Below are 3 practical tools that can help you better enjoy and remember your wine.
1. Optimal Wine Serving Temperature
Though it is common wisdom that red wines are to be served at room temperature and white wines chilled, this will not give you the best wine tasting.
A bottle of wine opens up and releases its richest bouquet of aromas at a particular temperature. This particular temperature differs for each wine, depending on the grape variety and region. For example, a rich, intense Bordeaux could be served 2-3 degree below room temperature (~65°F); but a light, fruity red such as Beaujolais is best serve at least 10 degree (~54°F) below room temperature.
The below table indicates the optimal serving temperature for each wine variety:
How do you decide if a wine is good vs. excellent? The below scorecard captures the key elements of wine tasting and can help you objectively rate each wine.
It is a handy tool to have when exploring new wines or at wine-tasting party!
Appearance
Rating*
Score (10 pts)
Observations /
Tasting Note
Clarity
1=Cloudy; 5=Clear color. Note: most wines scores full mark on clarity.
___ out of 5 pts
Colour
5=Aligns with expected colour based on varietal and age.
___ out of 5 pts
Aroma
Rating*
Score (45 pts)
Observations /
Tasting Note
Intensity
1=light, can only smell with nose in the glass; 5=pronounced, can smell aroma with glass held at shoulder level
A good wine tasting note helps you visualize and relive your wine tasting experience. It is not just descriptive, but precise on the characteristics and aromas of the wine. Our tasting note aid is designed to help you achieve this.
How to use our tasting note aid: Take several good sniffs of your wine to identify the types of aroma present: fruity, floral, nutty, earthy, herby, spicy, or bad. Our tasting note aid, categorized by aroma type, will help you find a more concrete description. We have also included useful adjectives to help you better remember the strengths and impressions of the wine.
