The more wines you try, the more you’ll develop your palate.  The first step is to fill your glass until it’s about a third full.  Have a good look at the wine, hold the glass up to a light so you can see the range of colors from the center to the rim.  Older red wines start to fade at the rim, with a browny, tawny color.   Now give the wine in the glass a swirl, getting a good movement of the wine in the glass, this releases all the wine’s aromas.  Now comes the sniffy sniff, get your nose right in the glass and inhale slowly.    Your first impressions are the most vivid.  After two or three sniffs, your senses are neutralized.  An experienced tater will be able to tell a lot from just inhaling, what grape varietal it is, even where the wine comes from.  A novice will soon start to spot the key fruit flavors that indicate a particular grape variety.  When you inhale, think of those aromas you get in terms of flavors that are familiar to you.  Once you become more familiar with the different smells you will soon be noticing chocolate, grass, peach, blueberries and so on. 

Now for the tasting, take a good sip and roll it around you mouth.  You want to attempt to reach every part of the tongue;  sweetness at the tip, saltiness  a little further back and sourness or acidity, at the sides, with bitterness sensed at the very back. Make a mental note of any acidity, sweetness, or toughness.  Think about what fruit flavors are in the wine, think about the weight, light, medium or full bodied.  Is the wine balanced, is their acidity, is it dry or sweet, what the alcohol level is, level of tannins, the length of the flavors.  Acidity makes the wine crisp and fresh, too much and it will taste sharp, not enough and the wine will taste flabby.  Alcohol is found in all wine, the higher the level the rounder a wine will feel in your mouth, too much and your mouth will feel hot.  The dryness and sweetness of a wine is determined by the amount of natural sugar in the wine.  The fruit taste will be determined by the varietal.  Tannin creates that furry, drying feeling that you get in the mouth after a swig of a very young red.  Tannin helps with the weight of a wine and softens with age.  Enjoy!