Chapter 1 - Tasting and evaluating wine

Question 1

How do you evaluate the appearance intensity of a wine?

Answer 1

• 45% degree
• White wine: pale (broad watery rim), deep (if pigment reaches almost to the rim)
• Red wine: pale (lightly pigmented), deep (intensely pigmented, impossible to see the stem when looking through the wine)

Question 2

How do you describe the colour of a wine?

Answer 2

• White wine: lemon (most commen colour), gold (hint of orange or brown), amber (noticeable level of browning)
• Red wine: ruby (most common colour), purple (noticeable blue or purple colour), garnet (noticeable orange or brown colour, but still more red than brown), tawny (if wine more brown than red)
• Rose wines: pink (very pure pink colour), pink-orange, orange (very rare)

Question 3

How do you describe the nose of a wine?

Answer 3

• Aroma intensity: pronounced, medium, light
• Primary aromas: come from grapes, fruity aromas, floral/herbaceous
• Secondary aromas: from post-winemaking fermentation (e.g. in oak), vanilla/smoke most obvious, cream/butter
• Tertiary aromas: from maturation in oak or bottle, petrol money, mushroom, conversion of fresh- to dried-fruit flavours

Question 4

How do you describe the nose of a wine?

Answer 4

• Sweetness: dry, off-dry, medium (distinct presence of sweetness, but no dessert wine), sweet (Port/Sauternes)
• Acidity: causes mouthwatering. Also sweet wines can be acidic. Alcohol can also cause mouthwatering, hence distinguish if it comes from acidity or alcohol
• Tannins: important structural component of wines. Can bind to saliva, dry up tongue and have sometimes bitter taste
• Alcohol content
• Body: sense of touch, rather than taste. Alcohol/sugar give more body, acidity reduces body
• Flavour intensity: warming can make flavours more or less obvious on the palate (flora more obvious in nose, spice characteristics more obvious on palate)
• Flavour characteristics: should be the same on the palate as on the nose. Ensure you found them
• Finish: how long do the desirable flavours linger. Short vs. long finish

Question 5

How do you assess a wine? (conclusions)

Answer 5

• Balance: between acidity/sugar, burn of alcohol/fruit flavour
• Length/finish: better quality wines have a longer finish with desirable flavours
• Intensity of flavours: flavours should be identifiable given the wine in question
• Complexity: range of flavours, sometimes purity matters
• Poor, acceptable, good, very good, outstanding (fulfills 0,1,2,3,4 of the criteria above)