Systematic approach to tasting wine

Question 1

Name the 4 things in order for the systematic approach to tasting wine (SAT)

Answer 1

Appearance
Nose
Palate
Conclusions

Question 2

What do you need in a good tasting environment

Answer 2

• Good lighting
• No strong odours
• Spittoons
• Space for glasses/notes

Question 3

How to prepare yourself for tasting

and what do you need

Answer 3

• clean palate
• No strong perfumes/aftershave
• clean suitable glassware
• correctly filled glasses (50mm)

Question 4

What are the reasons for using the SAT

Answer 4

• calibrate the palate
• common language to describe the wine
• to be able to evaluate the wines
  -appearance
  -nose
  -palate
  -quality

Question 5

Clarity is either?

Apperance

Answer 5

Clear
or Hazy (fault?)

Question 6

Intensity is categorised as?

Apperance

Answer 6

Pale
Medium
Deep

Question 7

Colour for White wine is?

Answer 7

Lemon green
Lemon
Gold
Amber
Brown

Question 8

Colour of rose is?

3 colours dude

Answer 8

Pink
Pink/Orange
Orange

Question 9

The SAT colours for Red are?

Answer 9

Purple
Ruby
Garnet
Tawney
Brown

Question 10

When tasting what 4 things do you you assess and record on your tasting notes

Answer 10

1. Apperance
2. Nose
3. Palate
4. Conclusion

Question 11

Nose condition is either

Answer 11

Clean
Unlcean? (faulty)

Question 12

Nose intensity is

Answer 12

Light
Medium
Pronounced

Question 13

The three key Nose aroma high level catagories are?

Answer 13

Primary, secondary, tertiary then elaborate for each category

See Lexicon deck for the full breakdown

lexicon is not in this deck has its own

Question 14

What is assessed on the palate?
What are the measurements of each element?

List in correct order

Answer 14

Sweetness=Dry-Off Dry-Medium-Sweet
Acidity=Low-Medium-High
Tannin=Low-Medium-High
Alcohol=Low-Medium-High
Body= Light-Medium-Full
Flavour Intesity= Light-Medium-Pronounced
Flavour Characteristics=Primary-Secondary-Tertiary
Finish=Short-Medium-Long

Question 15

What are the 6 quaility levels of a wine for WSEt L2

Answer 15

Quality level are
-Faulty
-Poor
-Acceptable
-Good
-Very good
-Outstanding

Question 16

How do you assess the wine appearance intensity?

Answer 16

• Hold the glass at 45 degree angle, look from above and see how far the colour extends from the core.
• For red you can look down the glass upright and assess how easily the stem can be seen

Question 17

What is the intesity of a white wine that has a broad watery rim

Answer 17

Pale

Question 18

If the pigment of a white wine almost reaches almost to the rim what is the intensity

Answer 18

Deep

Question 19

How is a pale red wine determined?

Answer 19

If the wine is slightly pigmented from the core to the rim it is considered pale
You can clearly see the stem of the glass in a vertical position

Question 20

How is a deep red wine determined?

Answer 20

The wine will be pigmented right up to the rim and you will not be able to see the stem in the vertical position

Question 21

What is the most common colour for white wine

Answer 21

Lemon

Question 22

What is the most common colour for red wine

Answer 22

Ruby

Question 23

How do you assess the condition of a wine in the nose phase?

Answer 23

Looking for faults indicated by
-Wet cardboard
-Caramel/Coffee (When not expected)
-Honey
-Lacks freshenss and the expected fruit characters

Question 24

How do you assess aroma intesity

Answer 24

Insert nose to glass without swirling if immediatly apparent then this is prounounced.
If you swirl the wine then still find them faint this is Light.

