SAT - Tasting Approach Flashcards
witch skills teaching SAT?
- The ability to describe a wine accurately
- Make reasonable conclusions based on these descriptions
The format SAT
1st Part - appearance, nose and palate
2nd Part - conclusion: quality level and level of readiness for drinking/potential aeging
Hyphenated Lines
- select only one of the therm to describe the wine
- limit yourself to the words that are used for each scale as the appear in the SAT
e.g Lines
note that where aromas appears in the nose section and flower characteristic
Using the scale
- three point scale: LOW-MEDIUM-HIGH
- you can return to the components you have described as medium and decide to refine this assessment with + or -
- be confident to use the end of the scales; they should not be reserved solely for wines that are at the extreme
Appearance
- Clarity: clear or hazy
- Intensity: pale, deep
- Colour:
white wine: lemon, lemon-green, gold, amber, brown
red wine: purple, ruby, garnet, tawny, brown
rosè wine: pink, salmon, orange
Nose
You should swirl the liquid to release the aromas into the glass.
Intensity: pronounced - medium- light
Development
youthful:primary
developing: primary and secondary aromas
full developing: tertiary aromas
tired/past its best
Condition faults
- TCA
2.Reduction: rotten eggs, b oiled onions
3.Sulfur dioxide:highest sweet white wines
4.Oxidation: coffee, caramel
5.Out of condition: lost vibrancy and freshness - Volatile acidity (VA):vinegar, nail polish remover
- Brett: hot vinyl, smoked meat
Aroma Characteristics
- Primary aromas: comes from the grapes and other created during the fermentation process
- Secondary aromas: post fermentation winemaking. oak, vanilla, creamy, buttery, MLF fermentation
- Tertiary aromas: oxidative, long period inn oak, coffee, caramel, toffee; period in bottle, petrol, honey, mushroom.
PALATE
many different components to considered. It’s important to aiming to access the actual level of these components not the apparent level, by reference to objective criteria
Sweetness
taste of sugar present in the wine.
- Dry: no sugar, they cannot be detected by the tongue
- Off-dry: tiny detectable sugar
- Medium dry and medium sweet: not sweet enough to partner most dessert
- Sweet: presence of sugar has become the prominent feature of the wine
- Luscious: viscous, sticky sweet sensation after swallowing of spitting
Acidity
tartaric, malic, lactic. Acidity is detected most strongly at the sides of the tongue where it causes a sharp, tingling sensation and makes your mouth water as it tries to restore its natural acid balance. the more your mouth waters higher the level of acidity in the wine.
Low acidity: feel broad, round and soft;
High acidity: grapes ripened in cool condition, mouth-watering
Point to remember about acidity
- high level of sweetness and acidity can mask each other. The mouth-watering effect caused by acidity remains and this is always a reliable guide when it comes to judging the level of acidity.
- consider the mouth-watering effect to see whether this is due to acidity or alcohol for any particular wine
Tannin
- they contribute to the textural richness of a wine.
- can sometimes have a bitter taste that in detected most clearly at the back of your mouth.
3.unripe tannins tend to be more aggressively astringent, ripe tannins contribute more to textural richness
Alcohol
It contributes to the texture and the body of a wine
- Low level: bit watery
- High level: triggers pain receptors, giving hot and burning sensation, after spitting or swallowing.
(!) burning sensation can confused with tingling caused by acidity. If you are trying to distinguish the two considered whether the wine is also mouth-watering (acidity) of feels thickened viscous
Alcohol levels
wine:
- low: below 11% abv
- medium: 11-13.9% abv
- high: 14% abv and above
fortified wines
- low: 15-16.4% abv
- medium: 16.5-18.4% abv
- high: 18.5% abv and above
Body
Is the textural impression created by a wine. Is not a single component, but in an overall impression created by all structural components working together. Alcohol, sugar, tannins
Mousse
Creamy: enough to provide a lively sparkle on the palate without seeming too frothy or aggressive;
Agressive: explode non the palate;
Delicate: bubbles very soft and fine
Flavour Intensity and Characteristic
flavour palate should be the same as aromas on the nose.
Finish
is the collection of sensations after you have swallowed or spat the wine out. How long the sensations linger is an important indicator of quality.
Short: the pleasant flavors disappeared in few seconds
Long: flavors can last for a minute or more
Conclusions
Evaluate the wine quality anche its readiness for drinking. There are a number of criteria that are widely used to assessing the quality level. (BLIC)
- Outstanding: show positively against all four criteria
- Very good: show positively against three criteria
- Good: positively against two criteria
- Acceptable: positively against one criteria
- poor: no criteria
Balance
how well integrate each of the separate components are
Intensity
concentration. More intensity doesn’t mean higher quality
Length
how long the finish is, how long the pleasant sentatsion linger after the wine has benna swallowed or spat out
Complexity
came from the primary aromas and the flavors alone, or from the combination of these with secondary and tertiary characteristics.
Readiness for Drinking
- Drink now no suitable for further aging: too old, fruity light tannins, acid structure, lost in freshness;
2.Can drink now, suitable for further ageing: alcohol level does not change, sugar and acidity change, wine will be better in a few years, too young.
