My approach to wine tasting is simple: wine should taste good.
However, when dealing with wine below a certain level, numerous negative characteristic appear that detract from the excellence of the experience.
Here are some of the criteria I use to taste wine:
Greenness – many wines contain highly unpleasant flavors which taste like green, un-ripened fruit. The degree to which this characteristic is balanced, subsumed, or absent determines contributes to the enjoyment of the wine.
Bitterness - The great weakness of many wines. Its absence characterizes the smooth, rich quality of fine wines.
Some other characteristics which may be present at various levels and combinations are sourness, mold-like flavors which I call skunkiness, sandiness or chalkiness, and the like.
Positive attributes include oak-barrel flavors, richness of flavor, smoothness and refinement, and so on. These factors enhance the enjoyment of wine.
The scale that I use for judging the degree to which any characteristics are present is as follows:
High
Middle – high moderate, moderate, low moderate
Low
And now, onward to the tasting.