Questions to Ask at a Wine Tasting
These are for anyone at a tasting room counter, a walk-around tasting event or a restaurant table with a sommelier, wondering what to say to the person holding the bottle. The 59 questions follow the visit in six groups: Starting out needs no wine vocabulary, then come Grapes and vineyard, How it's made, In the glass, Food and serving, and Taking it home, which covers buying, shipping and keeping a bottle. One or two per pour is plenty.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Starting out
I'm new to wine. What order should I taste these in?
Why ask it
Flights usually run from lighter to fuller and from dry to sweet, so a heavy red does not flatten the delicate white poured after it. Saying you are new in the first minute also gets you plainer explanations for the rest of the visit.
I usually drink Pinot Grigio at home. Which of these is closest to it?
Why ask it
Swap in your own usual, and if you do not have one, name any drink you like: black coffee, lemonade, sweet tea. It gives the pourer something to aim at, and the bottle they reach for tells you which words on the list match your taste.
What do you mean when you call a wine dry?
Why ask it
Dry means little or no sugar is left in the wine. It is not the mouth-drying grip of a strong red, which is tannin, and the two get mixed up all the time. If the list has a dry wine and an off-dry one, ask to try them back to back.
Can you show me how to swirl and smell it, and what that is for?
Why ask it
Swirling pulls air through the wine and lifts the smell out of the glass, and much of what people call taste arrives through the nose. Watch them do it once and copy. Keeping the base of the glass on the counter while you swirl saves your shirt.
Is it all right to pour out the rest or use the spit bucket?
Why ask it
It is ordinary at a tasting, and nobody behind the counter reads it as a verdict on the wine. The bucket is how people get through a long list still able to tell one glass from the next, and it is the plan if you are the one driving.
One of us is driving and won't be tasting. Do you have anything for them?
Why ask it
Some rooms keep grape juice, sparkling water or coffee for the driver, and some drop the fee for a guest who is not drinking. Saying it at the start also means nobody pours them a glass out of habit.
How does the tasting work here, and does the fee come off if I buy a bottle?
Why ask it
Every room sets its own terms: a flat fee, a fee waived with a purchase, or a choice of flights at different prices. Find out before the first pour and not at the register, and check whether two people can share one flight.
Can you walk me through this label, line by line?
Why ask it
Some labels lead with the grape, some with the place, and some with a name the winery made up, and the rules behind each word change from country to country. One bottle explained properly makes the next shelf of them much easier to read.
Why is this one under a screw cap and that one under a cork?
Why ask it
A screw cap is a choice about freshness and avoiding cork taint, not the mark of a cheap bottle, and in some countries good wine is sealed that way as a matter of course. The winery's reason for each closure often shows which wines it expects to be opened young.
How would you describe this one with no wine words at all?
Why ask it
A fair request, and good pourers enjoy it. 'Like biting a green apple' is easier to remember than a line about acidity, and you can borrow their plain version the next time a shop assistant asks what you like.
Grapes and vineyard
What is this region known for, and which wine here shows it best?
Why ask it
Most wine regions have a grape or two that built their name, and the pourer can say whether this winery follows that line or goes its own way. The bottle they point to makes a useful yardstick for the rest of the flight.
Which grapes are in this wine, and what does each one bring?
Why ask it
A wine from a single variety gets a short answer. A blend gets a better one: one grape for color, one for perfume, one for backbone. When the label carries only a place or an invented name, this is how you find out what is in the bottle.
How did this winery get started, and who makes the wine now?
Why ask it
Owners and winemakers change, and the house style often changes with them. You also find out whether the person pouring is the owner, the winemaker or seasonal staff, which tells you how technical the next questions can get.
Were these grapes grown here, or do you buy fruit from other growers?
Why ask it
Plenty of good wineries buy grapes, so neither answer is the wrong one. What 'estate' on a label promises differs by country, so ask what it means on theirs, and whether the vineyard outside the window is the one in your glass.
What is it about this vineyard that I can taste in the glass?
Why ask it
This is the plain-language way to ask about terroir. Listen for something concrete, such as fog that keeps the mornings cold, a stony slope or the altitude, then ask which wine on the counter shows it most clearly.
How old are the vines, and does that change the wine?
Why ask it
Older vines tend to carry less fruit, and many growers say what they do give is more concentrated. 'Old vine' on a label often has no fixed meaning, so ask how old counts as old on this property.
What was the weather like the year this was made?
Why ask it
A spring frost, a heat spike in August or rain at harvest each leave a mark, and people who worked that harvest remember it. If two years of the same wine are open, ask for them side by side: nothing explains vintage faster.
