Deductive Tasting Flashcards
Gain a working mastery of the subject.
The criteria of the Deductive Tasting Method (4)
1-Sight
2-Nose
3-Palate
4-Conclusion: initial and final (theoretical deduction)
What does SIGHT allow you to deduct?
- Provides valuable information about a wine’s possible grape variety, age and/or condition.
- During this phrase, you may develop suspicions but it is cautioned against making final confirmations.
How should you evaluate wine, sight wise?
- Tilt the glass away from you against a white background in the best light you can find.
- Hold the glass by the stem.
- Utilize a cleaned and well-buffed wine glass.
Filtered vs. Unfiltered wine
Filtered: typically from New World, go through sterile filtration and bottling to remove bacteria and proteins that can cloud wine.
Unfiltered: some producers of high quality wine believe that only natural fining and filtration should be used, anything more strips wine of its flavors.
Define: Brightness
the capacity of a wine to reflect light - a function of clarity.
The brightness scale (6 levels)
Dull - Hazy - Bright - Day Bright - Star Bright - Brilliant
What does a wine’s color / hue all you to deduct?
-clues to a wine’s age, storage conditions or grape variety.
White and blush wines grow ______ with age. (generally speaking)
Darker
Red wines grow _____ with age (generally speaking)
Lighter
Pigments and tannin in red wines precipitate into _________ with age. (generally speaking)
Sediment.
What can secondary colors tell you about a wine?
-Age, climate or variety.
_________ in young or cool climate white wines (secondary colors)
Green
_______, _________, __________ in older red wines ( secondary colors)
- Orange
- Yellow
- Brown
White wines (5) (color scales)
Watery - Straw - Yellow - Gold - Brown
Pink wines (3) ( color scales)
Pink - Salmon - Brown
Red Wines (5) (color scales)
Purple - Ruby (Red) - Garnet (Reddish Brown) - Orange - Brown
Rim Variation (what and why)
- The difference in color between wine at the center of the glass and the wine at the edge (rim) of the glass.
- A phenomenon of age.
- The older the wine, the more rim variation.
What is sediment? (Sight)
- Pigment and tannins that precipitate out of solution as red wine ages.
- Sediment also found in young unfiltered red wines.
Tartrates (Wine Diamonds)
-tiny, crystalline deposits that occur in
wines when potassium and tartaric acid, both naturally occurring products of grapes, bind together to form a crystal.
-Excess tartartic acid
-Present in all wines
-Often removed through filtration or cold stabilization.
(less common in red wines, as their level of
tartaric acid is lower, and crystals tend to fall out naturally during the longer barrel-aging process. )
Legs/Tears - Viscosity
- alcohol or presence of residual sugar in wine
- —> Thin, quickly moving legs or sheeting in the glass = low alcohol and little or no residual sugar
- —> Thick, slowly moving legs = higher alcohol or the presences of residual sugar.
What is the most importance aspect of the Deductive Tasting Method?
Nose, smell accounts for some 85% of taste
Why and how do we swirl a glass of wine?
Volatilizing (disperse in vapor) the esters - releasing the flavor elements attached to the alcohol molecules in the wine.
Wine Flaws (Nose)
- TCA (corkiness)
- Oxidation and Heat Damage
- Volatile Acidity (VA)
- Excess Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
- Brettanomyces
- Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S)
TCA - Corkiness ( Wine Flaws)
- from taint corks - wet moldy cardboard and mustiness
Oxidation and Heat Damage ( Wine Flaws)
- from age or poor storage conditions - dull fruit, cooked fruit, secondary and tertiary aromas and flavors (leather), vegetal notes, flat finish
Volatile Acidity (VA) ( Wine Flaws)
-vinegar aromas (acetobacter) or varnish/fingernail polish aromoas (ethyl acetate or EA)
Excess Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) ( Wine Flaws)
-added during the wine-making process - matchstick or wet wool
Brettanomyces ( Wine Flaws)
- varying yeast strains
- aromas range from smoke, clove, spice to band-aid and manure.
- Due to high pH available from nutrients such as residual sugar, inadequate topping, and infected barrels.
What is the flaw scale?
- Sound/Clean OR Unsound/Faulty
- If faulty, then say what fault.
Intensity of flavor (3) (scale)
Low (Delicate) / Medium / High (powerful)
Why do we blind taste /. use deductive tasting method?
1- Tasting with purpose rather than just for pleasure.
2- Paying attention to what is being tasted and developing olfactory and taste memory.
3- Improving your ability to describe and sell wine.
4- Understanding classic and new archetypes of regional wines of the world.
Tasting vs. Drinking
1- tasting is a learned skill, not innate.
2- After tasting 100’s or 1000’s of wines, you will start to understand the language of taste.
3- Drinking = “I like” or “ I don’t like”
4- Tasting = evaluating wines on established characteristics for a particular varietal / style.
Define Clarity:
related to the amount of solids or sediment in the wine.
