Blind tasting is the ultimate test of wine knowledge—and the best way to truly develop
your palate. Without labels to influence you, you must rely purely on what's in the glass.
Here's how to approach it systematically.
Step 1: Observe (Sight)
Before you smell or taste, look carefully at the wine:
- Colour intensity — Pale suggests cool climate, young, or thin-skinned grapes. Deep suggests warm climate, age, or thick-skinned grapes.
- Colour hue — Purples in reds suggest youth; brick/orange suggests age. Greens in whites suggest youth; gold suggests age or oak.
- Clarity — Most wines are clear. Haze may indicate natural winemaking or a fault.
- Viscosity — Thick legs suggest higher alcohol and/or residual sugar.
Step 2: Assess the Nose
The nose tells you most of what you need to know:
- Condition — Is it clean? Any off-notes (TCA, volatile acidity, oxidation)?
- Intensity — Light (cool climate, neutral grape) or pronounced (warm climate, aromatic variety)?
- Fruit character — Red vs black fruits, citrus vs tropical, stone fruit vs orchard fruit.
- Development — Primary (fruit, floral) vs secondary (oak, lees) vs tertiary (earth, leather, dried fruit).
Step 3: Taste and Analyse Structure
The palate confirms and refines your hypotheses:
- Sweetness — Bone dry to lusciously sweet. Even "dry" wines have different perceived sweetness.
- Acidity — Low (warm climate), medium, or high (cool climate). The backbone of white wines.
- Tannin — Level, texture (fine, grippy, chalky), ripeness. The backbone of red wines.
- Alcohol — Low (<12%), medium (12-14%), or high (>14%).
- Body — Light, medium, or full. Combination of alcohol, extract, and glycerol.
- Finish — Short wines are simple; long finishes suggest quality.
💡 Key Principle
Build your conclusion from evidence, not guesses. Each observation should narrow down the possibilities.
Climate first (cool vs warm), then grape variety, then region, then quality level, then vintage if possible.