You know what wines you like but how do you describe them? Learn how to use wine tasting terms the right way to get the wine you want. Learning the fundamentals of tasting descriptions will also help you decipher wine writing and let you buy wine more confidently. Besides referring to wine ratings, tasting terms are the only way we can quantify what a wine tastes like before we buy it. Learning what these words mean (and also how to use them yourself) is a very powerful skill to have in order to buy exactly what you want. Some of the most useful wine tasting terms to know fall into these 4 categories: First things first, you’ll want to start identifying the fruit level in the wine. It doesn’t matter if the wine is light, rich, sweet or dry, they can all be categorized by the fruit level. We have many ways of describing fruitiness in wine but pretty much all wines can be shuffled into just 2 primary categories: Fruit Forward or Savory. Common Terms: Fruit-Driven, Sweet Attack, Jammy, Extracted, Flamboyant, Sweet Tannin, New World Style, Juicy, Ripe

This is the most commonly used term to describe a wine with dominant flavors in the sweet fruit realm. This wine term doesn’t mean that the wine is sweet, it just means that they are bursting with sweet fruit smells. Fruit Forward Red Wine Terms Sweet Raspberry, Maraschino Cherry, Blackberry, Blueberry, Jam, Prune, Candied Fruit, Black Raisin, Baking Spices, Toffee, Vanilla and Sweet Tobacco Fruit Forward White Wine Terms Sweet Meyer Lemon, Baked Apple, Mandarin Orange, Ripe Peach, Mango, Sweet Pineapple, Ripe Pear, Cantaloupe, Crème Brûlée, Caramel, and Vanilla Common Terms: Herbaceous, Earthy, Rustic, Food Friendly, Old World Style, Bone Dry, Elegant, Closed, Vegetal, Stalky, Stemmy, High Minerality Savory, earthy or herbaceous wines are the antithesis of fruit-forward wines. While these terms don’t really do this wine profile justice, they help describe dominant flavors of the wine in the not sweet fruit category. It’s not that these wines aren’t fruity, in fact, most are loaded with fruit flavors in the tart/sour/bitter spectrum.

For example, imagine biting into a bunch of raw black currants (cassis) or cranberry. Savory Red Wine Terms Cranberry, Rhubarb, Black Currant (aka Cassis), Green Bell Pepper, Green Peppercorn, Olive, Wild Strawberry, Sour Cherry, Mulberry, Bilberry, Peony, Wild Blueberry, Dried Herbs, Game, Sage, Leather, Tobacco, Charcoal, Tar, Underbrush, Garrigue, Gravel, Torrefaction, Mineral-Driven and Woodsmoke Savory White Wine Terms Lime, Lemon, Pith, Quince, Bitter Almond, Green Apple, Apple Skin, Gooseberry, Jalapeño, Grapefruit, Green Papaya, Thyme, Chervil, Grass, Flint, Chalk, Petrichor, Minerally Wines get their sweetness from residual sugar (RS), which is leftover glucose from grape juice that wasn’t completely fermented into alcohol. However, our sense of taste picks up sweetness in varying levels. To keep it simple, most of us characterize sweetness in still wines with 4 levels of sweetness. This term implies extreme dryness with no residual sugar and is usually accompanied by the presence of astringency.

Red wines get astringency from tannin and/or their savory or bitter fruit flavors. glass of wine alcohol contentWhite wines get astringency from a quality that sommeliers and winemakers often refer to as phenolic bitterness, which is often described like the taste of grapefruit pith or quince fruit.best wine paris See the complete Wine Sweetness Chartbest wine for valentine's day Most still wines fall into the dry category, even though our taste buds might tell us differently. best wine germanyDry wines range from no residual sugar to 1 gram per 5 oz serving (150ml). best place in italy for wine tasting

Just so you know, most super premium red wine producers rarely have more than 1/3 gram of sugar per glass. best wine for beginning drinkersA quick method of comparison: a packet of Sugar in the Raw contains 5 grams of sugar and a 5 oz serving of Coca-Cola has 16 grams of sugar. This is a popular term to describe wines with a touch of residual sugar, which can be anywhere from 2–3 grams of residual sugar per 5 oz pour. Most off dry wines are white wines, although on rare occasions you can find high quality Italian red wines that fall into the off dry category. High acidity wines like Riesling will taste more dry than a lower acidity wine (like Viognier) at the same actual sweetness level. Sweet wines are generally Dessert Wines and have a wide range of sweetness varying from about 3–28 grams of sugar per 5 oz glass depending on the style. For example, a few of the most lusciously sweet wines in the world include Canadian and German Ice Wine, Tawny Port, Tokaji and Rutherglen Muscat.

