How to Describe a Wine Like a Pro

If you love wine, you’ve almost certainly had moments when you’ve longed to have a wine-critic level of understanding of it like the famous James Halliday. The way he describes a wine is simply amazing!
Of course, we all can’t be wine experts like him, but we can at least try to describe wine like a pro, no?
And, believe it or not, building on your understanding wine isn’t that difficult. All you need to do is keep working on your palate and becoming familiar with the tastes wines deliver.
To get you started, here are some terms you would have heard before to describe wine and some hacks on how to use them. These are your go-to to help you describe a wine and engage yourself in any wine conversation going around a table.
Rich
Use this word for full-bodied, oak-aged wines. These have a dense and opulent structure, with mouth-coating flavours.
Spicy
The easiest and straightforward descriptor! Say it when you feel even a little bit of heat or taste ginger, pepper, nutmeg, or any other spice you know that you recognise.
Mineral
Mineral wines don’t really display ripe fruit characters but can be identified by a distinct tang and high acidity levels.
Zesty
Think young Sémillons and dry Rieslings here. These wines are zesty.
This descriptor is all about a wine’s high acid level and is often used in combination with the term ‘mineral’.
Elegant
A fine and focused wine will be called elegant. These wines show some complexity and are built around a nice line of acidity.
Savoury
A wine is savoury when a very high level of acidity overpower fruits. Lean, dry Rieslings and Southern French reds are perfect examples of savoury wines.
These should get you started on the road to wine aficionado status. Stay tuned for more to come very soon. Until then, happy wine-ing!
