Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 26, 1994 TAG: 9411070009
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH CRITTENDEN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Wine is a product to be tasted, enjoyed and savored. Different wines present so many taste variations and intricacies of the grape that it could be explored forever.
The art of tasting wine may seem silly to those not familiar with the reasons behind the actions, so the following is a quick overview on tasting techniques for new wine tasters as well as seasoned professionals.
Wine-tasting techniques
Always hold a wine glass by the stem instead of the bowl to avoid warming it up with your hands. Generally, red wines should be served at "cellar" temperature, about 10 to 15 degrees below room temperature. Most white wine is best chilled and it is generally thought the finer the wine, the less chilling is needed and vice versa. Champagne and sparkling wines should be served cold. No wines taste good when they are warmer than room temperature, since the warmth overemphasizes the alcohol, which will mask most every other characteristic in the glass.
Sight: The least important of the wine tasting senses, sight does give you some clues about the wine you are about to taste.
With the glass vertical, view the wine from directly above. Then tilt the glass and view the wine at an angle, preferably against a white backdrop. Finally, swirl it and look at it horizontally across the glass to see the legs or arches on the glass. These actions take note of the appearance and color of the wine. The still wine in the glass should be clear, bright and free of sediment. Sparkling wine and champagne will have the signature bubbles, and the smaller they are, the better the quality of wine.
Legs, or the heavier drips running down the inside of your glass after you swirl, are an indication of the wine's viscosity: how thick or heavy it is, which is caused by a higher alcohol content and/or a higher proportion of natural sugar remaining after fermentation. Many times these legs, or a lack thereof, are a product of the surface and cleanliness of the glass itself, so are unreliable when judging a wine.
The color of a wine is also judged by sight. Newer red wines will have a bright red or purple color and will change to more of a brick red or brownish with age. White wines change as well, darkening to a deeper gold or losing their greenish or straw color as they age.
Smell: Before swirling, smell the wine while still to pick up the varietal characteristics. Next, swirl the wine and smell it immediately. You should pick up heavier, more intense smells, which will probably change as the wine settles again. Wines that are termed more complex are not one-dimensional and simple; you may pick up layer upon layer of different scents and tastes as the wine swirls and settles and is tasted on different parts of your tongue. Some wine lovers use different variations of the nose-in-the-glass to pick up different scents, such as nose on the bottom rim, nose next to the upper rim and one nostril at a time. To the casual taster or when enjoying wine with dinner, this may be a little excessive!
When you smell a wine you should note five categories: cleanliness (no unpleasant odors), intensity, grape variety (the key to a wine's character), nongrape smells (the most common of which is the use of new or old wood in which the wine was aged) and aroma and bouquet (aroma refers to the smells associated with the grape and bouquet refers to the smells associated with mature wines and those that develop as wines age). Smells can be purely subjective, and there are thousands and thousands of options to compare.
Taste: Tastes are simpler than smells, since we can isolate just four of them: sweet, salty, bitter and acid. They are sensed by taste buds located in different parts of your mouth, hence the need for swirling the wine inside your mouth.
To taste the wine, take a sip about the size of a large teaspoonful. Roll it all around your mouth and swallow a little. Now aerate it in your mouth by sucking in a little air through your lips - also called an inverted whistle (try to whistle by sucking air in instead of blowing it out). Be careful for obvious reasons, especially if you are tasting red wine on a white rug! Swallow the rest (or some professionals spit) and breathe out through your nose.
It sounds complicated, but once you have practiced a few times, you'll be tasting like this without even realizing it.
Take note of the initial contact of the wine with your tongue; is it soft or harsh, etc.
Note how the flavors develop and how they are sustained. And finally, notice the finish on the wine, which is the impression it leaves in your mouth. A short finish is when the tastes disappear right away and a long finish is when you continue to feel and taste the wine long after you swallow.
This method is not intended for use with every sip of wine you take. Life is too short! But when you are sampling a new wine or tasting one not experienced in awhile, these tips can enhance your enjoyment and give new meaning to wine tasting.
If you would like to try out your new-found knowledge, come to the Wine Society tasting tomorrow night at 7 p.m., to try French wines from Rhone and Provence.
This month's tasting will be held at Billy's Ritz in downtown Roanoke. Cheers!
by CNB