Enjoying wine-tasting isn't difficult. Our easy-to-understand wine expert's guide shows you how to start. By inviting friends and family 'round and asking for a small donation, you can turn the evening into a worthwhile fundraiser benefitting Help the Hospices. Find out more now

Ever wished you could stick your nose in a glass of wine and correctly identify it, or choose with confidence from a restaurant wine list? Follow my five-part wine course and you’ll be well on the way.

It’s quite simple. Get together with a group of friends and set up your own wine-tasting group. That way, you share the cost of the wine and have a fun, interactive evening into the bargain. Tasting with other people you’ll notice how we all have different tastes, likes and dislikes.

To start off with, I’d suggest trying six different wines. To help your palate stay fresh, try eating a water biscuit or dry bread between each wine.

Glasses
First, find some plain simple glasses. Uncut glass is best for viewing the colour of the wine. While you can invest in fancy ISO tasting glasses (those recommended by the International Standards Organisation for proper tastings), any plain wines glasses like standard Paris goblets, the chunky ones you get in a pub for wine or a gin and tonic, will do. Ideally each person should have as many glasses as wines shown. This way, you can fully appreciate the differences once the wines are side by side.

Recording your tasting notes
This sounds grander than it is. But by recording you thoughts, you can build up a picture of the style of wine you like, as well as those you don’t.

• List the name of wine, vintage, price and where you bought it.
• Then use these three abbreviations:

  c - colour (see below)
  n – nose, ie: the wine’s smell or bouquet
  p - palate, ie: what the wine tastes like

Checking the colour
First, pour about out about one-sixth of a glass. (If you are careful you can get as many as 20 tasting samples out of a bottle). Then, tilting the glass, have a good look at the colour. The wine should be clear and bright. If it’s cloudy, it’s likely to be faulty, so take it back.

Reds: very young red wines will be purple in colour. As a red matures, the colour will become brick red and eventually browny orange.

Whites: young white wines tend to be greeny gold in colour. Those aged in oak barrels become more golden, and mature and sweet whites will have a golden orange hue.

Have a good sniff
Gently swirl the wine around the glass. This is not just for effect – it simply releases the wine’s aromas. Then, stick your nose in the glass and take a really good sniff. Does the wine smell fresh? If it smells of mouldy cork, it’s what’s known as ‘corked’ and you should return the wine. This expression has nothing to do with bits of cork floating in the wine.

Then, try to conjure up what the wine’s aroma reminds you of. There is no set text, here, so any words will do. Does it smell like a certain fruit or food, like vanilla, or a certain spice? It’s worth developing your own wine-tasting vocabulary. So it if smells like a wet dog or bounty bars, say so.

Give it a swirl
Now it’s time, at last, for a taste. Take a small sip and try to roll the wine around your tongue (especially the tip of it) and the top of your mouth. Ask yourself:

• Is the wine dry or sweet? Rich and full bodied or light and elegant?
• What does it taste like?
• What does it remind you of? (Apple pies? Gamey meat stew?). Again, all descriptions are equally valid.

At this stage, a professional would spit the wine out, as we often taste 50 in a row. Obviously you won’t be doing this if you want your evening to be a bit of a party.

Part 2: white wines
Part 3: red wines
Part 4: champagne and sparkling wine
Part 5: port

Do you have a question about wine? Ask Alice

For more information on wine courses, contact the Alice King School of Wine.