Section 1. Tasting and Evaluating Wine Flashcards
Tasting wine rather than simply drinking it increases our appreciation of the wine by allowing us to examine it in detail.
Ideal tasting room environment
Odour free, good natural light white surfaces
what affects tasting palate and how to fix
tobacco, food, coffee, gum or toothpaste. hayfever, colds and fatigue.
chew a piece of bread to remove flavours
features of ISO glass
rounded bowl large enough to swirl the wine - sides slope inwards (tulip shape) to concentrate aromas. stem so hands don’t warm it up
systematic approach to tasting wine (overview)
appearance, nose, palate, conclusions
what to look for in appearance
clarity (clear - hazy)
intensity (pale - medium - deep)
colour (white; lemon - gold - amber)
(rose; pink - salmon - orange)
(red; purple - ruby - garnet - tawny)
out of condition wine - why and what they look like
too old, badly stored, cork seal (allowing air)
dull in appearance and have at least a hint of brown
haziness also, but sometimes deliberate
colour of youthful/old wines (generally - nb not always the case)
red: purple/tawny
white: green/orange and brown
rose: bright purply-pink/orange and brown
first steps in ‘nose’
swirl the wine and make note of the condition of the nose
cork taint - how to detect and what it smells like
most common fault detected by the nose
low levels - stripped of fresh, fruity aromas
worst case - pungent, unpleasant damp cardboard/musty
out of condition wines smell..
dull and stale - may have excessive oxidative aromas
true or false - all faults can be detected on the palate
true
what to look for in nose
condition (clean - unclean) intensity (light - medium - pronounced) aroma characteristics (eg fruits, oak, flowers, spices)
breakdown of aroma and flavour characteristics
floral/fruit (eg, stone fruit, dried fruit, tropical etc)
spice/vegetable (eg, underripeness, herbaceous, sweet spice, vegetable etc)
oak/other (eg, autolytic, dairy, kernel, animal, mineral etc)
what to look for in palate
sweetness (dry - off dry - medium - sweet)
acidity ( low - medium - high)
tannin (low - medium - high)
body (light - medium - full)
flavour characteristics (eg, fruits, flowers, spices)
finish (short - medium - long)
where is sweetness detected on tongue
tip
where is acidity detected on tongue
sides
where is bitterness detected on tongue
back
why do you draw air in when tasting
ensures wine coats all parts of the mouth and the vapours are carried up the back of the nose (where the smell will detect the flavour character)
is sweetness an indicator of how much sugar is in a wine
yes, but sometimes wines made from very ripe grapes are slightly sweet with no sugar
what is a ‘dry’ wine
wine containing almost/no sugar - most reds and whites
which varieties are more acidic
(white wines generally higher than red) reisling and sav blanc
which climates produce generally more acidic wine
cooler climates
is acidity important for sweet wines/if so, why
yes, very - if it is too low the wine is oversweet and cloying
where are tannins found
grape skins - presense depends on amount of skin contact
how tannic are white and rose wines - why
rarely any detectable tannin because they get very little/no skin contact
which red varieties have the most tannin levels
thick skinned ones ie - cab sav and syrah
what climate often produces soft ripe tannins
hot
what do soft, ripe, tannins improve/add to
viscosity and body
what is another term for body
mouth feel
what is meant by ‘body’
richness, weight, viscosity
what combination contributes to the body
alcohol, tannins, sugars and flavour compounds (extracted from the skin)
why is beaujolais able to be high in alcohol but still light in body
very little tannin and lightly flavoured
where are flavour characteristics detected
when aroma components evaporate off the tongue and rise up to the back of the nose (why we can’t taste properly with a cold)
what is meant by ‘finish’
how long the desirable flavours linger in the mouth after the wine has been swallowed or spat out
what finish makes a quality wine
long, complex
what criteria differentiate between wines in your assessment of quality
balance (sweetness and fruitiness in balance with tannin and acidity)
finish (a balanced, pleasant, lingering finish)
intensity (middle ground between dilute and extremely intense)
complexity (many different flavours)
expressiveness (able to detect where they are from and grape variety)