How do you decide when to pick?
Why ask it
Earlier picking keeps more acidity and less alcohol, and later picking gives riper flavors and more weight. Whether they talk about lab numbers or about chewing grapes in the rows tells you a good deal about how the place works.
How do you farm the vineyard, and is any of it certified?
Why ask it
Organic, biodynamic and sustainable each have certified and informal uses, and the rules vary by country. Ask what they do in practice: what gets sprayed, whether the vines are irrigated, what grows between the rows.
How it's made
What happens between picking the grapes and filling this bottle?
Why ask it
On a quiet afternoon a good pourer can cover it in two minutes, from the crusher to the tank, the barrel and the bottling line. Notice the step where they slow down and add detail, because that is the part this winery does its own way.
Was this aged in oak, steel or something else?
Why ask it
Oak can add vanilla, toast and spice and round a wine out, while steel tends to keep it bright and fruity. Follow up with whether the barrels were new and how long the wine stayed in them, since an older barrel gives far less flavor than a new one.
Why does this white taste creamy when the last one was so crisp?
Why ask it
You do not need the term to ask, though you will probably hear it: malolactic conversion, which turns a sharper acid into a softer one and can leave a buttery note. Time in barrel and stirring the spent yeast add to the effect, so ask which of those happened here.
How is your rosé made?
Why ask it
Pink wine usually gets its color from a short spell on red grape skins, and wineries reach it by different routes. Ask whether theirs was grown and picked to be rosé or drawn off a red, and how many hours it spent on the skins.
How do the bubbles get into the sparkling wine?
Why ask it
The usual answers are a second fermentation inside each bottle, a second fermentation in a sealed tank, or added gas. The method explains much of the price gap between sparkling wines, and the bottle route tends to bring a bready note you can ask them to point out.
Is there sugar left in this, or is that ripe fruit I'm tasting?
Why ask it
Ripe fruit and a little oak can read as sweetness in a wine that has almost no sugar. If you have always said you dislike sweet wine, the answer may show that it was something else you disliked.
Why is this one so much higher in alcohol than the one before?
Why ask it
Riper grapes hold more sugar, and sugar is what ferments into alcohol, so the number mostly reflects climate and picking date. It matters for pacing too: a couple of percent adds up across a flight.
Is this wine vegan, or was something like egg white used to clear it?
Why ask it
Clearing a wine is called fining, and some of the agents come from egg, milk or fish while others are clay, which the label does not always say. Staff at a small winery usually know the answer bottle by bottle. At a restaurant, expect the sommelier to go and check.
Do you add sulfites, and at what point?
Why ask it
Sulfur dioxide is a common preservative in winemaking, and fermentation produces a little by itself, so 'none added' is not the same as none. The pourer can tell you what went into the bottle. Whether it agrees with you is a question for your doctor, not the tasting room.
Which wine on this list was the hardest to get right?
Why ask it
One for the winemaker, or for someone who works in the cellar. The reply tends to be a story about a single year, a fermentation that stalled or a grape that struggles in that climate, and the wine in question is often the one they are proudest of.
In the glass
What should I be looking for in this one?
Why ask it
Narrow it to one thing, a smell or a feeling, and you get the trait this wine is known for, such as pepper on the nose or a salty finish. Go back to the glass straight after the answer: a smell is easier to find once it has a name.
I'm getting something like pencil shavings. Is that the grape, the barrel or my imagination?
Why ask it
Say whatever you smell, however odd it sounds: wet stone, bubble gum, a tack room. Someone who pours this wine every day can usually trace it to a source, and naming smells out loud is how the vocabulary gets built.
What is tannin, and which of these has the most?
Why ask it
Tannin is the drying, gripping feeling on your gums and tongue, and it comes from skins, seeds and sometimes the barrel. Tasting the lightest red and the firmest one in a row teaches it faster than a definition does.
Which of these is the lightest and which is the fullest, and what makes the difference?
Why ask it
Body is weight in the mouth, the way skim milk and cream feel different before you taste anything. Alcohol, ripeness and oak all add to it, and knowing where you sit on that scale is a handy thing to tell a wine shop later.
Is that sharpness acidity, and what is it doing for the wine?
Why ask it
Acidity is the part that makes your mouth water, which is the opposite of what tannin does. Ask what the wine would be like with less of it. Flat and heavy is the usual answer, and it explains why sharp wines are so good at the dinner table.
What are the streaks running down the inside of the glass?
