Ch 1 Systematic Approach to Tasting Wine

Question 1

Prompt here

Question here

Extra clarifier

Answer 1

answer goes here

extra clarifier

Question 2

How to Taste Wines - Tips and Tricks

Answer 2

—-APPEARANCE - SEE THE WINE—-
Clarity
* clear
* hazy - suspended particles

Intensity
* white wine - angle it 45 on white surface, look core to rim (watery white = pale, a little depth = medium, rareeee aged wines = deep)
* red wine -

Color
* white wine - most young wines = lemon, tad or orange or brown = gold, mostly gold/brown/orange and a little lemon = amber, rareeee whites are brown
*red wine -

Other observations
* bubbles?
* legs, colored legs?

—-SMELL THE WINE—–

Condition
* clean to unclean (faults)?

Intensity (hold glass under your nose, without sniffing)
* 5 point scale L, M-, M, M+, H
* white wine - little/no fruit = light, medium (actually smell it and then decide medium scale) , all the fruit smells = pronounced
* red wine -

Aromas (primary, secondary, tertiary)
* simple = just citrus/floral, less than 5 total fruit + other descriptors

Development
* no tertiary flavors = youthful
* some tertiary flavors = developing
* mostly tertiary flavors (little fruit) = developed
* (won’t get on exam) = tired/past its best

—-PALATE - TASTE WINE —-
(always have water + spittoon)

Sweetness (tip of tongue)
* dry = no residual sugar = dry, tad sweetness at tip o, medium (there is sweetness and then classify), dessert wine level = sweet
* medium dry = does it have sugar but it finishes dry? then medium dry
* medium sweet = does it have sugar but finish sweet?
* sweet wine = pair with dessert
* luscious = syrupy, sticky sweet (rare in wine, won’t find in exam)

Acidity (count seconds of salivating)
* 5 point scale L, M-, M, M+, H
* 1-2 seconds = low, 3-4 = medium, 5+ = high

Tannin (dryness on gums, back of gums = astringent)
*

Alcohol
* 3 point scale L, M, H
* most often medium (rare to have low)
* no warmth/heat = medium, yes warmth/heat = high

Body (feel weight of wine, like milk)
* 5 point scale Light, M-, M, M+, Full
* non fat milk = light, 2% = medium, whole milk/half and half = full
* what contributes to body? sugar, alcohol

Flavor (IF YOU CALL WINE SIMPLE IN NOSE, YOU MUST REPEAT SIMPLE in flavor)
* 5 point scale L, M-, M, M+, H
*

Finish (only looking for how long good flavors last)
* 5 point scale Short, M-, M, M+, Long
* fruit flavors last how long?
* 1-2 second = short, 3-4 seconds = medium, 5+ seconds = long

CONCLUSIONS (Quality + Level of Readiness)
**You will NOT get faulty or poor wine (acceptable, good, very good, outstanding)

Quality = BLIC (balance, length, intensity, complexity)

Balance
* fruit/sweetness <> structural components (alcohol, acid, tannin, etc)
* usually most wines in class are balanced
* structure / flavor = 1 point

Length
* long length (multiple flavors in your mouth for 8-10 seconds) = 1 point

Intensity
* want to have medium + or pronounced (in nose/mouth
* med+ or pronounced on nose and palette = 1 point

Complexity
* primary, secondary, and tertiary OR
* multiple clusters of flavors = 1 point

Level of Readiness
(1) can it hold/age - does it have structural components to age (acidity, tannins, sugars, alcohol) and fruit concentration
(2) should it age? will it be good if it ages - will the fruit flavors in the wine become complex and interesting
* white wines - 3 years
* red wines - 5 years

Question 3

What flavors are “foes” of wine? And what flavors are “friends” of wine?

What happens with bitter foods and wine?
What happens with spicy foods and wine?

Answer 3

Sweet and umami in food are foes of wine. Examples: cookies, sushi.
Why? Because they don’t help bring out the good flavors of wine (fruit). Instead, they make wine feel more drying, more bitter, more acidic.

Salt and acid in food are friends of wine.
Why? Because they help bring out good flavors of wine (fruit, sweetness). They make wines taste sweeter, less acidic, less bitter, less drying.

Bitterness in food will bring out bitterness in wine (from tannins and oak).

Spicy foods will bring out bitterness, astringency, and burning alcohol flavors. It will decrease wine’s body and sweetness.

Question 4

What’s the relationship between wine and fats?

Answer 4

Fatty foods (ie: potato chips, popcorn shrimp) pairs really well with crisp, refreshing white wines to cut the fatty flavors.

high ACIDITY cuts high FATS in food

Question 5

How do you serve red wine?

Answer 5

1. Use waiters friend to remove the cap seal.
2. Wipe top of bottle with service cloth.
3. Place point of screw in the middle of the cork.
4. Twist and push gently, until screw reaches the end of the cork.
5. Gently lever the cork out of the bottle.
6. Wipe around the inside of the neck.

Question 6

How do you serve sparkling wine?

Answer 6

1. Remove foil from around the cork using tab or waiter’s friend/
2. Loosen the metal cage using the metal tag (but don’t remove cage).
3. Hold the cork securely and point bottle away from customers.
4. Hold the cork and and twist the bottle
5. Release the cork in a controlled way
6. Wipe around the neck of the bottle before returning to table.

Question 7

How do you serve a decanted wine?

Answer 7

1. Select wine from cellar.
2. Place bottle carefully in a cradle, in a horizontal position and as still as possible
3. Light a candle.
4. Keep bottle in cradle and use waiters friend to remove foil.
   5.

Question 8

What is a simple wine?

Answer 8

A wine that has few aromas and flavors.
YOU MUST WRITE “SIMPLE” in the NOSE AND MOUTH