Wine tasting can be an enjoyable task for the wine novice, as well as the most accomplished wine connoisseur. Don't be intimidated your opinion is as valid as any else's, and you know what you like.

That said, you can improve your enjoyment and your learning by a little care and preparation.

Our interpretations of sensory information, from our nose or palate for example is necessarily subjective. We can use a few techniques to make our evaluations more objective, but no two wine tasters, no matter how experienced, will always agree.

A major objective in tasting wine is to learn more about the wine. Just like learning about anything else you need to pay attention to what you are doing, and you should use a variety of methods to help you remember the wine, what it tasted like and why you liked (or disliked it)

It is very useful to talk about the wine; putting your impression into words helps you clarify your thoughts and to remember your experience. Don't adopt someone else's assessment as your own, but use their comments to make sure you haven't missed an aspect of the wine. Be guided, don't follow blindly.

Writing some short notes helps in the short and long term. As you write the notes you are providing your memory with a powerful hint to store this experience securely. In the longer term you can refer back to the notes to compare the wine with that of a later vintage or a different wine from a similar area ior variety.