How to Buy Wine Blind
Learn the four most basic structural descriptions., Develop your palate style., Learn basic descriptions for flavors., Come to know the wine rating experts., Buy a wine right off the shelf that you have never seen before., Use your new-found skills!
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Learn the four most basic structural descriptions.
There are only a few basic aspects of wine description
- fruit, acid, oak, and tannin.
Fruit is the snobby wine way of saying sweetness or sugar content.
Acid is that crisp burn you get on the sides and back of your tongue.
Oak is the buttery or toasty flavor that wine picks up when barreled in wood.
Tannin is the bitter chewy feeling around your teeth and cheeks similar to chewing on a grape skin. -
Step 2: Develop your palate style.
Each person has a preference for how much of each they prefer in their wine.
This preference is called your palate style.
In order to find yours, go to the store (or wine bar) and buy (or ask for a taste of) three wines of radically different variations.
For instance, if you like white wine choose a Riesling, a Chardonnay, and a Pinot grigio.
Red wine lovers might choose a Chianti, a Merlot, and a classic (light) Pinot noir.
Draw yourself a "one through ten" chart for each of the four basic descriptions and label them.
Make sure you have one full chart for each wine.
As you taste each wine, rate each one with what you feel they have of each of the descriptions.
You are not rating what you like, yet.
You are just deciding how much of each thing the wines have.
One would be almost none (if any), and ten, an enormous amount.
A typical Pinot grigio might have a three to six for fruit, an eight to ten for acid, a two to four for oak, and a two for tannin. When you finish the charts, you can begin to sort out how much of these individual descriptions you like in each wine.
A red wine person might decide that they like a medium tannin, a high fruit, a medium oak, and a low acid.
In this case, Merlot and other soft, lush varietals or blends might be your personal favorites.
A white wine drinker could choose a medium fruit, a medium oak, a medium acid and a low tannin.
They might go for a nice California Chardonnay.
Do not be surprised if, in your wine adventures, you find yourself liking something that sneaks in from outside of your box.
A declared Chardonnay drinker might find some joy in a nice Sauvignon blanc because, while the acid is higher, the fruit is higher as well and this gives a nice balance. , Wine gurus speak to each other in food flavor words.
Lemony.
Chocolate.
Earthy (like the lingering taste of raw dirt around a potato skin).
Raspberry.
Cherries.
Crisp Green Apple.
Tobacco (the flavor of raw unburnt tobacco on your tongue).
If you type "basic wine descriptors" into your favorite search engine, you could find a nice dictionary for fun reading at your fingertips.
Assume correctly that if you like the flavors of the food descriptions, you might like them in your wine., Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, and Wine Enthusiast are some of the top names.
They have a "One to One Hundred" rating system with One Hundred being the absolute best in class.
Anything with an 85 or better is in the top 15% of those wines produced that year.
Eighty five percent of the wines on the shelf at your local store will not be that good.
You have just learned what you need to know to buy a bottle of wine blind., Go to the largest wine store you know and find the section of wines you have already decided you like based on your palate style.
Find all of the ones with a tag sticking out from the shelf that have an 85 or better from one of the professional rating systems.
Read the tag thoroughly.
They always have quotes from the rater with a very professional description.
It might say something like this: "...medium acid and lush tannins combine with hints of raspberry and chocolate." If this is your palate and price range then you have just struck gold.
You can bring it home confidently, know you will love it, and add another brand name to your buying list. , Understanding palate styles will help you be the most popular gift buyer in your group of friends.
You may not be a white wine drinker, but you know that your girlfriend likes fruity whites with low acid.
Imagine how happy she will be when you wrap a bottle of something awesome that she has never tried before! -
Step 3: Learn basic descriptions for flavors.
-
Step 4: Come to know the wine rating experts.
-
Step 5: Buy a wine right off the shelf that you have never seen before.
-
Step 6: Use your new-found skills!
Detailed Guide
There are only a few basic aspects of wine description
- fruit, acid, oak, and tannin.
Fruit is the snobby wine way of saying sweetness or sugar content.
Acid is that crisp burn you get on the sides and back of your tongue.
Oak is the buttery or toasty flavor that wine picks up when barreled in wood.
Tannin is the bitter chewy feeling around your teeth and cheeks similar to chewing on a grape skin.
Each person has a preference for how much of each they prefer in their wine.
This preference is called your palate style.
In order to find yours, go to the store (or wine bar) and buy (or ask for a taste of) three wines of radically different variations.
For instance, if you like white wine choose a Riesling, a Chardonnay, and a Pinot grigio.
Red wine lovers might choose a Chianti, a Merlot, and a classic (light) Pinot noir.
Draw yourself a "one through ten" chart for each of the four basic descriptions and label them.
Make sure you have one full chart for each wine.
As you taste each wine, rate each one with what you feel they have of each of the descriptions.
You are not rating what you like, yet.
You are just deciding how much of each thing the wines have.
One would be almost none (if any), and ten, an enormous amount.
A typical Pinot grigio might have a three to six for fruit, an eight to ten for acid, a two to four for oak, and a two for tannin. When you finish the charts, you can begin to sort out how much of these individual descriptions you like in each wine.
A red wine person might decide that they like a medium tannin, a high fruit, a medium oak, and a low acid.
In this case, Merlot and other soft, lush varietals or blends might be your personal favorites.
A white wine drinker could choose a medium fruit, a medium oak, a medium acid and a low tannin.
They might go for a nice California Chardonnay.
Do not be surprised if, in your wine adventures, you find yourself liking something that sneaks in from outside of your box.
A declared Chardonnay drinker might find some joy in a nice Sauvignon blanc because, while the acid is higher, the fruit is higher as well and this gives a nice balance. , Wine gurus speak to each other in food flavor words.
Lemony.
Chocolate.
Earthy (like the lingering taste of raw dirt around a potato skin).
Raspberry.
Cherries.
Crisp Green Apple.
Tobacco (the flavor of raw unburnt tobacco on your tongue).
If you type "basic wine descriptors" into your favorite search engine, you could find a nice dictionary for fun reading at your fingertips.
Assume correctly that if you like the flavors of the food descriptions, you might like them in your wine., Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, and Wine Enthusiast are some of the top names.
They have a "One to One Hundred" rating system with One Hundred being the absolute best in class.
Anything with an 85 or better is in the top 15% of those wines produced that year.
Eighty five percent of the wines on the shelf at your local store will not be that good.
You have just learned what you need to know to buy a bottle of wine blind., Go to the largest wine store you know and find the section of wines you have already decided you like based on your palate style.
Find all of the ones with a tag sticking out from the shelf that have an 85 or better from one of the professional rating systems.
Read the tag thoroughly.
They always have quotes from the rater with a very professional description.
It might say something like this: "...medium acid and lush tannins combine with hints of raspberry and chocolate." If this is your palate and price range then you have just struck gold.
You can bring it home confidently, know you will love it, and add another brand name to your buying list. , Understanding palate styles will help you be the most popular gift buyer in your group of friends.
You may not be a white wine drinker, but you know that your girlfriend likes fruity whites with low acid.
Imagine how happy she will be when you wrap a bottle of something awesome that she has never tried before!
About the Author
Rebecca White
Creates helpful guides on home improvement to inspire and educate readers.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: