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What follows are some notes on how
to decipher wine, and how to make sense
of it with the minimum amount of stress.
It is a vast subject, but it is,
fortunately, finite, which means in
turn that it can be mastered. Or at
least reined in a little.
In addition to these brief pages, Big
Red Liquors offers wine appreciation
classes for beginners and intermediates
alike, and can even custom design a
series of classes to the needs of individuals
or groups. Please consult our calendar
of events for more information.
The human palate is capable of discerning
four tastes:
Only sweet and sour (or acid) are especially
applicable to wine. Some wines, especially
those produced in the rancio style,
may display some bitterness on the finish.
Almost no wine is salty except for Fino
or Manzanilla sherry, whose saltiness
derives from the proximity of the production
facilities to the sea. In addition,
some vines that have been irrigated
with brackish water, especially in the
Languedoc-Roussillon region of France,
or Riverland in Australia, may produce
wines with higher than normal salt levels.
Some of what we perceive as TASTE is
actually SENSATION. There are three
main sensations that contribute to the
texture of a wine:
Tannin - a tealeaf like astringency
on the top of the tongue and roof of
the mouth. This can derive from the
skin, seeds and stems of the grape,
or from oak in which the wine has aged.
Alcohol - often perceived as sweet,
it also adds to the "weight"
or "body" of the wine on the
palate. It can also be perceived as
a burning sensation in the bridge of
the nose (when inhaled) or at the back
of the throat (when swallowed).
Extract - this is the dry extract
of wine that gives its thickness and
intensity. Extract derives from the
grape.
Most of what we perceive as FLAVOR
is really an extension of AROMA. This
is easily demonstrated by pinching
your nose when tasting wine. The flavor
disappears, leaving only the essential
tastes and sensations.
 Much
of wine's flavor is described in relation
to other organic aromatics, such as
fruit, grass, tealeaves, cedar, vegetables,
etc. The inclusion of these descriptors
in a review or on a wine label does
not mean that these items are actually
used in the production of wine. Such
descriptors are merely reference points
to help us better define the taste
and aroma of a wine.
Because many of these aromatic reference
points are subjective, they are used
more to provide descriptive highlights
than definitive pronouncements. For
example, one person might think that
a ripe chardonnay smells of peaches,
while another may argue that it smells
of apricots. While both might be right,
or wrong, for that matter, the important
fact is that both people smell ripe
tropical fruit. This in turn might
suggest that the wine is from a region
where the grapes achieve considerable
ripeness over a short, hot growing
season. A lot of the fun involved
in tasting wine derives from using
these various indicators to better
understand the wineís origins,
growing conditions and methods of
production.
Regardless of a wine's flavor, the
two basic tastes (sweet & sour)
in combination with the sensations/textures
mentioned above are often more than
adequate for the accurate identification
and assessment of a wine. The late
great wine writer Harry Waugh frequently
out-tasted his peers at many blind
tastings during the last twenty years
of his life, even though he had lost
his sense of smell in an accident.
Waugh, like many great tasters, relied
on the structure and texture of a
wine to provide all the clues necessary
for its identification.
The interplay between fruit (sweetness)
and acid (sourness) is generally referred
to as the BALANCE or STRUCTURE of
a wine. Wines that are excessively
acidic may be considered unbalanced;
similarly, wines that lack sufficient
acidity may be considered flabby or
soft. Acidity, which acts as a preservative
in more ways than one, is crucial
to the longevity of a wine.
ALCOHOL is also crucial to the preservation
of a wine, and contributes to the
extent of its longevity, along with
tannin, sugar, extract and acidity
(in varying degrees). A wine that
is excessively alcoholic may be perceived
as unbalanced. A wine that lacks sufficient
alcohol may be perceived as thin and
(frequently) under-ripe.
OAK contributes tannin to a wine and
aids in its development over time.
It therefore, lends a mild astringency,
in much the same way as tannin does.
Oak also contributes flavor, by way
of aromatics found in the wood and
those that are created during the
charring/toasting process. Some oak
treatment even imparts a suggestion
of residual sweetness, which derives
from the caramelizing of the wood
sap during the toasting process.
When tasting wine, one is always looking
for harmony. A wine that is balanced
in its youth will generally be balanced
in older age. A wine that is imbalanced
when young may "come around",
however, this is not always guaranteed.
If a wine is especially over-ripe,
and therefore overly alcoholic, it
will generally age poorly, and will
tend to turn pruny and stewed-tasting
after a relatively short period of
ageing.
Complicated as the process of wine
tasting may appear to the novice,
it is really a quite logical exercise
once one gets past the apparent mystique
and elitism of the subject. Although
the subject is vast, it is also finite,
fortunately, and can therefore be
mastered, eventually. All it takes
is time, the requisite access to wine,
and lots and lots of practice.
THE TASTE OF WINE
Salt - slightly behind the tip of
the tongue
Sweet - very tip of the tongue
Sour - sides and rear of tongue,
inside of cheeks.
Bitter - back of tongue
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