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From the vineyard to the glass, trace back the history of your wine Tasting wine is quite different from simply drinking wine. Tasting wine means being able to recognize all its organoleptic characteristics. This requires some basic competences and a lot of practice. Three out of the five human senses are involved. Namely: sight, smell and taste. Sight Wine must be poured in a glass with a clear bowl without any decorations which could compromise the visual assessment, and examined in order to evaluate its colour and clarity. Spumante sparkling wines are assessed also by the size and persistence of bubbles. Smell The olfactory examination assesses the intensity and persistency of the bouquet, the qualities and the aromas which can be floral, fruity, nutty, vegetal-tasting, spicy, balsamic, gamey, wooded, yeasty. Taste In addition to the four basic sensations detectable by the human tongue (sweet, salty, bitter and sour), the mouth also provides sensations that could be defined as tactile. The sum of these sensations, combined with the aromas perceived in the upper part of the nasal cavity when the wine is in the mouth, defines the taste of a wine. The different elements that are taken into consideration are sweetness, acidity, body, balance, intensity, after-aroma, alcohol and the overall balance. Glossary We provide below a synthetic glossary of basic terms that make up a wine tasting rating sheet. This is the first step on the sommelier ladder. Abboccato = (Semi-dry) lightly sweet Allappante = (Astringent) too high tannin content Amabile = (Amabile) medium sweet Ampio = (Complex) with many layers of flavours Armonico = (Well-orchestrated) combines all flavour and taste components in perfect harmony Aromatico = (Aromatic) evident flavour of aromatic herbs Brillante = (Bright) very bright in colour Corposo = (Full-bodied) rich with a good structure Corto = (Short finish) the taste fades away quickly Cristallino = (Brilliant) very clear and transparent in white wines Decrepito = (Stale) aged for an excessive length of time Disarmonico = (Disharmonic) denotes lack of harmonious balance of wine elements Dolce = (Sweet) rich in sugars Equilibrato = (Well-balanced) denotes harmonious balance of hard and soft wine elements Erbaceo = (Herbaceous, also Herbal) having vegetal-like taste and smell Floreale = (Floral, also Flowery) having the characteristic aromas of flowers Fragrante = (Yeasty) having a bread dough and yeast aroma Fruttato = (Fruity) having a fresh fruit scent Leggero = (Light) with low alcoholic content Magro = (Thin-bodied) lacking in body and texture Maturo = (Mature) aged and ready for drinking Molle = (Flabby) with a low tannin content Pastoso = (Creamy) very fat Persistente = (Persistent) with a lingering after-taste Piatto = (Flat) indicates low acidity Sapido = (Full-flavoured) good sapidity Speziato = (Spicy) reminiscent of spices Tannico = (Tannin-rich) red wine with an astringent taste, still too young Torbido = (Cloudy) more than hazed