1 Testing and Evaluating Wine

Question 1

An ideal tasting environment will have:

Answer 1

・Good lighting
・No strong smells (perfume, lotion, foods, etc.)
・Space for glasses and note taking
・Spittoon / Spit cups

Question 2

What is the recommended amount of wine to be poured into glasses for tasting purposes?

Answer 2

5cL (1.7 US fluid. oz.)

Question 3

When talking about color intensity, what’s the difference between “pale” and “deep”?

Answer 3

Pale

・a white wine that has a wide, watery, almost colorless rim
・a red wine that has a light hue and is mostly see-through from rim to core

Deep

・a white wine with color that reaches or almost reaches the rim
・a red wine that has deep, concentrated color and is near-impossible to see through

Question 4

What are the 3 colors used to describe white wines?

Answer 4

Lemon, gold, amber.

Question 5

White wine - Lemon

Answer 5

The most common colour for white wines.
Water-white to yellow in color

Question 6

White wine - Gold

Answer 6

The hint of orange or brown

Question 7

White wine - Amber

Answer 7

Noticeable browning

Question 8

What are the 4 colors used to describe red wines?

Answer 8

Ruby, Purple, Garnet, Tawney

Question 9

Red wine - Ruby

Answer 9

The most common colour for red wines.
Bright red

Question 10

Red wines - Purple

Answer 10

Blue or purple tinted

Question 11

Red wines - Garnet

Answer 11

Obvious brick/orange or browning, but the wine is still more red than brown

Question 12

Tawny

Answer 12

More brown than red

Question 13

What are the 3 colors used to describe rosés?

Answer 13

・Pink

・Pink-orange

・Orange （Dominant colour）

Question 14

Three main types of aroma:

Answer 14

1Primary aromas

2Secondary aromas

3Teritary aromas

However, not every wine has all of them.

Question 15

Primary aromas

Answer 15

・aromas that come from the grapes themselves

・aromas made during the fermentation process

Question 16

Secondary aromas

Answer 16

aromas created by post-fermentation winemaking. (e.g. vanilla from oak contact, butter from malolactic)

Question 17

Tertiary aromas

Answer 17

aromas made from the aging process (e.g. caramel, hazelnut, dried fruits)

The aging process changes the primary aromas.

Question 18

Describe the levels of the sweetness

Answer 18

Dry

No sugar or no perceptible sugar

Off-dry

Barely-there or a kiss of residual sugar

Medium

Obvious sugar, but not sweet enough to pair with desserts

Sweet

Sugar is the prominent feature of the wine

Question 19

What does acidity do to your mouth?

Answer 19

Acidity causes a tingling sensation and makes your mouth water.

Question 20

What are 2 things to consider when tasting for acidity in wine?

Answer 20

1High levels of sugar and acid can mask each other,

・think about lemonade and how important it is to balance sugar and acidity

・when in doubt, focus on how much and for how long your mouth waters

２Is that tingling sensation alcohol or acidity?

・alcohol can sometimes trick your brain into thinking that sharp or searing sensation is acidity

Question 21

What effect do tannins have on the palate?

Answer 21

1Cause your mouth to dry up and make it feel parched and scratchy like a cat’s tongue

2Tannins can sometimes leave a bitter taste on the back of the palate

Question 22

What are the alcohol % levels for a low, medium, and high alcohol table wine?

Answer 22

Low: below 11% abv

Medium: 11% - 13.9% abv

High: 14% abv and higher

Question 23

What are the alcohol % levels for a low, medium, and high alcohol fortified wine?

Answer 23

Low: 15% - 16.4% abv

Medium: 16.5% - 18.4% abv

High: 18.5% abv and higher

Question 24

“Body” is created by the 4 structural components:

Answer 24

・Sugar

・Alcohol

・Acidity

・Tannin

Question 25

What structural components can make a wine appear lighter in body?

Answer 25

Higher acidity

Lower alcohol

Question 26

What structural components will make a wine appear fuller in body?

Answer 26

・Higher alcohol

・Higher levels of ripe tannin

Question 27

What does the “finish” refer to in a wine?

Answer 27

How long you taste the wine after you’ve swallowed it or spat it out.

Finish is more about how long flavors remain on your palate and less about the structural components.

If a wine’s tannins are harsh and stick around your palate for a long time, you’d say the tannins are “persistent”. If the fruit and other tasty flavors stick around your palate for a long time, the finish is “long”.

Question 28

Generally, the shorter the finish the ___er the quality, and the longer the finish the ___ the quality.

Answer 28

Short finish = lower quality

Longer finish = higher quality

Question 29

Sugar in wine can be balanced by ~.

Answer 29

Acidity

Wine high in residual sugar will taste more balanced if it also has a lot of acidity.

Question 30

A wine that is high in alcohol will taste more balanced if it has a lot of ___.

Answer 30

Wine high in alcohol will taste more balanced if it has a lot of fruit.

Question 31

A wine with high acidity may seem thin and unpleasant if it does not have sufficient ~.

Answer 31

Fruit flavour

Question 32

What are the 5 quality levels of wine used for the SAT?

Answer 32

From highest quality to lowest:

1Outstanding

2Very good

3Good

4Acceptable

5Poor

Question 33

Quality level is identifies by :

Answer 33

・Balance

・Length/finish

・Discernible characteristics + flavors (and the intensity of them)

・Complexity

Question 34

When would you use ‘outstanding’ as a quality level when evaluating a wine?

Answer 34

If a wine shows exceptionally in these 4 categories, it is Outstanding

If a wine shows well in 3 of the above categories, it’s Very Good;

If a wine shows well in only 2, it’s Good;

If a wine shows well in only 1, it’s Acceptable;

If a wine struggles for any positive attributes, it’s Poor.