Wine tasting setup Photo by Nils Stahl on Unsplash

Put your knowledge to the test with these self-guided tasting exercises. You don’t need expensive bottles — the goal is learning. Budget $10-20 per bottle and you’ll do just fine.

Day 1: Same Grape, Different Worlds

Goal: Experience how geography transforms the same grape variety.

Setup

Pick one grape and buy 2-3 bottles from different regions:

Option A — Pinot Noir:

  • Burgundy (France) — $15-25
  • Willamette Valley (Oregon) — $15-25
  • Central Otago (New Zealand) — $15-25

Option B — Cabernet Sauvignon:

  • Bordeaux (Left Bank, Cab-dominant blend) — $12-20
  • Napa Valley (California) — $15-30
  • Maipo Valley (Chile) — $10-15

Option C — Sauvignon Blanc:

  • Sancerre (Loire Valley, France) — $15-25
  • Marlborough (New Zealand) — $10-15
  • Casablanca Valley (Chile) — $8-12

Tasting Notes Template

Wine: [Name, Region, Vintage, Price]
Visual: [Color intensity, clarity, rim variation]
Nose: [Primary aromas, fruit character, oak/earth notes]
Palate: [Body, acidity, tannins, alcohol, finish length]
Pairing: [What food would you pair this with?]
Takeaway: [What surprised you?]

Discussion Questions

  1. Could you taste the climate difference? (Cool = higher acid, red fruit vs. Warm = riper, darker fruit)
  2. Which felt more “fruit-forward” and which felt more “earthy/mineral”?
  3. Which offered the best value for money?

Day 2: Regional Exploration

Goal: Sample wines from 3 different countries and try a blind tasting.

Wine Selection (pick one from each)

  • France: Burgundy, Rhône, or Loire
  • Italy: Chianti Classico, Barbera d’Asti, or Soave
  • New World: Oregon Pinot, Argentine Malbec, NZ Sauvignon Blanc, or Aussie Shiraz

Exercise: Blind Tasting

  1. Have someone else pour — or bag the bottles so you can’t see labels
  2. Pour ~2oz of each into identical glasses
  3. Take notes using the template above
  4. Try to guess: Old World or New World? Which country? Which grape?
  5. Reveal and discuss what you got right (and wrong)

Key Questions

  • Could you distinguish Old World from New World?
  • Which region’s style surprised you most?
  • What does “terroir” taste like to you now?

Day 3: Climate Comparison

Goal: Understand how climate affects wine style with the same or similar grapes.

Wine Selection

  • Cool Climate: Mosel Riesling OR Chablis Chardonnay OR Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
  • Moderate Climate: Bordeaux red OR Chianti Classico OR Napa Chardonnay
  • Warm Climate: Barossa Shiraz OR Mendoza Malbec OR Southern Rhône Grenache blend

What to Look For

  Cool Climate Moderate Warm Climate
Acidity High, mouth-watering Balanced Softer, rounder
Fruit Red berries, citrus Mix of red and dark Dark fruit, jammy
Alcohol Lower (11-13%) Medium (13-14%) Higher (14-15%+)
Body Light to medium Medium Medium to full

Notes Template

Cool Climate Wine: ________________
- Body: Light / Medium / Full
- Acidity: High / Medium / Low
- Fruit character: [describe]
- Alcohol (check label): ____%

Warm Climate Wine: ________________
- Body: Light / Medium / Full
- Acidity: High / Medium / Low
- Fruit character: [describe]
- Alcohol (check label): ____%

What's the biggest difference you notice?

Day 4: Tasting Challenges

Challenge 1: The Grape Variety Game

Goal: Learn to identify grapes by their characteristics.

Pick 4 wines (2 red, 2 white):

  • Pinot Noir (red) — lighter color, red fruit, silky
  • Cabernet Sauvignon (red) — dark, tannic, structured
  • Chardonnay (white) — varies hugely by region and oak treatment
  • Sauvignon Blanc (white) — aromatic, herbaceous, crisp

For each wine, note:

  • Fruit profile (red fruit? dark fruit? citrus? tropical?)
  • Oak influence (vanilla? toast? or clean/unoaked?)
  • Structure (acid-driven? tannin-driven? balanced?)

Challenge 2: Blend vs. Single Variety

Goal: Understand what blending accomplishes.

Selection:

  • A Bordeaux blend (Cabernet + Merlot + others)
  • A single-variety Cabernet (Napa or Chile)
  • Optionally: a Rhône blend (Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre) vs. a single-variety Syrah

Questions:

  • Does blending add complexity? (Usually yes — different grapes fill different roles)
  • Does single-variety show a purer expression of place?
  • Which style do you prefer? (No wrong answer)

Tasting Score Sheet

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
       WEEK 1 TASTING JOURNAL
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Date: ________________   Day: __________

Wine: _________________________________________
Region: __________________   Country: __________
Price: __________   Alcohol: ___________%

Visual (1-5): _____
  [ ] Light   [ ] Medium   [ ] Dark
  [ ] Clear   [ ] Hazy

Aroma (1-5): ____
  Fruit: _____________________________________
  Floral/Herb: _______________________________
  Earth/Mineral: _____________________________
  Oak: _______________________________________

Palate (1-5): ____
  Body: Light / Medium / Full
  Acidity: High / Medium / Low
  Tannin: Low / Medium / High
  Alcohol: Low / Medium / High

Finish Length:
  [ ] Short (<5s)   [ ] Medium (5-10s)   [ ] Long (10s+)

Top 3 Descriptors:
1. ___________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________

Would I buy again?  YES / NO / MAYBE
Would I recommend?  YES / NO
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Week 1 Challenge: The World Tour

Goal: Build a 6-wine tasting flight spanning the globe.

Your Mission

  1. Pick 6 wines from at least 4 different countries
  2. Include at least 1 white and 1 red
  3. Aim for a mix of climates (cool, moderate, warm)
  4. Budget: $10-20 per bottle ($60-120 total)

Suggested Approach

Ask your local wine shop: “I’m exploring different wine regions — can you help me pick six bottles from different countries in the $10-20 range?” Wine shop staff love this kind of request.

Budget Guide

| Budget | Strategy | |——–|———-| | $60-80 | Focus on value regions: Chile, Argentina, Portugal, Southern France | | $80-120 | Mix in a Burgundy, Oregon Pinot, or Barossa Shiraz | | $120+ | Add a Champagne, Barolo, or Napa Cab |

Digital Resources

Apps

  • Vivino: Scan any bottle for ratings and reviews
  • CellarTracker: Serious tasting notes and cellar management
  • Wine Folly: Visual guides to grape varieties and regions

Websites

  • JancisRobinson.com: One of the most respected wine critics on earth (some content free)
  • Wine Enthusiast / Wine Spectator: Reviews and ratings
  • GuildSomm: If you want to go deeper (sommelier-level content)

Week 1 Completion Checklist

  • Read Old World regions
  • Read New World regions
  • Read Climate & Terroir
  • Complete Day 1 tasting (Same Grape, Different Worlds)
  • Complete Day 2 tasting (Regional Exploration)
  • Complete Day 3 tasting (Climate Comparison)
  • Complete Day 4 challenges
  • Fill out tasting journal entries
  • Complete World Tour challenge

Reflection Questions:

  • What region surprised you most?
  • Which wine style do you prefer — Old World or New World?
  • What’s one thing you learned that you’ll share with someone this week?