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Sweetness is the taste of sugar. Acidity can make your mouth water. Tannin can feel drying or grippy around your gums. Body describes the wine's overall weight in your mouth. Several of these can stand out in the same sip.
A dry wine can smell like ripe peaches. Those aromas do not establish sugar content. Equally, the drying grip of tannin does not mean a wine contains no sugar. Keep smell, taste and texture in separate parts of your note.
Use comparisons you understand
Think about how lemon makes your mouth water or strong black tea leaves a grip. These are memory aids for recognizing sensations. They are not measurements of the wine.
Try simple descriptions such as little, noticeable, pronounced or unsure. You do not need to assign a number to every sensation. A clear observation is enough: 'My mouth waters, and I feel a grip on my gums.'
Notice balance without giving a score
Imagine Jo notices peach aromas, some sweetness, mouth-watering freshness and a light feel. Jo can record all four. Sweetness and acidity can coexist, and neither automatically makes the wine good or bad.
After noting the separate sensations, ask whether you enjoyed the combination. Perhaps a wine feels refreshing with dinner but sharp by itself. Keep that context beside your preference.
Put it into practice
Check your understanding
Use Jo's fictional tasting or your own observations. Write separate lines for sweetness, acidity, tannin and body. Leave anything uncertain as unsure.
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Compare Riesling and MoscatoSources behind the lesson
WSET: mouthfeelThe explanations and exercises are original Corkly material. Examples marked fictional describe invented tastings.