Tasting and Evaluating Wine Flashcards
The optimal tasting environment will have:
Good lighting
No strong odours (perfume, lotion, foods, etc.)
Sufficient pace for glasses and note taking
Spittoons or spit cups
What is the recommended amount of wine to be poured into glasses for tasting purposes?
1.7 US fl. oz. / 5cl / 50ml
What are the three things you look for when evaluating a wine’s appearance?
Clarity
Intensity
Colour
What is meant by colour intensity
How much colour the wine has
What are the 4 colors used to describe red wines?
Purple
Ruby
Garnet
Tawny
(Purple= blue or purple tinted
Ruby = bright red
Garnet= Obvious brick/orange or browning, but the wine is still more red than brown
Tawny= More brown than red)
Where do secondary aromas in wine come from?
These are aromas created by post-fermentation winemaking: vanilla and smoke from oak, cream and butter from malolactic conversion, or toasted bread and biscuit from autolysis in sparkling wines.
Describe the 4 levels of the dry-to-sweet scale.
Dry
No sugar or no perceptible sugar
Off-dry
A tiny amount of detectable sugar
Medium
Obvious sugar, but not sweet enough to pair with desserts
Sweet
Sugar is the main driver of the wine
What does acidity do to your mouth?
Acidity makes your mouth water.
What are two things to consider when tasting for acidity in wine?
- What is the sugar level in the wine?
- Is that tingling sensation alcohol or acidity?
- Sugar level – Think about lemonade and how important it is to balance sugar and acidity. When in doubt, focus on how much and for how long your mouth waters.
- Alcohol or acidity – Alcohol can sometimes trick your brain into thinking that sharp or searing sensation is acidity.
What effect do tannins have on the palate?
- Cause your mouth to dry and make it feel parched and scratchy like a cat’s tongue
- Sometimes leave a bitter taste on the back of the palate
