Welcome to the Qimisola Tasting Wheel, a wine tasting gadget made by Qi based on AIS vocabulary to make the wine tasting more fun!
If you have the Qimisola Wine Tasting Wheel in your hand, start from the "Visual" aspects on the wheel, turn clockwise to follow the parameters one by one. There are in total 18 parameters in visual, olfactory and taste categories to complete the wine sensory evaluation. Each parameter has 3 to 5 levels of description you can choose from to match your impression. The auxiliary information about the color check and the aroma category descriptions are to be found at the outer ring surrounding the wheel. They aid you to choose the most matching colour description as well as detecting the aroma categories that are present in the wine you are evaluating. On this web page, more detailed explanation about the vocabularies on the wheel is given so you can learn more. (Content credit to: Associazione Italiana Sommelier (AIS) - "La Degustazione" Edition 2018 )
How to use?
Color Categories
Greenish yellow
Soft rosé
Purple red
Straw yellow
Cherry red
Garnet
Golden yellow
Dark rosé
Orange red
Amber
Ruby red
Aroma Categories
Aromatic
The bouquet of a wine obtained from aromatic grapes (muscats, malvasie, brochette, gewürztraminer).
Fruity
The young white wines fresh bouquet is perceived as white or yellow pulp fruit, exotic or citrus fruit. In red wines red or black berry fruit. More mature wines can be perceived as preserved fruit, very ripe fruit, dried fruits. In passito wines, also hints of exotic fruit and dried fruit such as resins, apricot and dried fig.
Fragrant
More commonly refer to the fresh and lively scent of young wines. The freshly baked bread scent can also apply to the aroma of sparkling wines obtained from re-fermentation in bottle or to still whites, also aromatic wines, bottles with their yeast.
Ethereal
This indicates the bouquet traceable to wax scent, iodine, medicines, plastic, soap, enamel and many more, caused by formation of acetals, ethers and esters, deriving respectively from various combinations of alcohols with aldehydes, other alcohols and acids.
Vinous
The young wines may have white and yellow flowers (hawthorn, orange blossoms, broom..) or red flowers (violet, rose...). More mature wines may have the scents of withered or dried flowers. The floral nuances depends on area of origin, wine type, vines, and developments.
Grassy
Green vegetal essences such as boxwood, grass, green pepper, tomato leaf, mown grass, walnut skin and many more. They are typical of particular grape varieties such as cabernet franc and Sauvignon, merlot, ligroin, sauvignon blanc, riesling and many others.
Toasted
This is used to describe the scents of cocoa, chocolate, coffee, tobacco, almonds and toasted nuts. These scents may be found in red and white wines after an evolution in barrel - in particular new barriques.
Floral
The young wines may have white and yellow flowers (hawthorn, orange blossoms, broom..) or red flowers (violet, rose...). More mature wines may have the scents of withered or dried flowers. The floral nuances depends on area of origin, wine type, vines, and developments.
Mineral
Mineral and salty aroma, reminiscent of flint, gunpowder, oil and hydrocarbons, graphite and slate, at times slightly brackish, a typical feature of some vines and soil and weather conditions such as Sauvignon blanc from the Loire, Rhine Riesling etc.
Spicy
It's traceable to different types of spices, at times rather sweet (vanilla, cinnamon...), other times more penetrating and prickly (black pepper). It can be found both in white and red wines, especially after ageing in wooden barrels and later in bottles. Most of all ageing in new barriques may lends a strong vanilla flavour.
Tasting Parameters