Why ask it
They are called legs or tears, and they have more to do with alcohol and sugar than with quality. Swirl the lightest white and the heaviest red next to each other and the pourer can show you the difference in ten seconds.
Why does it smell different now than when you first poured it?
Why ask it
Air and a few degrees of warmth open a wine up, so the second sniff five minutes later can seem like another wine altogether. Keep a little of an earlier pour in the glass and go back to it before you decide what to buy.
Which two wines should I taste side by side to learn something?
Why ask it
The pairs that teach the most change one thing only: the same grape with and without oak, or one vineyard in two different years. Say what you are trying to understand, whether that is sweetness, oak or age, and let them choose the pair.
This smells a bit musty to me. Is that how it should be?
Why ask it
Ask, do not accuse: a smell like damp cardboard can mean a faulty cork, and whoever is pouring will sniff the glass and usually open a fresh bottle. At a restaurant this is what the first small pour is for, checking that the bottle is sound and not deciding whether you love it.
Food and serving
What would you cook to go with this?
Why ask it
Push for a dish and not a category. 'Red meat' is no help at the store, but 'lamb shoulder with rosemary' is a dinner plan, and the detail shows whether they have tried it.
I'm making roast chicken on Sunday. Which bottle here belongs on the table?
Why ask it
Starting from food you already cook gets a more useful answer than starting from the wine. Mention the sauce and the sides too, since those often decide the match more than the meat does.
Which of these can stand up to spicy food?
Why ask it
Heat on the plate makes alcohol and tannin feel harsher, which is why the stock suggestion is a wine lower in alcohol, light on tannin and perhaps a touch sweet. Say which cuisine you mean, since a Thai curry and a plate of hot wings want different bottles.
We're all ordering different things. Which bottle works for the whole table?
Why ask it
A restaurant question, and the one a sommelier is there for. Say what each person is eating and expect a suggestion from the middle of the range, such as a lighter red or a fuller white, that does not fight with any plate.
We'd like to stay around this price. What would you pick?
Why ask it
Give a number, or point at a price on the list and say 'something like this' if you would rather not announce it to the table. A good sommelier treats the figure as the brief and works inside it.
What should I never serve with this wine?
Why ask it
Hearing about the clash teaches more than hearing about the match. A firm red with a delicate fish, or a dry wine with a sweet dessert, shows you the rule behind the pairings so you can work out the next one alone.
Which cheese would you put next to this flight?
Why ask it
Wineries that sell a cheese plate have usually tried it against the wines, so ask which pairing on the board is the best one and which wine it is for. Take a sip, a bite, then a sip again: the second sip is where you notice the change.
Do you make anything sweet, and what do you pour it with?
Why ask it
Dessert wines are often left off the standard flight, so you may have to ask. A wine that is less sweet than the dish tends to taste thin and sour beside it, and it is worth hearing whether they would put theirs with blue cheese or salted nuts before cake.
What temperature would you serve this at?
Why ask it
Reds are often served warmer than they show best and whites colder, so the answer may surprise you. Ask for it in fridge minutes: how long before dinner to take a white out or put a red in.
Should I decant this or just open it ahead of time?
Why ask it
Young, firm reds often soften with air, while a very old bottle may only need pouring carefully off its sediment. If you do not own a decanter, ask whether a pitcher or a big glass will do. The answer is nearly always yes.
Taking it home
Which bottle on today's list do you take home yourself?
Why ask it
It gets a more particular answer than asking for a favorite, because it comes with a reason: what they eat with it, which night of the week they open it. If their pick is not in the flight, ask whether you can try it.
Which bottle here is the best value for the money?
Why ask it
It is seldom the cheapest wine or the flagship. Listen for a bottle from younger vines or a less famous grape, and ask whether a mixed case or half case earns a discount.
What sets the reserve apart from the regular bottling, besides the price?
Why ask it
'Reserve' is a legal term in a few places and has no fixed meaning in many others, so find out what it stands for on this label: particular rows, the best barrels, longer aging. If both are open, taste them together and see whether you can find the difference yourself.
How many cases of this did you make, and is it sold anywhere besides here?
Why ask it
A small run sold only at the winery is the bottle to carry home, since you will not find it again in a store. A large-production wine you can pick up later, which frees your budget and your luggage.
Which of these should I open this year, and which would reward waiting?
Why ask it
Most wine is made to be drunk within a few years of release, and a tasting room will say so if you ask. For any bottle they call a keeper, ask what it will gain and how they would know it was ready.
How should I store a bottle if I don't have a cellar?
