A wine’s appeal and quality utilizes three senses: sight, smell, and taste. When tasting wine, first examine wine in its glass, paying special attention to the wine’s color around the edges. Tilting the glass a bit can make it easier to notice the difference between the center of the glass to the edge. Holding the glass in front of a white background such as a napkin, tablecloth, or sheet of paper best allows for one to examine the true nuances of a wine’s appearance. When studying a wine pay attention not only to the color of the wine, but also the clarity. A quality wine will be free of floating particles and appear crystal clear. Intensity, depth, or saturation of a wine’s color are not necessarily linear with quality. White wines become darker as they age, and red wines will lose their color and take on a brownish hue with age. Aged red wines will also often collect a small amount of harmless and natural sediment in the bottom of the bottle or glass, which is a natural byproduct of the wine’s fermentation. This is also a good time to catch a preliminary sniff of the wine so you can compare its fragrance after oxygenating the wine in your cup. By smelling the wine you can also check for any unusual odors that might indicate spoiled wine.

After having examined the visual appearance of your wine prepare to smell the wine by swirling the wine in your glass. Swirling the wine allows the wine to oxygenate and forces its aromas to escape the liquid.  This also increases the surface area of the wine by spreading it over the inside of the glass and allows one to note the wine’s viscosity, the ease at which the wine runs down the glass. More viscous wines are said to have "legs," and are likely to be more alcoholic. However, beyond adding to the wine’s visual appeal, viscosity has no relation to a wine's quality. Now sniff the wine. Initially you should hold the glass a few inches from your nose, then slowly lower your nose into the glass. What do you smell?

Take a sip of wine, but do not swallow yet. Roll the wine around in your mouth exposing it to your entire palate. You will be able to detect many different flavors, but the primary tastes you may initially experience are sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami (think: meaty or savory). Pay attention to the texture and other tactile sensations such as an apparent sense of weight or body the wine has in your mouth

.
Aspirate through the wine: with your lips pursed as if you were to whistle, draw some air into your mouth and exhale through your nose. This liberates the aromas for the wine and allows them to reach your nose where they can be detected. The nose is the only place where you can detect a wine's aromas. However, the enzymes and other compounds in your mouth and saliva alter some of a wine's aromatic compounds. By aspirating through the wine, you will be able to detect new aromas created from the wine's interaction with your mouth.

Take another sip of the wine, but this time (especially if you are drinking a red wine) introduce air with it. In other words, slurp the wine (without making a loud slurping noise, of course). Note the subtle differences in flavor and texture.

Note the aftertaste of the wine when you swallow. How long does the finish last? Do you like the taste?

Write down what you experienced. You can use whatever terminology you feel comfortable with. The most important thing to write down is your impression of the wine and whether you enjoyed it. Many wineries provide booklets and pens that allow you to document your own tasting experience. Describing the wine on paper will also force you to consider the subtleties of the wine. Afterwards, you will also have a record of what the wine’s characteristics, which can be used to pair your favorite wines with appropriate foods, or just to fit your mood. 

Wines have four basic components: taste, tannins, alcohol and acidity. Some wines are also considered dessert wines and are much sweeter than normal wines. A good wine will have a good balance of all four characteristics. Aging will soften tannins (see Tips for a more detailed description). Acidity will soften throughout the life of a wine as it undergoes chemical changes that break down the acids and give the wine a smoother appeal. The wine’s fruity tastes may also undergo changes as the wine ages, however the wine’s alcoholic content will remain constant. Understanding these four factors contributes to properly drinking and decanting a wine.

Here are some more common characteristics for many of the popular wine varieties (bear in mind that different growing regions, harvesting decisions, and other production methods can greatly impact a wine's character):
Cabernet - black currant, cherry, black fruits, green spices.
Merlot - plum, red and black fruits, green spices, floral.
Zinfandel - black fruits (often jammy), black spices - often called "briary".
Syrah (aka Shiraz, depending on vineyard location) - black fruits, black spices - especially white and black pepper.
Pinot Noir - red fruits, floral, herbs.
Chardonnay - cool climate: tropical fruit, citrus fruit in slightly warmer climates, and melon in warmer regions. With increasing proportion of malolactic fermentation Chardonnay loses hints of green apple and takes on creamier tones. Other flavors are apple, pear, peach, apricot.
Sauvignon Blanc - grapefruit, white gooseberry, lime, melon.

Malolactic fermentation (the natural or artificial introduction of a specific bacteria) will cause white wines to taste creamy or buttery
Aging in oak will cause wines to take on a vanilla or nutty flavor.
Other common taste descriptors are minerality, earthiness, and even asparagus.

Also important to properly experiencing a fine wine is matching the glassware to the wine. Stemware/drinkware comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. The more experienced wine drinkers and connoisseurs often enjoy wines out of stemware or bulbs that are tailor-made for a specific varietal. However, for recently introduced wine connoisseurs there is a basic rule of thumb: larger glasses for reds, and smaller glasses for whites. Austrian glassware company Riedel is the gold standard of wine glassware, but for the beginner, less expensive stemware will do.

A fine wine can be greatly enjoyed by itself, but pairing a wine with an appropriate food dish can enhance the flavor of both the food and the drink. Try pairing wines with unusual ingredients and note the how it enhances or diminishes the flavors of the wine. With red wines try different cheeses, fine chocolates, and berries. With white wines you can try apples, pears and citrus fruits. Of course, with every wine’s multiple characteristics and nuances, pairing wine with food is more complicated than "red with beef, and white with fish." Feel free to drink whichever wine you want with whatever food you want, but remember a perfect pairing is quite an enjoyable experience. Ultimately, a wine should complement the food and cleanse the palate. Therefore thick, jammy, sweet wines will not do as well as ones with more composed aromas and high acidity.