| Wine Tasting |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Vintner's Exclusive Wines Inc. Serving Brampton and Surrounding areas for all wine making needs |
Testing Wines
Novices stare in wonder as wine experts tilt, swirl, sniff, gurgle and swallow during the wine testing process. Is
it really necessary? Yes, these five steps ensure that every nuance of a wine's color, body, aroma, flavor and
aftertaste is captured and can be describes by the taster.
Let's discuss the 5 steps of wine tasting
Color and Clarity
1. Tilt red wines (in your glass) away from you against a white background, such as a white tablecloth or white
piece of paper or place mat. Look at the outer edge or lip of the wine if the color of the wine is dark/red that
goes all the way out to the edge then that's the sign of a very young wine. In older red wine the color fades to
a brown/red and recedes towards the middle of the glass leaving a wide clear lip. This is called "color
separation". To a lesser extent the same is true of rose wines. As white wine age they oxidize or "maderize"
and turn tawny brown like Madeira.
Experts also sometime hold red wines up to the light to judge their color and clarity. Cloudy wines are an
indication of possible contamination, unless it is sediment common in very old re wines. This sediment will have
to be filtered through a strainer or (coffee filter) as the wine is decanted. Don't drink the sediment.
To judge the clarity of white wines, place the wine glass on the table and look straight down into the wine the
greater the clarity, the more brilliant the wine, and it will sparkle like diamonds.
Body
2. Swirl the wine to judge it's body or viscosity. First swirl vigorously. Then stop and wait for the formation of
"legs" (clear tears) that fall back into the wine. The thicker the legs, and the more slowly they fall, the full bodied
the wine. Very light white wines, such as German Riesling, have virtually no legs and look almost like water.
Sweet,luscious dessert wines invariably have the most viscosity and thinker legs. Some wine experts "chew"
the wine in their mouth to judge it's body (and tannin and flavor)
Aroma
3. To judge the aroma swirl the wine in your glass before sniffing deeply. Glasses should be no more than 1/3
full so that you can swirl without spilling. Swirling vapourizes the wine and releases the molecules of aroma that
must travel through your nasal passages to reach the nerve receptors waiting to snatch them and tell your
brain what they smell like -yeast or toast and apple or pear aromas.
In general red wines have more intense and varied aromas than white wines. When young reds exhibit lots of
berry aromas with perhaps mint, spice, licorice or chocolate. As red wines age they develop more raisin and
dried plum aromas, until they oxidize, become too old and smell vinegar. White wines follow a similar
progression but end up smalling like bad sherry when they're over the hill or "Mort", Dead, as the French say.
Sweetness, Saltiness, Acidity & Tannin
4.Sip a small mouthful of wine roll it around your tongue and do the wine "gurgle". To gurgle the wine hold it in
the middle of your tongue while you part your lips very slightly and carefully suck in some air. This wine gurgling
vaporizes more molecules of the wine so that you can get an intense impression of its sweetness, saltiness,
acidity and tannin or astringency and bitterness. If the wine is very sweet it creates a tinging at the tip of the
tongue. If the wine is very high in acidity you will feel a "needles and pins" sensation on the sides of you
tongue. There is only one salty wine that i know of is Manzanilla Sherry. It is aged in barrels placed by the sea in
southwest of Spain so that the salty ocean air penetrates the wood and gives the wine a slightly salty taste.
Which makes Manzanilla the perfect sherry for tapas and appetizers. And if the wine has a lot of tannin (from
black grape skins and oak barrels) then you will feel a dry sensation on the surface of your tongue and
throughout your pallet. This tannin acid in tea. Young red wines have a lot of tannin from the sources just
mentioned. But this tannin acts as a natural preservative and antioxidant in red wines, which is why they live
longer then most white wines. The tannin explains the health benefits of drinking red wines such as keeping
arteries clear of plaque and lowering the incidence of heart disease. Tannin in red wines also helps digest high
fat foods such as cheese and red meat. That's why red wines are used to marinate meat and why the protein in
cheese actually pulls out some of the tannin in red wines making them smoother.
Concentration and Aftertaste
5. The greatest wines have deep fruit concentration in the middle range of the tasting process just before you
swallow. Certain red grape varieties, such as Merlot, are known for tasting watery instead of concentrated
which is why wine makers call Merlot the grape with the "hole in the middle". Swallow at least some of the wine
to judge the aftertaste or finish. Some experts always spit instead of swallowing but I believe you have to taste
at least a little bit of the wine to get a more accurate assessment of its properties. Great wines have a long
lingering pleasant finish> This is called the "memory" of the wine. When you consider the price of the best wines
it well worth training your taste buds and wine memory because that and bragging rights will be all you have
left.
