Free Wine Tasting Journal Template: Print, Taste and Remember
Print a free one-wine tasting journal sheet for appearance, aromas, structure, flavours, finish, quality, personal rating, food pairing and next steps.
Wine tasting journal
One wine per sheet1. Look
Clarity □ clear □ hazy
Colour and depth
2. Smell
Condition □ clean □ uncertain □ faulty
Intensity □ light □ medium □ pronounced
Aromas
3. Taste
Sweetness □ dry □ off dry □ medium □ sweet
Acidity □ low □ medium □ high Tannin □ low □ medium □ high
Body □ light □ medium □ full Alcohol □ low □ medium □ high
Flavours and finish
4. Decide
Balance, length, intensity and complexity
Personal rating ____ / 5 Would buy again? □ yes □ no □ maybe
Best food or occasion
Independent Sommo template. It is not an official WSET Systematic Approach to Tasting sheet and does not reproduce protected course material.
A tasting journal should separate what the wine is from whether you like it. Use the sheet in order: look, smell, taste, decide. Record structure before the personal rating, then add the food or next bottle that would make the note useful later. Print one per wine or save it as a PDF from the browser.
How to Use the Sheet
Write the wine, producer, vintage, date and context first. Appearance takes seconds but can reveal age and concentration. Smell before swirling, then after, so delicate aromas are not lost under alcohol.
On the palate, record sweetness, acidity, tannin, body and alcohol separately from flavours. Structure is what lets you compare a pale, aromatic Nebbiolo with a dark but soft Merlot without treating colour as weight.
The guide to writing tasting notes explains each section, and the structure chart gives reference points for acidity, tannin and body.
Quality and Preference Are Different
A balanced, long and complex wine can be excellent even when it is not your style. A simple wine can be exactly what you want on a warm evening. Record both conclusions.
Use the quality line for balance, length, intensity and complexity. Use the five-point personal rating and buy-again box for your palate. Keeping them separate makes the journal honest.
Turn Notes into a Palate
After five wines, look for repeated words. After 20, compare grapes, regions and serving contexts. Ask whether acidity, oak, tannin, sweetness or age explains the bottles you return to.
Sommo’s guided tasting journal keeps the same habit searchable, adds feedback and builds palate insights across entries. Download Sommo when the printed sheets need to become a living Taste DNA.
Keep tasting with intent
Join the Sommo letter for one practical wine guide, printable or tasting exercise each month.
Common questions
Record the bottle and context, then appearance, aromas, sweetness, acidity, tannin, body, alcohol, flavours, finish, quality and personal preference. Finish with food or the next style to compare.
No. It is an independent Sommo template based on common systematic tasting practice. It does not reproduce the protected WSET Systematic Approach to Tasting or replace official course material.
Write the first observations before food or conversation changes your attention, then revisit the wine after air and with the meal. Add the personal verdict last so preference does not shape every descriptor.
Five deliberate notes can reveal a pattern, while 20 to 30 make it more reliable. Consistency matters more than volume: use the same structure and compare related wines side by side.
Yes. Choose Print or save as PDF, then select your browser's PDF destination. The print stylesheet removes navigation and preserves the one-wine sheet.
