OW vs NW grape comparison Flashcards
Pinot Noir
Light colour and weight
OW Pinot Noir Appearance
Dark Pink to translucent ruby-red to pale ruby/cherry
NW Pinot Noir Appearance
- Ruby-red to violet.
* Denser but still translucent.
OW Pinot Noir Aroma
Pale berries, sour cherries, cranberry.Some earthiness, tea leaves, spice, mushrooms, wet forest floor.With age: barnyard, farmyard. Often firm and even lean.
NW Pinot Noir Aroma
Riper black cherries, rasberries, strawberries,Some sweetness from oak.Dusty, boiled sweets, raw meat. Vegetal.Usually more perfumed and aromatic than OW.
OW Pinot Noir Palate
Understated, delicate, silky texture, tangy and mouth-watering. Red berries. Spice.
NW Pinot Noir Palate
Acidity is less stringent than OW. Juicier, dark ripe summer berries.Light to medium bodied. Feminine.
Shiraz/syrah
Medium to full bodied
OW Syrah Appearance
Dark ruby-red.
NW Syrah Appearance
Dark garnet to opaque
OW Syrah Aroma
Leather, smoke, tobacco, spice, chocolate, white pepper, gamey.
NW Syrah Aroma
Black pepper, spice, smoke ripe fruit, vanilla, creamy sweetness. Oak, burnt rubber, earthy, leather, savoury, soy.
OW Syrah Palate
Powerful, plummy fruit flavours. Soft tannins. Savoury qualities.Leaner and meatier with age.
NW Syrah Palate
Medium to full bodied. Ripe red/black fruit. High alcohol.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Thick-skinned, high fruit tannin.Full bodied.Affinity with oak.
OW Cabernet Sauvignon Appearance
Pale garnet to mid-ruby
NW Cabernet Sauvignon Appearance
Mid-ruby to opaque
OW Cabernet Sauvignon Aroma
Blackcurrant, cassis, lead pencil, violets, tobacco, earthy. Wet leaves, tealeaves. Grassy, cigar box, cedar, tomato leaf.
NW Cabernet Sauvignon Aroma
Blackcurrant, mint/eucalyptus, juicy, jammy, lush, forward. Sweet, toasty, vanilla, vegetal, green pepper, cigar box, stewed plums.
OW Cabernet Sauvignon Palate
Restrained, delicate to quite full-bodied. Complex, firm tannins, well integrated fruit. Aftertaste of vanilla and earthiness.
NW Cabernet Sauvignon Palate
Full-bodied, more accesible, riper red fruit, plump, ample tannins, sweet oakiness. High alcohol.
Merlot
Thinner skin than CS. Medium to full-bodied.Deep colour.
OW Merlot Appearance
Dark ruby-red.
NW Merlot Appearance
Sometimes darker than Cabernet Sauvignon.Can be similair in colour to Cabernet Sauvignon.Purplish ruby-red.
OW Merlot Aroma
Plums, dark berries, meaty, vanilla, roasted coffee beans, cocoa. Subtle, fruitcake, savoury, prunes.
NW Merlot Aroma
Sweeter, riper red berries, chocolate. Some oakiness. sweet oakiness, vanilla or spice. some jamminess. Cherry-plum, coffee, blackberry, roses, occaisionally mint toffee.
OW Merlot Palate
Softer tannins than Cabernet Sauvignon. Complex and subtle follow through.
NW Merlot Palate
Juicy, rounded, accessible, ripe fruit. Smooth and soft, velvety, soft texture, medium bodied.
Sauvignon Blanc
High acid, light-bodied, medium alcohol, usually unoaked.
OW Sauvignon Blanc Appearance
Pale yellow-green to straw
NW Sauvignon Blanc Appearance
Sometimes a little darker. Colourless in youth.
OW Sauvignon Blanc Aroma
Sour apple, grassy, herbaceous.Loire: Flinty, gunsmoke, gooseberries, mineral
NW Sauvignon Blanc Aroma
Fresh cut grass, hay, straw, green pepper, fig, honeydew melon, herbaceous.Cooler reguins: asparagus, gooseberries.
OW Sauvignon Blanc Palate
Granny Smith apples, tart and tangy. Subtle earthiness.
NW Sauvignon Blanc Palate
Citrus, melon, ripe and crisp fruits. Fresh green flavours.Alcohol is normally apparent.
Chardonnay
Unwooded to heavilly wooded.Affinity with oak.medium acidHigh alcohol.
OW Chardonnay Appearance
Pale yellow-green.Young Chablis is almost colourless (unless oaked)
NW Chardonnay Appearance
Pale yellow-green to straw-gold.
OW Chardonnay Aroma
Ripe pear, soft apple (golden delicious).Chablis and Pouilly-Fuissé; mineral, flinty, chalky.
NW Chardonnay Aroma
Fruit salad, lemon, citrus, orange, tangerine, peach, melon, pineapple,buttery, oily.If wooded; smokey, vanilla.
OW Chardonnay Palate
As the nose.Delicate, soft, refreshing, complex, subtle, lthe, elegant.Burgundy; Richer and fuller-bodied.
NW Chardonnay Palate
Follows through from the nose.Juicy, fruity, more alcohol than OW which shows as weight. . Touch of sweetness from the alcohol. Charred wood.
Chenin Blanc
OW - Unwooded.NW - Both unwooded and wooded
OW Chenin Blanc Appearance
Pale yellow-green to straw.
NW Chenin Blanc Appearance
Watery-pale to straw (with age and/or wood)
OW Chenin Blanc Aroma
Honey and flowers, almonds, quince, damp straw, (almost oxidative). Gummy when older.
NW Chenin Blanc Aroma
Apple, floral, guava, grassy, tropical fruit, vanilla with wood.
OW Chenin Blanc Palate
High acid.Honeyed, peachy.Ripeness on mid-palate.Complexity increases with age.
NW Chenin Blanc Palate
Softer acidity and riper fruit
Riesling
Light bodied, no affinity with oak. low alcohol.
OW Riesling Appearance
Pale yellow-green. Brilliant.
NW Riesling Appearance
Yellow-green. A little darker.
OW Riesling Aroma
Subtle lemon, lime, earthiness, spicy, floral, buttered toast, tar.With age oily, peach.
NW Riesling Aroma
More exotic, peach, apricot, citrus, mandarin, lime, some earthiness.Develops bitumen and honey with age.Mineral, blossoms, floral.
OW Riesling Palate
Lemonny fruit, prominent acidity, subtle.Alsace: bone dry.German: Slight sweetness.Develops weight with age.Oily on mid-palate.
NW Riesling Palate
Vivid fruit which follows through. Juicy fruit salad. Usually off-dry to sweet in style.
Semillon
Wooded and Unwooded
OW Semillon Appearance
Green tinge to straw if sweet
NW Semillon Appearance
Pale straw. (usually wooded).
OW Semillon Aroma
Waxy, lanolin, floral, spicy.
NW Semillon Aroma
Limes, citrus, lanolin.Vanilla with oak.
OW Semillon Palate
Follows through. More body than Sauvignon Blanc..Similair to Chardonnay.Medium acid.
NW Semillon Palate
Follows through.Often wooded.