Question 25

Whats the best approach to identifying Aroma characteristics

Answer 25

Identify the 3 main type of aromas then systematicaly identify aroma clusters and work your way through the aromas you get from the glass

Question 26

What are Primary aromas

Answer 26

The aromas that come from the grape or the wine making process | Simple wines often have only a few aromas from the same aroma cluster

Question 27

What are secondary aromas

Answer 27

These are aromas created by post fermentation winemaking. Yeast-Autolysis Malolactic Conversion Oak

Question 28

What are tertiary aromas

Answer 28

These aromas are from the aging process both in oak and in the bottle. Oxadative=Oak=Coffee/Caramel Bottle (protected from oxygen) =petrol/honey/mushoom

Question 29

What do you need to consider when assessing the acidity in a wine

Answer 29

High levels of sugar and acid can mask each other. The salivia test is the only true way as will still work with high sugar wines Alcohol can create a burning that feels similar to Acid. The saliva test again is the key to the correct assessment of the wines Acid

Question 30

What can alcohol contribute to a wine

Answer 30

Increased body/mouthfeel. At low levels the wine can seem watery unless sugar is present to gove the wine body

Question 31

What is considered Low Alcohol

Answer 31

Below 11% ABV

Question 32

What is considered Medium Alcohol

Answer 32

11%-13.9% abv

Question 33

What is considered High alcohol

Answer 33

Above 13.9% abv

Question 34

What is low alcohol on fortified wine

Answer 34

15-16.4% abv

Question 35

What is Medium alcohol on fortified wine

Answer 35

16.5-18.4% abv

Question 36

What is high Alcohol on a fortified wine

Answer 36

above 18.5%

Question 37

What two attributes contribute most to the body of a wine

Answer 37

Sugar and Alcohol. Alcohol is usually the main factor influencing body

Question 38

What does high level of ripe tannin do

Answer 38

Can make the wine feel fuller bodied

Question 39

Low unripe tannins does what?

Answer 39

Can make the wine seem harsher, thinner therfore more light bodied

Question 40

What is the general rule for flavour intesity

Answer 40

Generaly the flavour intesity matches the aroma intesity

Question 41

What can happen on the palate that may not happen on the nose when assessing flavour profiles

Answer 41

The warming affect of the alcohol can make some flavours more apparant than on the nose NOTE:**Spice/Floral** flavours are **LESS** obvious on the palate than the nose

Question 42

Generally flavours on the palate match the aroma clusters

Answer 42

True | You should write down any additional flavour profiles found on the palat

Question 43

Why is finish important

Answer 43

How long sensations last on a wine is an important indictor of quality | only the flavours that are pleasant count

Question 44

What qualifies a wine to be tagged with a long finish

Answer 44

The the flavours last as long or longer than the structural components of the wine. | Acid-tannin ect

Question 45

What are the main criteria for assesing a wines quality

Answer 45

Balance Length of finish Intensity Complexity

Question 46

Describe balance in a wine. Sugar is balanced by=? Alcohol needs=? Acid needs=?

Answer 46

* **Sugar** is balanced by** Acidity ** (Wine then refreshing rather than flabby) * High **Alcohol** needs **Fruit** to balance it out * A high **Acid** wine needs** Fruit** otherwise can seem thin and unpleasant | if out of balance rarely anything more than Acceptable

Question 47

Describe Length/finish it terms of quality

Answer 47

This is how long the pleasent flavours of the wine remian after swalling or spitting the wine. How the wine finsihes is an important indicator of quality. | If you are left with burning alcochol as the last sensation then this is

Question 48

Describe intensity in terms of quality

Answer 48

A wine that is weak with dilute flavours is rarely of good quality. Beyond a certain level more intesity does not mean more quality.

Question 49

What is the best way to categories quality

Answer 49

Categorise the wine to see if it ticks the box in all four criteria of quality Balance/Length-Finish/Intesity/Complexity

Question 50

Are all premium wines complex

Answer 50

No not always. These wines are focused on purity and definition.

Question 51

What makes a wine be classed as Outstanding

Answer 51

Shows positivily against all four quality criteria. 1-Balance 2-Length/finish 3-Intesity 4-Complexity