you though, is a bit about the alcohol content, viscosity and (potentially) the sweetness. Give your wine a swirl and watch it run back down the glass. More legs can be an indicator of higher alcohol or higher sugar content in your wine. Sweet wines, for example, are more viscous in nature and tend to produce thicker tears that move slower down the glass.
The ‘rim’ of a wine helps give us a clue to its age, too. As you tilt the glass away from you, pay attention to the difference in colour from the centre to the edge of the liquid. If there’s only a slight change in colour, the wine is likely younger, whereas an older drop will show a bigger shift. Again, this can be a lot easier to see in action when you compare two wines against each other.
Lastly, for all you natural wine drinkers, a ‘cloudy’ drop can suggest the wine is unfiltered and most likely of the lo-fi kind. That said, if a wine starts out clear and turns cloudy, that could just mean you’ve left it open on the bench for a few too many days.
Alright, it’s time to get to the good stuff and give your wine a solid whiff. Before you get overwhelmed by the exhaustive list of aromas the wine pros like to use, our advice is to just follow your own nose. Have fun with it and don’t get swept up in ‘wrong’ or ‘right’. Give the below a try:
- First up, give your glass a swirl. This will introduce oxygen into the wine and help open it up (i.e. enhance its aromas and flavours).
- Now, put your nose to the glass and breathe in (through your nose, obviously). Does it smell sweet or savoury? What does it remind you of? Is it fresh and fruity? Or perhaps it’s a little earthy, like mushrooms, or even leather?
- Jot down a few words that best describe what you first smell. It’s important not to get too bogged down, so if you smell strawberries, write it down. If you get bubblegum or buttered popcorn, go with exactly that. Remember, there are no bad answers here because even the most experienced tasters will each detect something different in the same wine.
- Give the wine another swirl and sniff. What do you get this time? Perhaps you’ve detected something different? Again, jot it down.
- Lastly, think about how pronounced the nose is in the glass. Is it light and delicate or strong and distinct? Try pulling the glass away from your nose and seeing whether you can still detect its smell from different distances. This will give you an indication of its intensity, which can sometimes also indicate its quality.
Wine aromas fall into three categories. In your earlier stages of learning, this may not be so important, but the descriptions that fall within them make for an incredibly handy reference.
Primary aromas:
They come from the grapes and include types of green fruits, citrus, stone fruits, berries, tropical fruits, cooked and dried fruits, herbs, spices, and even flowers.
Secondary aromas:
They come from winemaking techniques, such as malolactic fermentation, and the use of oak barrels. They can include butter, cream, sweet pastry, brioche, vanilla, coconut and wood.
Tertiary aromas:
Lastly, these come from ageing and can include dried fruit, leather, mushroom, red meat, marmalade, nuts, honey and delicious caramel.
Don’t stress about whether the aromas you’re detecting are primary, secondary or tertiary – concentrate on wrapping words around the smells you detect and you’re more than halfway there.
Next time you’re cooking at home, take the time to smell all of your ingredients and really consider their elements. The more you smell, the more notes you will be able to recognise in your wine. Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for part 2 where we'll finally taste the wine!
