Tasting Note Template for Wine Importers

If you write tasting notes for a living — or alongside everything else you do — having a reliable template saves hours and keeps quality consistent across your whole portfolio.

This page gives you a working tasting note template you can use immediately, along with field-by-field guidance and worked examples for different wine styles and channels.

The template

Copy and complete this for each wine. Guidance for each field is below.

Wine name:
Producer:
Vintage:
Grape(s):
Region / appellation:
Channel / audience: [sommelier | retail | trade buyer]

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Appearance (optional):
[Colour and clarity in one sentence. Omit for retail copy.]

Nose:
[2–4 aromatic descriptors, grouped: fruit → earth/floral/mineral → tertiary if present]

Palate:
[Entry texture, main flavour character, acidity, tannin (for reds), body]

Finish:
[Length — short / medium / long — and what lingers]

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Draft note (target length by channel):
Sommelier / on-trade: 80–120 words
Retail shelf talker:   40–60 words
Wholesale one-liner:   30–40 words

Field-by-field guidance

Appearance

One sentence. For whites: pale straw → deep gold. For reds: pale ruby → deep garnet → inky purple. For rosés: pale salmon → deep coral. Only mention viscosity or legs if notable (e.g., a rich late-harvest or high-alcohol red).

Skip this section entirely for retail shelf talker copy — consumers don't need it, and you're burning words you need elsewhere.

Nose

Group aromas in order:

1. Primary / fruit — the most dominant aromatic character
2. Secondary — earth, floral, mineral, herbal
3. Tertiary (only if present) — oak (vanilla, toast, cedar), age (leather, tobacco, dried fruit), oxidative (nuts, dried herbs)

Three to four total descriptors is the right range. More than five and you're filling space.

Be specific. Not "red fruit" — "dried cherry and pomegranate." Not "floral" — "dried violet and rose petal."

Palate

Cover in this order:

• Entry — what hits first (silky, tannic, bright, round, crisp)
• Mid-palate — the main flavour character at full expression
• Structure — acidity (high, medium, low), tannins for reds (fine, dusty, grippy, firm), body (light, medium, full)

Don't describe structure in isolation — connect it to what it does for the wine. "High acidity" is less useful than "bright acidity that keeps it lively" or "firm tannins that need another two years."

Finish

Length and quality. Be honest: a wine with a short finish doesn't need you to invent persistence. For trade buyers, finish length is a quality signal — acknowledge it accurately.

• Short: under 10 seconds
• Medium: 10–20 seconds
• Long: 20+ seconds

Worked examples

White wine — sommelier / on-trade (100 words)

Wine: 2023 Domaine Leflaive Mâcon-Verzé, Chardonnay, Burgundy

Pale gold with a green tinge. The nose is precise and restrained: white peach, green apple, and a subtle chalky mineral note that opens with air. On the palate, medium-bodied with a taut, steely acidity and fine texture — classic Mâconnais Chardonnay, unencumbered by oak. The mid-palate shows ripe citrus and a hint of white blossom. The finish is clean and medium-long, with a persistent minerality that's the hallmark of the appellation. Excellent by-the-glass option; well-priced for the address.

Red wine — retail shelf talker (50 words)

Wine: 2022 Château Puech-Haut Prestige Rouge, Languedoc

Languedoc at its most compelling. Rich, dark fruit — blackberry, plum — with a hint of garrigue and a whisper of oak. Full-bodied but not heavy; the kind of red that handles a roast and a quiet evening equally well. Drink now through 2026.

Rosé — retail (45 words)

Wine: 2023 Domaines Ott Château de Selle Rosé, Provence

This is what Provence rosé should taste like. Pale salmon, bone dry, with a delicate nose of white peach and crushed herb. Crisp and elegant on the palate. The benchmark for the style. Chill well.

Natural wine — specialist retail (55 words)

Wine: 2022 Cornelissen Susucaru Rosso, Etna, Sicily

Note: For natural wine, lead with what makes it unusual rather than starting with conventional descriptors.

Volcanic Sicily at its most alive. Nerello Mascalese from the slopes of Etna — whole-bunch, no additions, a handful of sulphites at bottling. The nose is wild: red cherry, dried herb, iron. The palate is light-bodied and electric. A wine that rewards attention.

Fortified wine — on-trade or specialist (80 words)

Wine: Quinta do Crasto LBV Port 2018

Deep, inky ruby. The nose shows concentrated dark fruit — blackberry jam, dried fig — with a hint of chocolate and warm spice. On the palate it's full and rich, with a velvety texture and firm but polished tannins. The sweetness is balanced by good acidity that prevents heaviness. Long, warming finish with dried fruit and a faint walnut note. Ready to drink now; will hold comfortably until 2030.

Adapting tone by channel

The same wine needs different language for different readers. Here's the same Grenache from Côtes du Rhône written three ways:

Sommelier / on-trade

High-toned red cherry and dried violet on the nose, with iron minerality and a faint tobacco note emerging with air. The palate is light to medium-bodied, with fine dusty tannins and a lively acidity typical of Grenache grown at elevation. Medium-long finish with persistent spice. A versatile food wine that earns its place on a serious list.

Retail consumer

Southern France in a glass. Ripe red fruit — blackberry, cherry — with a hint of Provençal herbs and just enough structure to hold its own at the table. Silky, bright, and easy to love. Works with grilled lamb, a good burger, or nothing at all.

Trade buyer

High-quality Grenache from a reliable appellation. Clean fruit, no oak dominance, 13.5% ABV. Consistent production year-on-year. Proven repeat purchase rate at mid-range retail. Available in 12-bottle cases, ready to drink now through 2027.

Keeping it consistent across a portfolio

The template above works well for one wine at a time. For a portfolio of 50–500 SKUs — seasonal catalogues, new arrivals, range refreshes — writing to template manually becomes its own project.

GlassNotes uses a structured input form based on exactly these fields: grape, region, production method, winemaker notes. From that input it generates channel-tuned copy in all three formats. Free trial covers 5 wines, no credit card required.

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