CHAMPAGNE SWEETNESS: The sweetness levels in sparkling wines use terms like Brut and Demi-Sec. Find out about Sweetness in Champagne Having Trouble Finding Flavors in Wine? If you haven’t read the guide on how to taste wine you’ll find a myriad of useful tricks that will help you develop your palate and taste wine like a pro. How to Taste Wine and Develop Your Palate Now that you have a good understanding of the 2 primary fruit categories and sweetness, you can focus on the body. Think of the body of a wine kind of like the difference between skim and whole milk. Of course, there are many factors that affect how we perceive body, from alcohol level and tannin to acidity, so it’s not an exact science. TIP: Some wine varieties fit into all three body styles depending on how they’re made. Explore more wine words on the Wine Descriptions Infographic Light bodied wines sit in your mouth more like a delicate unsweetened iced green tea or a refreshing lemonade.

They may still have a long aftertaste that tingles on your tongue but they don’t fill your mouth like whole milk does. Generally speaking, most light bodied wines have lower alcohol levels, lower tannin, and higher acidity. Of course, there will always be a few exceptions. Light Bodied Red Wine Terms Subtle, Delicate, Elegant, Crisp, Thin, Finesse, Bright, Floral Light Bodied White Wine Terms Light, Zesty, Airy, Lean, Racy, Crisp, Zippy, Austere, Long Tingly Finish, Brilliant, Lively This term doesn’t really need to be applied to white wines. Red wines, on the other hand, benefit from this 3rd category of resolution. Medium bodied red wines are smack dab in the middle of the spectrum between a light red with lower tannin and a full bodied red with high tannin. Medium bodied red wines are usually called “food wines”. Medium Bodied Red Wine Terms Food Friendly, Moderate, Elegant, Juicy, Spicy, Fleshy, Tart, Mellow, Soft Full bodied wines fill your palate with their texture and intensity.

As a general rule, full bodied red wines have high tannin and usually also have heightened alcohol levels above 14% ABV. Alcohol and tannin act more like textures on our palate which is why they are key components of full bodied red wines. Some full bodied wines stand on their own and are better not matched with food. Conversely, a few red wines are so bold with bitter tannin that they almost need a rich fatty food (like steak) to smooth out the tannin. Full Bodied Red Wine Terms Rich, Lush, Opulent, Rigid, Intense, Bold, Extracted, High Alcohol, High Tannin, Firm, Structured, Muscular, Concentrated, Hot Full Bodied White Wine Terms Rich, Lush, Oily, Buttery It’s common to pause after first tasting a red wine because of the effect the aftertaste or finish has on the flavor. The finish is often the defining factor between a mediocre and an awesome tasting wine. So, what are the common types of finishes in wines? Common Terms: Plush, Round, Velvety, Supple, Opulent, Voluptuous, Creamy, Buttery, Lush, Soft, Silky, Spineless, Flabby

This is the number one most asked for style of finish on a wine. However, smooth isn’t really detailed enough of a description to get what you might want. There are essentially 3 types of smooth finishes in wines: Common Terms: Juicy, Sharp, Balsamic, Austere, Peppery, Lean, Edgy, Lively Wines are sometimes described as spicy and this trait can be more intense in the finish of a wine. The sensation of a spicy finish on a wine is a sharp burning sensation that could be compared to the feeling in your nose you get from eating wasabi or horseradish. Many of us think of this type of finish as an alcoholic burn, but this is not always the case. There are a variety of reasons why wines have a spicy finish, from the type of grape (Cabernet Sauvignon and Barbera are known for their spicy qualities) to the type of acid that’s prevalent in a wine. While some spicy finish wines are excellent, sometimes this characteristic is a sign of a wine that’s out of balance. Bitterness in red wines is from tannins and bitterness in white wines is called phenolic bitterness.