We’ve been there before – you swirl your glass, sniff, try to look confident and take a sip. The somm asks, “what do you think?” “It’s good!” is the answer, regardless if you think it is. Before I was confident in my palate, I always wanted to give a more intelligent answer but rarely had one.
I didn’t want to say it tastes like berries, when the correct answer was cherries. But I wanted to say something to start a better conversation with the somm and learn more. You are always encouraged to ask questions, but if you’re like me, you want to make sure you’re asking the right questions.
So, for your next tasting, here is a cheat sheet of common appearance terms, aroma terms, and taste terms to ask the better questions and look like a pro.
TASTING TERMS
Acidic: tart, fresh. A high acidity helps age a wine.
Dry: without sweetness
Flat: lacking acidity
Flinty: dry, clean, sharp taste usually from soils in which the vines grow
Smooth: without any harshness
Tart: too high in total acidity
Thin: water in body. If you tilt your glass of red wine slightly, you might see a more transparent ring around the top. That means the wine is thin.
Woody: stored overly long in wood (usually oak). Oaky might be a term you hear mentioned as well, but without knowing for sure, woody is your safe word. 😉 Oaky is technically an aroma term (more on oaky below) but we’re just impressed you can ID it)
WINE APPEARANCE TERMS
Brilliant: high clarity
Clear: without cloudiness. Natural wines usually are not clear.
Cloudy: natural wines are cloudy, as they haven’t been filtered. Cloudiness is indicative of sediment. If it’s not a natural wine and it is cloudy, something could be wrong with the wine (like maybe google it before you drink?)
Legs: the droplets that form along the edge of your glass when you swirl your wine. Legs is everyone’s “first word” when it comes to wine. I don’t know why, but please share thoughts in the comments!
Purplish: red wine with purplish tones usually means it’s a young wine. It will take time for that wine to mature.
Ruby: a darker red. Don’t say “this wine looks red” (duh) say it appears ruby and ask the somm about the age of the wine.
WINE AROMA TERMS
CHEATER’S TIP: When in doubt, think fruit, spice, or mineral. You don’t have to be specific and say “cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg” but if the wine faintly smells like a pumpkin pie – call it “baking spices” and let the somm refine your taste from there.
Crisp: A pleasant acidity in a still or sparkling wine with a lightness that’s brisk and refreshing
Earthy: This term can be good or bad. Negatively, it can be used to describe muddled flavors and aromas that are a little funky. In positive terms, it can describe the pleasant, clean smell of freshly turned wet earth
Jammy: The smell and taste of red or black fruits like berries, plum, or cherries. Jammy tends to be a negative description of wine as it suggests that the grapes were harvested overripe, causing them to lack tension or freshness
Mineral: This tends to refer to notions that cannot easily be described in terms of fruit or spice. The mineral can come across as a smoky, struck-match note, or even the smell of rain on concrete (am I the only one who likes that smell?)
Oaky: For reference, your mom’s favorite Chardonnay is likely SUPER oaky. In white wines, oak often comes across as plain vanilla, toffee, or popcorn. In reds, it can be a warming note of cinnamon or nutmeg (ie baking spices lol)
Spicy: It’s a wide, but positive term that can refer to baking spice notes of clove, nutmeg or cinnamon imparted by oak aging
Zesty: The intensity and mouthwatering freshness that’s driven by high acidity. Most commonly from fruits such as lemon, orange, grapefruit, or tangerine (cheater’s tip – call it citrus lol)