Identifying Different Types of Wines - How to Easily Pick Out 5 of the Most Common Wine Varieties
To identify a wine, you must rely on three senses: sight, smell, and taste.
We will use sensory descriptions of the 5 most common wines, but first we must train our three senses to recognize the different characteristics.
This is the most important part, as your senses must be trained to recognize the different characteristics of each wine.
Sight Sight is the easiest.
We have words to describe all visual characteristics (red, dark, clear, etc), so you won't have to spend much time training your eyes.
In other words, you already know how to tell a dark wine from a light, and a red from a white.
You are already well on your way to identifying some of the different types of wine! Taste Your taste buds are obviously extremely important in identifying wines.
There are several elements of taste that they can recognize (what we know as flavors).
They are: salty, sour, bitter, sweet, spicy and umami (or savory).
Every flavor you know is a combination of these six elements! Different parts of your tongue recognize different taste elements, so it is important that you use your entire mouth when tasting wine (including the back of your throat).
This is why some people swirl their wine in their mouth when tasting.
To train your taste, try different types of wine and practice picking out the subtle flavors like spicy, acid, cherry, etc.
You should be able to tell right away whether a wine is astringent (makes your mouth pucker, indicates high acidity), full-bodied (high alcohol, thicker, bolder), or sweet.
Take some time identifying the flavor elements in several different wines.
Use your entire mouth and pick out the taste characteristics.
Smell Smell is last because it is the most complex, and therefor the most difficult to master.
While all flavors are combinations of six elements, you are capable of recognizing up to two hundred smells! Imagine the amount of combinations possible! The main problem with training your sense of smell is that there are not enough words to describe every smell.
To train your nose, you must use language to tie each smell to a word.
That is why wine tasters use words like flowery, oaky, and cassis.
Practice smelling different kind of wines and naming each aroma that you detect.
If it's fruity, pick out the different types of fruit smells present.
Identifying Wines Now that you have trained your eyes, nose, and tongue to identify different characteristics, I will break down 5 of the most common wine varieties.
With a little practice, you should have no trouble picking them out.
1.
Cabernet Sauvignon Cabs are the easiest.
They are the deepest, darkest of all red wines (10/10 on the color scale).
Some even have a deep purple color.
Their aroma can be fruity, but you can usually tell even without tasting that they are bold and full-bodied.
Tasting should leave no doubt, as Cabs are the boldest and most full-bodied of all wines.
2.
Shiraz/Syrah The color of Shiraz (same as Syrah, just made in Australia) is a medium-dark red.
It can't be identified purely by its color.
It can be identified by taste and smell though! Shiraz will usually have a very fruity aroma (dark fruit like plum) with hints of chocolate and pepper.
Shiraz has a distinctly peppery (spicy) taste, and fruit and chocolate tastes are normally present.
3.
Merlot Merlot is typically the sweetest and most light-bodied of the common red wines.
It's color is usually the lightest red (not pink like a rose, but light red).
It is low in acidity, and has a sweet, soft, fruity taste profile.
4.
Chardonnay Chardonnay is a light yellow color.
Think of the color of Champagne, it's exactly the same (because most champagnes use Chardonnay grapes).
Chardonnay is really hard to identify by smell alone.
A slight smokiness can be a clue, or a hint of pineapple if it is a Napa Valley Chardonnay.
The only way to really tell is by tasting.
It will display a smokiness, and you should pick up some pineapple and/or green apple flavors.
5.
Riesling Riesling is a sweet white wine.
It is a very pale color.
You will notice floral aromas, as well as stone fruits like apricot, pear, apple and peach.
When tasting, you will notice a minerally "gunmetal" taste, as well as an almost kerosene note, on top of the sweetness of the wine.
If you have practised my tips from above on training your eyes, nose, and taste buds to recognize common characteristics, you should be able to use my descriptions to identify these five common wines.
Have fun learning, drinking, and identifying different types of wines.
We will use sensory descriptions of the 5 most common wines, but first we must train our three senses to recognize the different characteristics.
This is the most important part, as your senses must be trained to recognize the different characteristics of each wine.
Sight Sight is the easiest.
We have words to describe all visual characteristics (red, dark, clear, etc), so you won't have to spend much time training your eyes.
In other words, you already know how to tell a dark wine from a light, and a red from a white.
You are already well on your way to identifying some of the different types of wine! Taste Your taste buds are obviously extremely important in identifying wines.
There are several elements of taste that they can recognize (what we know as flavors).
They are: salty, sour, bitter, sweet, spicy and umami (or savory).
Every flavor you know is a combination of these six elements! Different parts of your tongue recognize different taste elements, so it is important that you use your entire mouth when tasting wine (including the back of your throat).
This is why some people swirl their wine in their mouth when tasting.
To train your taste, try different types of wine and practice picking out the subtle flavors like spicy, acid, cherry, etc.
You should be able to tell right away whether a wine is astringent (makes your mouth pucker, indicates high acidity), full-bodied (high alcohol, thicker, bolder), or sweet.
Take some time identifying the flavor elements in several different wines.
Use your entire mouth and pick out the taste characteristics.
Smell Smell is last because it is the most complex, and therefor the most difficult to master.
While all flavors are combinations of six elements, you are capable of recognizing up to two hundred smells! Imagine the amount of combinations possible! The main problem with training your sense of smell is that there are not enough words to describe every smell.
To train your nose, you must use language to tie each smell to a word.
That is why wine tasters use words like flowery, oaky, and cassis.
Practice smelling different kind of wines and naming each aroma that you detect.
If it's fruity, pick out the different types of fruit smells present.
Identifying Wines Now that you have trained your eyes, nose, and tongue to identify different characteristics, I will break down 5 of the most common wine varieties.
With a little practice, you should have no trouble picking them out.
1.
Cabernet Sauvignon Cabs are the easiest.
They are the deepest, darkest of all red wines (10/10 on the color scale).
Some even have a deep purple color.
Their aroma can be fruity, but you can usually tell even without tasting that they are bold and full-bodied.
Tasting should leave no doubt, as Cabs are the boldest and most full-bodied of all wines.
2.
Shiraz/Syrah The color of Shiraz (same as Syrah, just made in Australia) is a medium-dark red.
It can't be identified purely by its color.
It can be identified by taste and smell though! Shiraz will usually have a very fruity aroma (dark fruit like plum) with hints of chocolate and pepper.
Shiraz has a distinctly peppery (spicy) taste, and fruit and chocolate tastes are normally present.
3.
Merlot Merlot is typically the sweetest and most light-bodied of the common red wines.
It's color is usually the lightest red (not pink like a rose, but light red).
It is low in acidity, and has a sweet, soft, fruity taste profile.
4.
Chardonnay Chardonnay is a light yellow color.
Think of the color of Champagne, it's exactly the same (because most champagnes use Chardonnay grapes).
Chardonnay is really hard to identify by smell alone.
A slight smokiness can be a clue, or a hint of pineapple if it is a Napa Valley Chardonnay.
The only way to really tell is by tasting.
It will display a smokiness, and you should pick up some pineapple and/or green apple flavors.
5.
Riesling Riesling is a sweet white wine.
It is a very pale color.
You will notice floral aromas, as well as stone fruits like apricot, pear, apple and peach.
When tasting, you will notice a minerally "gunmetal" taste, as well as an almost kerosene note, on top of the sweetness of the wine.
If you have practised my tips from above on training your eyes, nose, and taste buds to recognize common characteristics, you should be able to use my descriptions to identify these five common wines.
Have fun learning, drinking, and identifying different types of wines.