Why ask it
Somewhere cool, dark and steady is the standard answer, with corked bottles on their side: the bottom of a closet beats a rack next to the stove. Tell them how long you plan to keep it, because a month and ten years call for different care.
Once it's open, how many days do I have?
Why ask it
For many wines it is a few days with the closure back in and the bottle in the fridge, reds included. Ask about the specific bottle, since older wines and sparkling ones fade faster and some sturdy young reds improve on day two.
Can you ship to my address, and how does that work?
Why ask it
The rules on sending alcohol differ from state to state and country to country, so give them your destination and let them tell you what is allowed and what it costs. In hot months, ask when they ship and whether they will hold the box until the weather cools.
How does the wine club work, and what does it take to cancel?
Why ask it
Ask for the minimum number of shipments, what each one costs, whether you choose the bottles and how you stop. Every club has different terms, and they are easier to weigh before the fourth pour than after it.
It's hot out and these will be in the car. What should I do with them?
Why ask it
Heat is hard on wine, and a parked car in summer gets hot fast. Ask whether they can hold your purchase until you leave the area or pack it in an insulated box, and keep the bottles in the cabin with you, not the trunk.
If I liked this one, what should I look for when I get home?
Why ask it
A generous pourer will name other grapes, regions and even other producers. Write the answer down or photograph the label, because it will be gone from your head by the next stop.
How to ask questions at a wine tasting
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the first pour
Check the house rules before you turn up
Some rooms take walk-ins and some pour by appointment only, and the minimum age for tasting, or for being in the room at all, depends on local law and on the winery. A look at the website or a two-minute phone call settles it, along with group size and whether there is food.
Say how much you know
Tell the pourer in the first minute whether this is your first tasting or your fiftieth. They pitch the whole visit to that sentence, and 'I know what I like but not why' is as useful a brief as any.
Eat, drink water and settle who is driving
A flight of six small pours adds up to more than it looks, and several stops in one day add up faster. Have a meal first, take the water that is offered, use the bucket freely, and agree on the driver or book the ride before anyone has a glass in hand.
Skip the perfume
Strong scent, cologne and mint gum all get between you and the glass, and between your neighbors and theirs. Most of the questions in Starting out and In the glass depend on your nose, so give it a clear run.
Go when the room is quiet
A pourer with twelve people at the counter can manage one answer per pour at best. Weekday mornings and the first hour after opening are when the long answers happen, and when the questions in How it's made have a chance of reaching the person who made the wine.
Asking without holding up the counter
Two questions a pour, at most
Treat the list as a menu, not a script. Pick one or two that fit the wine being poured and let the pourer talk. The visits people remember are the ones where the second question came out of the first answer.
Taste first, then ask
Take a sip and decide what you think before you ask what you are supposed to find. Your own impression, however vague, makes a better opening than a blank, and it stops the tasting turning into a lecture you nod along to.
Keep a record as you go
Photograph the label of anything you liked and type three words of your own next to it. By the third winery of the day the wines blur, and the Taking it home questions are much easier to ask when you can say which pour you mean.
You never have to buy
Buy the bottle you would be sorry to leave behind and nothing out of politeness. A thank-you and an honest 'that one was my favorite' are welcome by themselves, and if you are unsure whether pourers are tipped in that region, ask someone local before you go.
Three settings, three ways to ask
At a winery tasting room
This is where the vineyard and winemaking questions belong, because the person pouring may have picked the grapes. Open with Starting out, move through Grapes and vineyard and How it's made as the flight goes on, and leave Taking it home for the last pour.
At a walk-around tasting event
Each table gives you a minute or two and there is a line behind you. Ask one question per table, the same one every time if you like: 'Which bottle on your table should I not miss, and why?' Step aside to taste so the next person can reach the pourer.
At a restaurant table
A sommelier's job is the match and the budget, so lead with the Food and serving group: what the table is eating, what you usually like, and a price. Vineyard and cellar questions are welcome on a slow night and a burden on a full Saturday.
Three ways to lose the room
Quizzing to show what you know
A question you already know the answer to is a performance, and pourers can tell. If you know the subject, say so and ask the thing you are actually unsure about.
Running a wine down out loud
Not liking a wine is fine and worth saying, as in 'this one is not for me, I think it is the oak'. Announcing that it is bad, in a room where someone made it and the people beside you are enjoying it, shuts the conversation down.
Asking for a bigger pour
Tasting pours are small on purpose, and the size is often set by house policy or by local rules. If you want more of one wine, ask whether it is sold by the glass.