1:3:4:2 sight : smell : taste : overall tasting guide
 

Below is tasting guide I compiled from other folks' guides.

Particularly, I would like comments on the relative weights (1:3:4:2)
allocated to the four components (sight, smell, taste, overall) on the
10-point scale.

I have tried these weights only on a few wines so far. A score of 6
seems to indicated a pleasant product.

Do these weights make sense or is there a better proportion? I look
forward to your feedback.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tasting Guide

SIGHT (Appearance) (0-1 points)
Consider clarity, brilliance and appropriateness of color. Downgrade
for haze or opacity. If sparkling, consider persistence of the
bubbles and pinpoint size.

CLARITY - cloudy, bitty, hazy, opaque, dull, clear, brilliant
DEPTH - watery, pale, medium, deep, dark
COLOR/HUE - (white wines) green tinge, pale yellow, yellow, gold,
amber, brown
(red wines) purple, purple/red, red, red/brown
VISCOSITY - slight sparkle, watery, normal, heavy, thin, oily
DESCRIPTION: straw, amber, tawny, ruby, garnet

SMELL (Aroma/Bouquet) (0-3 points)
Is it pleasant or unappetizing? What specific aromas can you
identify? Consider both fruit smells and other aroma qualities that
may result from oak or bottle age.

GENERAL APPEAL - neutral, clean, attractive, outstanding, off (e.g.
yeasty, acetic, oxidized, woody, etc.)
FRUIT AROMA - none, slight, positive, identifiable (e.g. Riesling)
BOUQUET - none, pleasant, complex, powerful
DESCRIPTION: cedar, cigar box, woody, corky, flowery, smoky, honeyed,
lemony, spicy, moldy, sulphury, chemical, pungent, oxidized,
microbiological, floral, spicy, fruity, vegetative, nutty,
caramelized, earthy

TASTE (Flavor/Palate) (0-4 points)
Is it "dry" or sweet? Full-bodied or light? Is it appropriately
acidic (sour), tongue-twistingly sour, or lacking acid ("flabby")?
Does the flavor seem consistent with the aroma? Does it remind you of
any specific fruit or other flavor? Is the flavor appropriate to this
wine? Finally, is the "finish" or "aftertaste," the flavor remaining
in your mouth after you swallow, short, medium or long in duration?

SWEETNESS (white wines) - bone-dry, dry, medium-dry, medium-sweet,
sweet, very sweet
TANNIN (red wines) - bitter, astringent, hard, dry, soft
FRUIT - highly extracted, rich, luscious, deep, disappearing or drying
out, gone
ACIDITY - flat, refreshing, marked, tart, sour
BODY - very light and thin, light, medium, full-bodied, heavy
LENGTH (FINISH) - short, acceptable, extended, lingering, layered
BALANCE - unbalanced, good, very well, perfect
TEXTURE - creamy, silky, elegant, big
DESCRIPTION: apply, bitter, blackcurrants, burnt, caramel, earthy,
fat, flinty, green, heady, inky, flabby, mellow, metallic, moldy,
nutty, salty, silky, sappy, spicy, fleshy, woody, watery

OVERALL (Quality) (0-2 points)
After the aftertaste has faded, what do you think of the wine overall?
Is it pleasant and appealing? Simple or complex? Are all the
components in balance. Does it make you want another sip? In short,
do you like it?

IMPRESSION - coarse, poor, acceptable, fine, outstanding
DESCRIPTION: supple, fine, elegant, harmonious, rich, delicate,
complex

TOTAL (0-10 points)
Your final score, the total of the four elements above, "grades" the
wine on your personal scoring form.

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1:3:4:2 sight : smell : taste : overall tasting guide
 

On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 12:19:47 GMT, Leo Bueno
> wrote:

>
>Below is tasting guide I compiled from other folks' guides.
>
>Particularly, I would like comments on the relative weights (1:3:4:2)
>allocated to the four components (sight, smell, taste, overall) on the
>10-point scale.
>
>I have tried these weights only on a few wines so far. A score of 6
>seems to indicated a pleasant product.
>
>Do these weights make sense or is there a better proportion? I look
>forward to your feedback.

Score are always a problem. Personally, I feel that the use of scoring
systems are applicable only to generic wines for mass consumption. For
the wines that interest me (those that express terroir, that have not
been overly homogenized using oenological techniques, those where you
do not try to hide the effects of the vintage), scores are totally
meaningless.

The weighted score is also flawed, because you assume that the weights
are the same for all wines and all people.

Also, what is meant by taste, you mean balance I suppose? Because
taste (what your tongue detects) is nothing more than acidity and
sweetness, when it comes to wine. Giving balance a higher weight than
smell seems very strange.

Smell, is it just the intensity of the aromas, or their quality, or
their complexity?

And why put overall impression, when you have already deconstructed
the wine into 3 senses? Overall seems like a fudge factor to me... you
see, if you are going to get into scoring (and I am not sure of the
benefits of this), then you have to at least be consistent.


Bye

Mike