1) SAT Flashcards
Clarity scale, what does hazy mean? (A)
Clear - Hazy
Hazy is indicative of a fault
Intensity scale and how to tell (A)
Pale - Deep
Red look down through glass
White tilt glass
Colour scale - White (A)
Lemon-green - Lemon - Gold - Amber - Brown
Lemon is most common
Colour scale - Red (A)
Purple - Ruby -Garnet - Tawny - Brown
Ruby is most common
If a red or white is brown (A)
Indicates age or deliberate oxidation - not a fault
“Legs” after swirling the wine indicates (A)
High alcohol and/or sugar making the wine more viscous
Deposits in the wine mean (A)
Unfiltered
Pétillance is (A)
Slight fizz: could indicate a fault although can add to some whites to add freshness
What can you tell from bubbles (A)
Not indicative of the quality of wine, indicates cleanliness of glass
Rosé colour scale (A)
Pink - Salmon - Orange
Lemon-green colour descriptor (A)
“Noticeable greenness to a lemon colour”
Gold colour descriptor (A)
“A hint of orange or brown”
Amber colour descriptor (A)
Very noticeable level of browning
Purple colour descriptor (A)
“Noticeable blue or purple colour”
Garnet colour descriptor (A)
Slightly more red than brown
Tawny colour descriptor (A)
Slightly more brown than red
Brown colour descriptor (A)
No redness in the colour
When smelling what are you looking for (S)
Condition, intensity, development and detailed characteristics
Define condition (S)
Assessing faults
TCA (Trichloroanisole) (S)
Corked- aromas of damp cardboard and mutes fruity flavours
Reduction (smell fault) (S)
Aromas of rotten eggs and boiled cabbage (low levels occasionally sought after)
Sulphur dioxide (S)
Higher in sweet wines. Masks fruitiness, smell extinguished matches. Prevents oxidation
Oxidation (S)
Increase brownness, aromas of toffee honey caramel and coffee.
Out of condition (S)
Lost vibrancy, too old or stored badly
Volatile acidity (S)
All wines have VA, adds fragrancy. Too high smells of nail polish
Brettanomyces (S)
A yeast that can give sticky hot stodgy smells of sweaty horse, meat and melted plastic
Aroma intensity scale (S)
Light - Medium - Pronounced
How to tell if a smell is pronounced or light (S)
Pronounced: before sniffing can already “feel” it.
Light: even after sniffing aromas are faint.
What are primary aromas (S)
“aromas that exist after fermentation.” some come from grapes, others from fermentation.
Describe a complex wine in terms of primary aromas (S)
Contains aromas from more than one cluster e.g. tropical and citrus fruits.
What are secondary aromas (S)
Aromas created post fermentation
Examples of how you might acquire secondary aromas (S)
Oak ageing or MLF
What are tertiary aromas (S)
Their origin is in the ageing process.
Some examples of oxidative tertiary aromas (S)
coffee, toffee, caramel
Some examples of non-oxidative tertiary aromas (S)
petrol, honey, mushroom
Two types of tertiary aromas (S)
Oxidative - aged in oak
non-oxidative - aged in a bottle
A wine is youthful if (S)
it is dominated by primary and secondary aromas
A wine is developing if (S)
It has mostly primary and secondary with some tertiary aromas
A wine is fully developed if (S)
Mostly tertiary aromas
A wine is tired/past its best if (S)
Pleasant aromas fade and unpleasant aromas start to develop
Dry wines have (T)
no sugar
Off-dry wines have (T)
Tiny amount of detectable sugar
Medium-dry (T)
distinct presence of sugar but not enough to pair with dessert.
Medium-sweet (T)
Distinct presence of sugar but not enough to pair with dessert. more than medium-dry.
Sweet wines can be described as (T)
wines with enough sugar that it is a distinct feature of the wine
Luscious wines can be described as (T)
Viscous, thick, sticky very sweet
three main acids in wine (T)
tartaric, malic and lactic
low-acidity wines can be described as (T)
broad round and soft
high-acidity wines tend to be found in (T)
cool conditions when ripening
when testing for levels of acidity always (T)
see how much it makes your mouth water only
tannins come from (T)
skins
when testing for tannins ask yourself (T)
how thin does the body feel, the astringency of tannins can mislead you
which is more viscous, water or alcohol (T)
alcohol
to test for alcohol look for (T)
burning in the throat not to be confused with acid
a full bodied wine will have (T)
high alcohol, tannins and sugars
low acid
BLIC (T)
Balance
Length
Intensity
Complexity
finish means (T)
the amount of time the pleasant tastes last: short is a few seconds and long is a minute or more
“balance” between what (T)
Fruit and sugar against acidity and tannins
outstanding wines (T)
have 4 of BLIC
very good wines (T)
have 3 of BLIC
good wines (T)
have 2 of BLIC
acceptable wines (T)
have 1 of BLIC
