tasting wine

8/3/2019 Tasting Wine

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Tasting WineThere's more to tasting a glass of wine than throwing it down your gullet. We'll start slow.

Colour

Hold the glass over a white background, like a napkin or tablecloth. Colour varies withage, varietal (i.e. Chardonnay is darker than Riesling) and time spent in the barrel. Whitewines range from almost clear to pale yellow-green, straw/yellow, light gold, gold or oldgold, to maderized brown. Reds can be magenta, purple, ruby red, red, eggplant, brick redor orange, red brown and finally, brown. (If you're not drinking Sherry or Madeira, brown is not a good thing.)

Swirl

Swirl the wine to aerate it. This releases ethers, esters and aldehydes that combine withoxygen to bring you the wine's aroma or bouquet. It doesn't take much practice, but if you're just learning, start with a white or dress down.

Nose

Follow yours. First: the flaws. If there's a moldy, wet cardboard aroma it may be "corky"or tainted. Drink not, or suffer the consequences. Sulfur (burnt match) aromas maydissipate with a little air time or may not even bother you too much, but too much sulfur dioxide is a problem. If your wine smells like Sherry but isn't, that's a problem. Likewise

for vinegar. If a wine smells clean, fresh, and ripe to you, get out of the embarrassingtasting spotlight and motion for the waiter to pour. Only cigar smokers swish andcontemplate the "legs" of a wine. The "nose" should also be faithful to the grape's variety,which is something you have to learn over time.

Taste

Skip the sip. Soak your taste buds by taking a decent mouthful and rolling it around.Sweetness is detected at the tip of the tongue, so you'll be aware of residual sugar rightaway. Varietal characteristics are picked up in the middle of the tongue; tannin (in mostreds and wood-aged white) starts there. Acidity hits the sides of the tongue, the cheeks

and the back of the throat. Oak — despite all the faux connoisseurs waxing poetic abouta Chardonnay's "complex oakiness," the presence of oak is usually a negative attribute.Many delicious wines are appropriately aged in oak barrels, a process that enhances awine's body and viscosity. Many domestic whites under $15 are not just aged in oak butalso oak-fermented — that is, artificially sweetened with oak chips, powders, andessences. The process disguises the natural flavour of the grape varietal with what is alltoo often the rough-hewn sweetness of, say, burnt caramel popcorn. Too much of any oneflavour almost always means it's out of whack. Aftertaste is what lingers after you



swallow. A long pleasing aftertaste with a nice balance of the other components is thesign of a high quality wine. A big part of the taste will come from the temperature thewine is served. This can be easily be controlled with a wine fridge, to ensure each bottlestays the ideal temperature.

FinishWhat was the body of the wine like? Light (like skim milk), medium (like whole), or full bodied (like cream)? If it was a white wine, how was the acidity? Too little and flat? Justright, crispy, fresh and pleasing, or too high and burning your mouth? For a red wine,tannins are a big factor. Light tannins make for a soft wine. They can be present, ripe and pleasing, or too high, leaving a dry mouth feeling that may indicate some cellar time isneeded to chill out. How long did the "finish" last? A couple of seconds, or much longer,as great wines tend to? Is it ready to drink? Are all of these components appealing toyou? Is it worth the price? Can you think of a food it might go well with? And mostimportant: was it good for you?

With Food.

Remember, red wine is not necessarily more sophisticated than white, and not necessarilythe only choice with meat. In fact, because whites are generally lighter in weight thanreds, they lend themselves more easily to a wider range of foods. While there are anynumber of great sipping wines, light- to medium-bodied wines that are high in acidity andsugar and low in alcohol tend to be the most flexible and complimentary to our lighter,more dynamic diets. Food-friendly whites include Riesling, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc;the best choices among the reds are Cabernet Franc, Barbera, Gamay, Pinot Noir.

By Region

Regional wine qualities tend to reflect the specifics of regional cuisines. So picking aregion to tour often means choosing what kind of food you want to eat for ten daysstraight. Here are Gluckstern's top wine picks in Europe:

Northern Italy: Piemonte and the Veneto are greatly influenced by the rich subtelty of their butter-worshipping French and Swiss neighbors. Whites: From Piemonte, PinotBianco, Soave, Pinot Grigio with shellfish and fish; the sparkling Prosecco from theVeneto. Reds: Franciacorta Rosso (Cabernet Franc, Barbera, and Merlot) with meat;Amarone (Molinara, Rodinella and Corvina), Barbera, and young Nebbiolo with lamband game.

Central Italy: Trendy cuisine from Tuscany and Chianti favors lighter pastas, vegetablesand seafood. Whites: Verdicchio, Orvieto (Trebbiano and Garbanega), Vernaccia di SanGimignano. Reds: Sangiovese, Morellino, Rosso di Montalcino, Chiantis, Vino Nobile diMontepulciano, Brunello di Montalcino. For tricky-to-pair cured hams and cheeses,fruitier reds are a good choice: Valpolicella (Corvina, Molinara, Rodinella), Barbera,Dolcetto, Ruffina.



Sicily and the South: Campagna and Sardegna—land of hard sheep's milk cheese, saltyfish, tomatoes and plenty of garlic—favor sweeter, prunier wines like Greco and Fianofrom Campagna and Vermentino from Sardegna.

Northern and Central France: Delicate butter and cream sauces paired with exquisite vealstock reductions and tarragon call for great big wines that have high acidity. For fish or vegetables in light cream sauces, escargot, and oysters: Loire Chenins (Vouvray andMontlouis), Loire Sauvignons (Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé), and Champagne. For veal, pork, and white meat birds: Loire Cabernet Francs (Saumur, Chinon, Bourgueil) and theGamay wines of Beaujolais. For red meat and game: Bordeaux and red Burgundies.

Provence and Southwestern France: Like Southern Italy, salty fish, tomato sauces, peppers, olive oil, and herbs go well with the regions many rosés and Ugni Blanc fromCascogne. With light meats and heavy seafood, Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne, Côtes-du-Rhône Blanc, Condrieu, and Hermitage Blanc. Heavy goose liver pâté and duck can

take heavy black wines like Cahors (Malbec), Madiran (Tannat), Bandol (Mourvèdre),and Syrah-Grenache (blends from Châteauneauf du Pape, Gigondas, Côtes de Roussillon,CÔtes de Lubéron, Corbieres, St. Chinian, and Minervois) and northern Rhône Syrahslike Cornas, Côte-Rôtie, and Hermitage.

Alsace: For the cuisine of this region, which is heavily influenced by its potato-, goose-,and sauerkraut-eating German neighbors, heavy aromatic whites are in order: AlsacePinot Blanc, Tokay-Pinot Gris and the flowery and fruity Gewürztraminer.

Germany: Wines that are high in acid provide a necessary counterbalance to the fatty, bland, carb-and-meat-centric northern European diet. The Mosel Rieslings are citrusy,whereas Rhine River wines tend to smell vaguely of peaches. Nahe River wines are acombination of the two. Rheinhessen wines tend to have smoky undertones to their fruityflavour. Wines from the Rheingau region are dry. The increasingly popular Rheinpfaltz(or just "Pfaltz") style is both full and fruity and includes Gewürztraminer, Scheurebe,Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir), and Chardonnay.

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