By Anita L Laraia
Novices stare in wonder as wine experts tilt, swirl, sniff, gurgle and swallow during the wine testing process. Is
it really necessary? Yes, these five steps ensure that every nuance of a wine's color, body, aroma, flavor and
aftertaste is captured and can be describes by the taster.
Let's discuss the 5 steps of wine tasting
Color and Clarity
1. Tilt red wines (in your glass) away from you against a white background, such as a white tablecloth or white
piece of paper or place mat. Look at the outer edge or lip of the wine if the color of the wine is dark/red that
goes all the way out to the edge then that's the sign of a very young wine. In older red wine the color fades to
a brown/red and recedes towards the middle of the glass leaving a wide clear lip. This is called "color
separation". To a lesser extent the same is true of rose wines. As white wine age they oxidize or "maderize"
and turn tawny brown like Madeira.
Experts also sometime hold red wines up to the light to judge their color and clarity. Cloudy wines are an
indication of possible contamination, unless it is sediment common in very old re wines. This sediment will have
to be filtered through a strainer or (coffee filter) as the wine is decanted. Don't drink the sediment.
To judge the clarity of white wines, place the wine glass on the table and look straight down into the wine the
greater the clarity, the more brilliant the wine, and it will sparkle like diamonds.
Body
2. Swirl the wine to judge it's body or viscosity. First swirl vigorously. Then stop and wait for the formation of
"legs" (clear tears) that fall back into the wine. The thicker the legs, and the more slowly they fall, the full bodied
the wine. Very light white wines, such as German Riesling, have virtually no legs and look almost like water.
Sweet,luscious dessert wines invariably have the most viscosity and thinker legs. Some wine experts "chew"
the wine in their mouth to judge it's body (and tannin and flavor)
Aroma
3. To judge the aroma swirl the wine in your glass before sniffing deeply. Glasses should be no more than 1/3
full so that you can swirl without spilling. Swirling vapourizes the wine and releases the molecules of aroma that
must travel through your nasal passages to reach the nerve receptors waiting to snatch them and tell your
brain what they smell like -yeast or toast and apple or pear aromas.
In general red wines have more intense and varied aromas than white wines. When young reds exhibit lots of
berry aromas with perhaps mint, spice, licorice or chocolate. As red wines age they develop more raisin and
dried plum aromas, until they oxidize, become too old and smell vinegar. White wines follow a similar
progression but end up smalling like bad sherry when they're over the hill or "Mort", Dead, as the French say.
Sweetness, Saltiness, Acidity & Tannin
4.Sip a small mouthful of wine roll it around your tongue and do the wine "gurgle". To gurgle the wine hold it in
the middle of your tongue while you part your lips very slightly and carefully suck in some air. This wine gurgling
vaporizes more molecules of the wine so that you can get an intense impression of its sweetness, saltiness,
acidity and tannin or astringency and bitterness. If the wine is very sweet it creates a tinging at the tip of the
tongue. If the wine is very high in acidity you will feel a "needles and pins" sensation on the sides of you
tongue. There is only one salty wine that i know of is Manzanilla Sherry. It is aged in barrels placed by the sea in
southwest of Spain so that the salty ocean air penetrates the wood and gives the wine a slightly salty taste.
Which makes Manzanilla the perfect sherry for tapas and appetizers. And if the wine has a lot of tannin (from
black grape skins and oak barrels) then you will feel a dry sensation on the surface of your tongue and
throughout your pallet. This tannin acid in tea. Young red wines have a lot of tannin from the sources just
mentioned. But this tannin acts as a natural preservative and antioxidant in red wines, which is why they live
longer then most white wines. The tannin explains the health benefits of drinking red wines such as keeping
arteries clear of plaque and lowering the incidence of heart disease. Tannin in red wines also helps digest high
fat foods such as cheese and red meat. That's why red wines are used to marinate meat and why the protein in
cheese actually pulls out some of the tannin in red wines making them smoother.
Concentration and Aftertaste
5. The greatest wines have deep fruit concentration in the middle range of the tasting process just before you
swallow. Certain red grape varieties, such as Merlot, are known for tasting watery instead of concentrated
which is why wine makers call Merlot the grape with the "hole in the middle". Swallow at least some of the wine
to judge the aftertaste or finish. Some experts always spit instead of swallowing but I believe you have to taste
at least a little bit of the wine to get a more accurate assessment of its properties. Great wines have a long
lingering pleasant finish> This is called the "memory" of the wine. When you consider the price of the best wines
it well worth training your taste buds and wine memory because that and bragging rights will be all you have
left.
By Anita L Laraia