Tasting & Evaluating Wine Flashcards
Tasting environment
Good light
No strong odours i.e. near kitchen
Spittoons
Space for glasses/notes
How to prepare yourself
Clean, neutral palate
Free of perfumes/aftershave
Clean, appropriate glassware i.e. ISO tasting glasses with stem & good sized bowl
Fill correctly i.e. approx 1-1.5 oz of wine to taste
What is SAT
Systematic Approach to Tasting
Why do we use a SAT?
- Calibrate the palate
- A common language for all to describe wine
- Able to evaluate wine’s:
appearance, nose palate, quality
What are the main wine faults ?
Cork taint -
TCA (tricholroanysol), causes wet cardboard taste/smell
Closure failure -
Oxygen seeps in. browner in colour. aromas of honey, caramel, coffee
Heat damage -
direct sunlight or bright artificial light. Tastes dull/stale
What are the primary aroma characteristics of wine?
Those that the grape itself gives to the wine
i.e. floral, fruit, herbaceous (flowers, fruits, veg)
What are the secondary
Occurring within the winery, created by the winemaker on purpose.
i.e. bready/yeasty/biscuity (autolysis), dairy (maloactive conversion), oak barrels (vanilla/spices)
What is tertiary
Occur during maturation, over time. Aroma of dried/stewed fruit, mushrooms, honey, coffee, petroleum
How can you assess appearance intensity
Looking down into glass, holding glass at 45 degree angle.
For red - can also look down into an upright glass
Appearance intensity description
pale - medium - deep
Appearance colour
white - lemon - gold - amber
rose - pink - pink-orange - orange
red - purple - ruby - garnet - tawny
Nose intensity
light - medium - pronounced
Aroma characteristics
primary (grape, fermentation), secondary (winery, post-fermentation), tertiary (maturation, over time)
SAT - Palate
Sweetness
dry - off-dry - medium - sweet
SAT - Palate
Acidity
low - medium - high
SAT - Palate
Tannins
low - medium - high
SAT - Palate
Alcohol
low - medium - high
LOW - alcohol wine %
Under 11% ABV
MEDIUM - alcohol wine %
11 - 13.9 % ABV
HIGH - alcohol wine ABV %
Over 14% ABV
Fortified Wine - LOW alcohol %
15 - 16.4
Fortified Wine - MEDIUM alcohol %
16.5 - 18.4
Fortified Wine - HIGH alcohol %
18.5 +
SAT - Palate
Body
light - medium - full
SAT - Palate
Flavour intensity
light - medium - pronounce
SAT - Palate
Flavour characteristics
primary - secondary - tertiary
SAT - Palate
Finish
short - medium - long
SAT - Conclusions
Quality
poor - acceptable - good - very good - outstanding
Weighing up the following overall -
Balance -
i.e. of sugar/fruit flavour/ alcohol/acidity
Out of balance = no more than ‘acceptable’
Length/finish
- Length & HOW it finishes i.e. bitter/sweet/flavourful
Identifiable characteristics/flavour intensity
Complexity -
not all good wines have all 3 flavour characteristic clusters.
Purity, definition
What to weigh up when assessing quality
Balance -
i.e. of sugar/fruit flavour/ alcohol/acidity
Out of balance = no more than ‘acceptable’
Length/finish
- Length & HOW it finishes i.e. bitter/sweet/flavourful
Identifiable characteristics/flavour intensity
Complexity -
not all good wines have all 3 flavour characteristic clusters.
Purity, definition of a simple wine with just primary can be ‘outstanding’
How many of the 4 SAT criteria are met for each level of overall wine quality
poor - none
acceptable - 1 criterion
good - 2 criterion
very good - 3 criterion
outstanding - all 4 criterion
When tasting multiple different wines, what order should you consider to best experience each
Lightest to heaviest
Driest to sweetest