Clarity Scale (3 levels)
Clear / Slightly Cloudy / Cloudy
Define concentration of color:
the intensity or depth of color
Intensity scale (3 levels)
Pale / Medium / Deep
Concentrated can indicate _________ for white wines.
age and/or barrel use
Concentrated can indicate _________ for red wines.
grape variety and/or color extraction
Gas Evidence ( what and when does it happen)
- Usually in young wines that are bottled early.
- Excess Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) trapped in bottle.
Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) ( Wine Flaws)
Onion, rubber, rotten egg
-inadequate nutrition during fermentation.
Intensity of Aroma (Scale)
Low (delicate) / Medium / High (powerful)
Aromas in youthful wines
fruit will be clear, direct, and primary
Aromas in wines showing age or vinosity
fruit fades and drives out and more interesting secondary and tertiary non-fruit aromas develop - the wine gains a “bouquet”
Why can blind tasting older wines be more difficult than younger wines?
Older wines can be very difficult as they shed obvious varietal aromas of youth.
White Wine Fruit Descriptors
- Tree Fruits: Apples, Pears
- Citrus: Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit, Tangerine
- Pitted Fruit: Peach, Nectarine, Apricot
- Tropical Fruit: Pineapple, Mango, Papaya, Passion Fruit
- Melon: Cantaloupe, Honeydew
Red Wine Fruit Descriptors
- Red Fruits: Cherry, Raspberry, Red Plum, Cranberry, Pomegranate
- Black Fruits: Blackberry, Black Cherry, Black Plum
- Blue Fruits: Blueberry
Fruit Condition
We can take the describing of the fruit character even further and talk about the condition of the fruit.
-Baked, cooked, stewed, dried, peels, skin, pith, flesh, fresh picked, preserved, jammy
Non-Fruit Describing Aromas
Flowers, spices, herbs, vegetal, animal, fermentation, butter, honey, leather, tobacco, and much more!
Earthiness /. Minerality Aromas are often dominant in ______________ wines
Old World
Organic Earth Describing Aromas
forest floor, compost, truffle/mushrooms, potting soil, barn yard, fresh turned earth
often descriptors for red wine.
Inorganic Earth Describing Aromas
wet rock, mineral, limestone, chalk, slate, petrol, flint, volcanic
often descriptors for white wine
Wood/Oak Describing Aromas
a new, toasted oak barrel may imbue scents of vanilla, baking spices, grilled toast, smoke, caramel, and other tones in wine during maturation.
Old Oak vs. New Oak
old oak, soaked with wine permits less oxygen ingress than a brand new barrel.
French Oak vs. American Oak
French Oak is more porous that permits a greater exchange of oxygen
American Oak is less porous
Large Barrels vs Small Barrels (Barrique)
The effects of oak aging on a wine are more noticeable when a wine maker employs smaller vessels. The inference of oak is more prominent with smaller barrels.
What part of the deductive tasting process is used to confirm what you have already smelled?
The Palate
Palate: Sweetness/Dryness
The presence of residual sugar in the wine, often sensed on the tip of the tongue.
Sweetness Scale (Palate)
Bone Dry, Dry, Off Dry, Sweet, Dessert Sweet
Palate: Tannin
Sensed as bitterness and/or astingency
Tannin Scale (Palate)
Low / Medium - / Medium / Medium + / High
Palate: Acidity
- Focus on the salivary glands and the finish
- Accumulated (delayed) experience for many tasters
Acidity Scale (Palate)
Low / Medium - / Medium / Medium + / High
Palate: Alcohol
Sensed as heat in the nose, throat and chest
Alcohol Scale (Palate)
Low / Medium - / Medium / Medium + / High
Body/Texture (Palate)
- the weight of the wine
- from the amount of alcohol, glycerine and grape solids in the wine
Glycerine increases the wine`s mouth-feel giving it a fuller, more pleasant texture.
Body/Texture Scale (Palate)
Light / Medium / Full
Finish (Palate) Definition and Scale
The length of time the entire wine stay on the palate after swallowing
Scale: Short / Medium - / Medium / Medium + / Long
Quality of the finish: astringent, silky, bitter
Complexity (Palate) Definition and scale
The number of aromas and flavors in the wine and how they interact
Low / Medium - / Medium / Medium + / High
Deductive Tasting Process: The Con
clusion
- Broken down into initial and final conclusion
- Take “evidence” gained from the sight, nose, and palate to form the best possible conclusion
- LISTEN TO YOURSELF
Initial Conclusion: Old World vs New World
ID keys: levels of acidity, oak, alcohol and earthiness
Initial Conclusion: Climate: Cool, Moderate or Warm
ID keys: acidity level and alcohol level, color extraction in red wine
Initial Conclusion: Grape Variety or Blend
ID Keys: knowing markers for grapes varieties and styles of wine
Initial Conclusion: General Age Range
1-3 years, 3-5 years, 5-10 years, more than 10 years
- ID Keys: color, rim variation, youth vs. vinosity, quality of texture and finish
Final Conclusion
Grape varietal or blend, Country, Region, Appellation, Appellation quality level if appropriate , Vintage
