Wine tasting with your eyes. Interpreting color, clarity, and reflections correctly

In this article, I'll show you how you can use your eyes more effectively at your next wine tasting. We know that every wine tastes different, but there are actually many visual differences. Optical analysis when tasting wine - the basics!
As always, we look forward to your feedback on this article by sending a message to theresa@vioneers.com ! /// 3 min. reading time

The Visuals

Wine tasting begins with the eyes. Before you take the first sip or bring the glass to your nose, you should first examine your wine.

Once the wine has flowed down the side of the glass, swirl it and hold it up to the light. From its appearance, you can gather initial clues about the wine's age, alcohol content, grape variety, and type of aging – factors we can, of course, also discern through smell and taste, as we've already seen in other blog posts.

Wine glass being held in hand — Swirling and observing builds anticipation for the aromas

Tip: Hold the glass at an angle against a plain white background and try to determine the color and color intensity. It's best to view the wine in daylight without direct sunlight.

You can see the following factors:

Hue, Intensity

The color and its intensity provide clues about the grape variety and the age of the wine (see also below). For red wine, brownish reflections can indicate a certain maturity, while for white wine, a deep golden hue indicates the same. A higher color intensity can also be an indication of aging in an oak barrel.

Clarity, Purity

Clarity is pleasing to the eye, but it is not necessarily a sign of quality. A certain cloudiness can sometimes indicate the winemaker's style, consciously accepted through less filtration. Similar to: naturally cloudy apple juice.

Tartrate crystals, sediment, and other particles are generally not an indication of inferior quality but are completely normal in a natural product.

Viscosity (Thickness)

So-called "wine legs" or "tears" are structures formed on the inner wall of a wine glass when swirled. They provide information about the concentration of various components, such as alcohol. High-alcohol wines produce more pronounced tears and pointed "wine legs," while low-alcohol wines produce weaker tears and rounded "wine legs."