September 8, 2008

So what do you look for when you smell a wine? I have had many ask me this question with their noses deep inside a wine glass. Of course you look for any off flavors, bad aromas, etc. but what about that really nice bottle of wine you just bought, how do you describe it? You have seen the fancy descriptions; hints of cedar box, pencil lead, car oil..Ok hopefully not that one!

You should first divide your thinking into two components: taste and aromas which together will give you an over all impression of your wine. Let’s start with aromas and the typical family scents; does it smell fruity, floral, vegetal, woody, spicy or toasty? It takes practice to discern these but give it a try and compare your thoughts with your friends.

Some typical aromas for various varieties include: Cabernet Sauvignon: raspberry, blackcurrant, green pepper, licorice, clove, smoke; Cabernet Franc: raspberry, redcurrant, blackcurrant, cherry and smoke and Merlot: blackcurrant, blackberry licorice, coffee, truffle; and Pinot Noir: raspberry, blackcurrant, cherry, violet, licorice. There are aromatic products you can buy that assist you in identifying these aromas. Le Nez for example provides small bottles filled with such aromas that are to “tune” your nose accordingly, so that you can identify say cherry.

Now let’s taste the wine. The sense of taste includes acid, sweet, salty or bitter, astringent or refreshing. Think of the taste you sense in your mouth, using the tasting method I described in my prior newsletter. Really swirl the wine all over your mouth noting the flavors and see if you can recall what they remind you of. Remember you can not go wrong here as it is what you think it tastes like not what someone wrote in a book as each of us have unique tastes.

Write down your thoughts and do so on other wines and you will soon find some fun comparisons and flavors that you will notice over and over again. It too takes some practice but you have to start somewhere before you can tell if it is a full bodied, complex, vibrant, broad, with copious quantities of soft tannins wine!!!!

 

May 7, 2008

In a recent visit to a winery with some friends I noticed that most people do not really know how to “taste wine”. Aside from the put it in your mouth and slide it down your throat taste, there is another way that will actually enhance your wine tasting experience! Try cupping the wine with your tongue and without swallowing the wine, breathe in air so that it goes across the held wine. You may hear a sucking sound or slurping noise as you do this which is very normal, but your mouth fills with the aromas and heightens your taste buds. Then chew the wine, rolling it all around your mouth before swallowing it. You will notice a big difference in your “taste” of the wine!

I have also been asked by a number of people with all the rain we got this year: “do the rains or flooding hurt the vines?” The answer here is no. The vines go into a dormant stage following harvest; that is the leaves fall off the vine, it becomes “hardened”, and it literally goes into a period of rest. Biologically the vine seals itself against the loss of water, creating a “leak-proof” vine that holds its own moisture within until the warmth of the sun in spring awakens it. If you ever cut into a vine during this period you will notice large water droplets form and water trickles out of the vine for this very reason. It is also the basis for why very cold temperatures or severe frost can injure or kill a vine. But how then can vines survive in “cold” states you ask? Different hybrid or vine varieties exist that are more tolerant of bitter temperatures and hence are used there to grow grape varieties.

 

November, 2007

So you have just ordered your favorite bottle of wine at the restaurant and the wine steward or waitress opens the bottle, pulling the cork and placing it in front of you; do you smell it, read it, leave it alone and where did this practice come from? Many would say smell it, which has somehow become in vogue, yet smelling a cork will tell you little of the wine or the cork (unless you enjoy the smell of corks)! The practice was started many, many, years ago as a means to prove that the wine you ordered was in fact what you were getting. Reading the cork for the brand and the date ensures that your bottle was not switched or filled with a different year’s juice! Today this ritual is still practiced but many wines no longer date stamp the corks so its true purpose has somewhat faded with time.

Did you know:

One of the most contentious issues among wine makers today, is the debate on the use of cork vs. screw caps. Alternatives were sought after the traditional use of cork has produced in some cases a “corked wine” or traces of a chemical known as TCA that produces off flavors. The screw cap is one of the most popular alternatives to cork and is gaining popularity among various wineries. However recent studies conducted, have shown that “rubber/struck flint” off flavors have been detected and attributable to the lack of oxygen, adding more controversy to the issue.
One of the benefits to using corks is its ability to let the wine still breathe and evolve over time and in our case, since we use cork, there is still something traditional and irreplaceable about pulling a wine bottle cork and hearing that magical sound!