Wine tasting descriptors

The primary source of a person's ability to taste wine is derived from their olfactory senses.

A taster's own personal experiences play a significant role in conceptualizing what they are tasting and attaching a description to that perception.

The individual nature of tasting means that descriptors may be perceived differently among various tasters.

[1] The following is an incomplete list of wine tasting descriptors and a common meaning of the terms.

These terms and usage are from Karen MacNeil's 2001 edition of The Wine Bible unless otherwise noted.