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When you’re out wine tasting, the truth is that there are many subtleties with what we experience. The difference between wines are often quite nuanced. Even if you think about a movie or a book you read – the human brain will only remember parts of it, and not the whole thing. That’s just the way we’re put together. As such, it would be impossible to have a memory capable of storing every subtle taste and flavour we experience in a glass of wine.
In general people tend to smell the wine, taste the wine, and spit or swallow. They then decide whether they liked it or not, and pretty much forget about the rest. This is where taking tasting notes comes in handy. For one, it helps you to keep a record of all the wines you have tasted – the variety and vintage, which helps jog your memory after the tasting. But secondly, by putting into words the tastes and smells you are experiencing, it really focuses your mind to the job at hand. You have better tastings. You are more aware of the tastes and flavours you are experiencing.

Here are a few headings which you should include in your wine tastings:
* Wine Name
* Producer
* Region/Appellation – don’t just put the country, but enter the specific region
* The grape variety
* Vintage – Include the year that the wine was produced. Sometimes you will get non-vintage wines (NV) which means that it did not come from a single vintage. This is more common with Ports and Sherries.
Color and Appearance – comment on the colour depth, clarity and hue.
* Nose – describe the bouquet of the wine. Make notes of any specific undertones and subtleties.
* Mouth/Flavors – think about its sweetness, body, acidity and tannins. How does the wine feel in your mouth? Think about the balance and the aftertaste.
* General thoughts/Ideas – wrap up your thoughts. Did you like it? What type of food does it go with? Would you buy it? Any general thoughts should be included here.
* Score it – give it a mark out of 100. Or use the 5* system. This is up to you how you score it, after all, it’s your opinion on a very subjective matter.