A wine tasting seems straightforward at first: taste, describe, assess. Yet the same tasting can answer very different questions – and the answers are not interchangeable. Is the aim to establish whether two wines can be distinguished? To identify the characteristics perceived by a trained panel? Or to find out which wine a particular group prefers? Each question calls for an appropriate method.
The German Society for Sensory Science’s 15th German Sensory Days take place on 5 and 6 November 2026 at Hochschule Geisenheim University. Today’s programme includes talks on sensory science and Riesling in a changing climate, as well as the perception of drinks. The event raises a fundamental question for winegrowing, the trade and wine communication: what exactly can a tasting measure – and where does judgement begin?
First the question, then the tasting
Sensory analysis is the systematic examination of products using the human senses. That sounds more abstract than a familiar wine tasting, but it captures the crucial difference: in a study, a question, a method and conditions that are as clearly defined as possible are established in advance. Samples can, for example, be coded so that names, origin or price do not directly shape expectations. Consistent glassware, quantities and temperatures, along with a varying tasting order, help to minimise interfering factors.
A discrimination test asks whether people can reliably tell two samples apart. A triangle test, for example, presents three glasses: two contain the same wine, while one contains a different wine. The task is not to choose the better wine, but to identify the odd sample out. The result tells us something about a perceptible difference under those test conditions. It tells us neither how pronounced that difference seems in everyday life nor which wine is preferred.
Describing is not judging
In descriptive analysis, a trained panel works with a defined vocabulary. The assessors record which characteristics are perceptible and how pronounced they appear. Such a profile can, for example, help to compare samples within a trial. The description is not a free-form collection of the most flowery notes possible: terms must be understood by the panel and used as consistently as possible.
This does not turn perception into a chemical measurement. A panel describes how a product comes across to the senses; laboratory analyses, by contrast, can determine specific constituents or properties using instruments. The two approaches can complement one another, but they answer different questions. Even a precise sensory description is not a comprehensive judgement of a wine’s origin, quality of craftsmanship or cultural significance.
Measuring liking calls for different assessors
The question “Which wine tastes better?” is a hedonic question – hedonic means relating to liking or disliking. To answer it, consumers from the target group are surveyed, rather than simply trained expert panels. A sensory analysis standard explicitly distinguishes such acceptance and preference tests from methods designed to assess product characteristics objectively. Who is asked is crucial: a small, deliberately selected group does not automatically deliver a verdict on behalf of all wine drinkers.
Preferences also depend on context. The occasion, food, company, knowledge of the price and the label can all influence the assessment. A judgement of liking obtained through blind tasting therefore answers a different question from a tasting in a shop or at an event where the bottle is visible. None of these situations is inherently wrong; they reflect different experiences.
What a score can do
Scores condense a judgement, but they do not make it universal. A score can provide guidance within a competition or an editorial team, provided it is clear who made the assessment and according to which criteria. Without this information, it remains unclear whether the number expresses a sensory deviation, personal enthusiasm, freedom from technical faults or a mixture of these.
For wine communication, this leads to a practical rule: keep descriptions, quality judgements and preferences clearly separate. Anyone explaining a wine should say whether a statement is based on a standardised assessment, a personal judgement or a consumer survey. This does not diminish the tasting, but makes it easier to understand: it can organise differences and sharpen perception. What people make of it remains more than a number on a score sheet.
Original reviewed by the editors · 6 November 2026
