Flavor – How to order unknown wines in a tasting

flavortastingwine

I hope this is not too off-topic.

We are doing a wine tasting soon, where everyone presents a wine (assume all red, dry). As there will be a wide variety of types, I think the order is quite important (e.g. not having light wines directly after very heavy ones).
What might be the best way to define an order from the information given on a typical bottle of mid-range wine?

Best Answer

Light first, see e.g. this list for ordering them by varietals, if you have old world wine you need to decode areas to probable varietals :-)

So for reds that would make a list like this.

  1. Pinot Noir
  2. Sangiovese
  3. Tempranillo
  4. Grenache
  5. Zinfandel
  6. Merlot
  7. Shiraz / Syrah
  8. Cabernet Sauvignon