Tasting and Evaluating Wine

Question 1

What are the ideal tasting room characteristics ?

Answer 1

• odour-free
• good natural light
• white surfaces (for wine appearance)

Question 2

Name some outside influences on our wine ability to judge wine.

Answer 2

• Palate affected by Tobacco, food, coffee, gum or toothpaste
• Hayfever, cold
• Fatigue

Question 3

What is the recommended glass for WSET tasting and why ?

Answer 3

• ISO glass
• Rounded bowl large enough to swirl wine
• Tulip shape to concentrate the aromas
• Stem to hold the glass without warming the wine

Question 4

What are the steps of WSET 2 systematic approach to tasting wine ?

Answer 4

• Appearance
• Nose
• Palate
• Conclusion

Question 5

Why do we look at the wine appearance ?

Answer 5

To look for faults. If it is out of condition it will look dull and will have at least a hint of brown. Haziness may also indicate a fault.

Question 6

What are appearance hints for red wine ?

Answer 6

• Purple indicate youth (Purple)
• Orange, Amber and Brown indicate age. (Tawny)
• Purple + red (ruby)
• Orangey + red (garnet)

Question 7

What are appearance hints for white wine ?

Answer 7

• Green indicate youth
• Yellow with a hint of green (Lemon)
• Yellow with a hint of orange (Gold)
• Orange or Brown hints indicate age (Amber)

Question 8

What is the most common fault of wine and what are the effects of it ?

Answer 8

Cork Taint. At low level remove freshness and fruity aromas. At works, wine become pungent with damp cardboard or musty smell.

Question 9

What will smell an out of condition wine ?

Answer 9

Dull and stale (éventé). It may also have excessive oxydative aromas (toffee, caramel, sherry)

Question 10

What are the 3 categories of appearance ?

Answer 10

• Clarity (clear - hazy)
• Intensity (pale - medium - deep)
• Colour (lemon - gold - amber)
  (pink - salmon - orange)
  (purple - ruby - garnet - tawny)

Question 11

What are appearance hints for rosé wine ?

Answer 11

• Bright purply-pink indicates youth

- Orange and Brown indicates age.

Question 12

What are the 3 categories of nose ?

Answer 12

• Condition (Clean - Unclean)
• Intensity (light - medium - pronounced)
• Aromas char. (fruits, flowers, spices, …)

Question 13

What are the 6 categories of palate ?

Answer 13

• Sweetness (dry - off-dry - medium - sweet)
• Acidity (low - medium - high)
• Tannin (low - medium - high)
• Body (light - medium - full)
• Flavours (fruits, flowers, spices, …)
• Finish (Short - Medium - Long)

Question 14

What is the category of conclusion ?

Answer 14

• Quality (faulty - poor - acceptable - good - very good - outstanding)

Question 15

Enumerate acidity characteristics

Answer 15

• Causes the mouth to water
• Make wine taste fresh and vibrant
• Riesling and Sauv blanc give high acidity wines
• Cool climate = More acidity than hot climate
• Sweet wines need a lot of acidity to balance sweetness

Question 16

What are the elements to take in account for conclusion ?

Answer 16

• Balance (sweetness, acidity, fruitness, tannin)
• Finish (long finish = better wine)
• Intensity
• Complexity (More than 2 flavours)
• Expressiveness (express grape variety or region ?)

Question 17

What are importants element for selecting and recommending wines ?

Answer 17

• Tastes
• Preferences
• Price requirements
• For large number or diverse taster types avoid extreme styles, rather multiples alternatives
• For special occasion - Appropriate quality but must not be the center of attention