Oenra Labs has been studying how working tasters read a wine across a blind flight. What emerged is a consistent 3-stage structure: nose, palate, finish. The way tasters hold judgement shifts significantly at each one.
Stage 1: Nose
This is where the grip is loosest and the range of readings is widest. Tasters are gathering direction, not final scores, so following an impression carries low stakes. Breadth matters more than precision.
Generally I start loose and see what comes up. From there I refine and hone in on what I'm not getting, and adjust my read to be more in line with my ideas. I think doing this leaves a lot of opportunity for surprise and serendipity. — Sam Allen, sommelier and cellar hand (Michelin lists in London, Paris, Tokyo)
Previously, if you hadn't trained formally or didn't know how to name a fault, expressing something you had in the glass was nearly impossible. Now, you can just describe the sensation you are feeling and what you smell and there is a high chance you will convey that reading onto others. — Kamil Betterside, importer
The nose lets me explore without limits. It has become the part of the glass that carries me from a first impression to something worth writing down much quicker. — Sana Cellars, blending consultant
Stage 2: Palate
A direction is chosen. Now it gets tested against the wine itself. Tasters use the mid-palate to check weight, acid and structure against the reading the nose set up. The call starts to have stakes.
In my buying work, the mid-palate turns my hunch into a real position and then a listing. What used to take me 2 months now takes 2 days. — Blank Space Cellars
Once I'm happy with a lot, I could use it throughout the season, as a reference for ripeness, weight, and balance across the range, or as a benchmark across the whole book, from the by-the-glass pour to the reserve list. It helps keep everything aligned. — Blake Steven, head sommelier and buyer (over $100k in recent flights)
The palate can settle whether a wine is honest without any label or price in front of you, so the buyer and the grower both get a proper reading. This decreases the time to agreement before the order goes in. — Jithin Kumar, wine buyer (over $100k earned on Oenra)
Stage 3: Finish
This is where a wine gets scrutinized the hardest and early reads get discarded the most. A near-final score is being edited toward a published note. Small differences carry outsized consequences. The taster's own standards take over.
On the finish, I handle the last corrections such as length, grip, and overall balance. — Pablo Lopez, sommelier (Paris, Copenhagen, New York, Hong Kong)
I am very specific on details, so I want to retain as much control as I possibly can. I am always looking for a flight order that helps me by getting readings out quickly, or doing something that is time consuming, while still allowing me to take over at any point. — Alex Karpodinis, taster and cellar-door buyer
That's the pattern. Tasters open the door wide at the nose, narrow it on the palate, and hold it firmly at the finish. A wine shows differently at each stage, and the best practitioners know exactly where to trust the glass and where to take back control.
How we ran this study → Methodology