Tasting plays a very important role in the wine trade. It is by regular tasting that the individual can build up a memory bank of wines that will enable him or her to make qualitative judgements in the future.
Consumer demands are being angled towards more value for the money and with there being ever broader sources of wines available, the public will have to rely on wine trade professional's to help advise to prescreen or make purchases.
It's an important skill at a number of stages in both winemaking and marketing. A winemaker will taste wine during the production process to monitor progress, while blending, and as part of the final quality control checks prior to release. A buyer first, say, a chain of wine merchants or a supermarket will taste a range of similar wines when selecting a new wine to list.
The ablilty to do this can only be gained from experience, and there should be a systematic approach to all tasting.
Preparation For Tasting
In tasting, three senses have a primary role to play:
sight(to analyse the appearance of the wine)
smell(to analyse the nose) and
taste(to analyse the palate)
The sense of touch has a secondary role.
It is imperative that each of these senses should be permitted to operate to maximum effect, thus it is essential that all tasting takes place in as neutral an environment as possible.
It is essential that the location of the tasting is not influenced by outside smells and that the light is suitable. Ideally this should be natural daylight, but daylight fluorescent strip-lighting is the next best thing. The taster should have a white background against which to look at the wine. This can be either thesuface of the tasting bench or, a sheet of plain white paper.
The taster must be as neutral as possible. The palate must be cleansed; any after effects of food, smoking, or even drinking can easily alter one's perceptions of a wine. It can often be helpful to chew a piece of plain bread or take a mouthful of plain water in order to clean the palate.
The smell of tobacco lingers long in clothes, can be all pervading.
Similarly, perfume, hair-laquer and after shave will affect the taste of the wines, probably more so for others than the wearer.
For those who suffer from hayfever, there can only be sympathy; tasting without one of the senses working effectively is that much more difficult.
Finally it is important that there is no smell in the tasting-glass. Detergent, glass cloths and storage boxes can all leave traces; glasses should be clean, both to the eye and the nose, before tasting.
Equipment
What is the ideal tasting-glass? It should be large enough to hold a tasting measure of wine with plenty of space above it. The sides should slope in, a tulip shape, so that the wine can be swirled around to release the smell and to concentrate it at the top, to be nosed. There should also be a stem so that the glass can be held without the temperature affecting the wine and so that the color can be assessed. All of these features have been incorporated in ISO (International Standards Organisation).
For serious tasting there should be a glass available for each wine to be tasted. This makes comparisons more simple and it also allows the taster to leave the wine in the glass and to keep coming back to it, to see how it develops in contact with the air.
The taster should also be equipped with paper on which to make notes. Tasting is very personal, so, of necessity, the notes will also, but a systematic approach will aid future comparison. Notes should be retained and collated, so that comparisons can be made later, either with other wines, or with the same wine at different stages in it's life-cycle.
Much can be kept in the memory, but it is often easier and safer to consign thoughts to paper.
The Wines
The preparation of wines for tasting is also important. to be appreciated at it's best each wine has it's ideal temperature. White wines should be served cool, but not cold. Red wines should be served at room temperature. Wines may be decanted prior to being tasted, for one or two reasons: either to separate the wine from any deposit in the bottle, or to enable it to breathe. For blind tastings, there is another reason: to put it into a neutral bottle.
Of great importance is the order in which wines are tasted. The palate should not be over powered by what has passed before. for white wines, dry should come before sweet. With red wines it is rather more difficult. Some people feel that older wines should be tasted before young ones, because they are likely to be more delicate. There are others who will always start with the young wines, and work backwards in age. As white wines are generally lighter in flavour than reds, they are usually tasted first.
It is also worth remembering, in the context of a serious analytical tasting, that most wines are made to be consumed with food. Thus many Spanish and Italian red wines, for example, may appear harsh when tasted in isolation. On the other hand, they may marry well with the local cuisine, heavily dependant on olive oil.
The Stages of Tasting
Appearance
There is a distinct order in which the senses should be brought into play when tasting wine. Quite naturally, sight is the first to play a role, and a wines appearance is the aspect that most people find easier to describe.
Clarity
Clarity is of vital importance in a wine. Cloudiness is the first indication a taster has that there may be something wrong. It may be caused by one of two things. If the wine is undergoing a re-fermentation in the bottle, or is suffering from bacterial problems, these will be confirmed both on the nose and the palate. The alternative, if it is an old wine it is often difficult to decant them star-bright.
Intensity and Colour
The color of a wine and the intensity of that color are basic features and much can be told from them. To get the true color of a wine, the glass should be held at an angle of 45 degrees away from the taster, against a plain white beckground. This will reveal two distinct colors; the first is in the body, or core, of the wine, the second on it's rim.
Red wines get paler in color as they get older - and the first sign of this age will be on the rim, which will change from purple through ruby to a russet color and then, with great age, one which is distinctly brown.
While it is possible to obtain greater or lesser color extraction from redgrapes, by varying the method of vinification, each grape variety has it's own intensity of color. Indeed, there are certain grapes which are grown soley for adding color to a wine.
White wines will have a broad watery edge and can have a greenish tinge when young but will deepen with age, becoming deep yellow-gold with a greater graduation of color towards the rim. The use of casks, too, can have an effect on the color of a white wine. Often quite young wines can have a golden tint because they have been put into new oak.
When describing the color of a wine, it is essential not to use the simple color like red or yellow. These should be qualified as much as possible.
Red, for example, might be anything fromtawny, through garnet, brick red and ruby to purple. Yellow could be pale strw, lemon or gold. Each of them has a distinctive image.
Other Observations
Thewre are other things to observe in the appearance of a wine "Legs" or "tears" are the traces that are left on the sides of the glass, when swirled round. They usually indicate high alcoholic content or a high level of residual sugar.
In white wines one sometimes comes across a deposit of crystals, looking rather like sugar. These come about as theresult of tartrates precipitating in cold weather; in no way do they affect the quality of the wine.
Sometimes small bubbles may be apparent in what is supposed to be a still, not sparkling, wine. This can indicate one of two things. Either there has been an unwanted secondary fermentation in the bottleor, and this is quite common with young white wines, such as Muscadet sur lie, some residual CO 2 has benn deliberately left in the bottle to maintain the wine's freshness. in the first case the wine will smell of apples and yeast, is unstable and should be rejected. In the second it is an attribute.
Condition
Sulphur Dioxide
Acetic
Oxidation
Intensity
Development
Wines change over time, and their state of development can be assessed on the nose. A youthful wine smells of the primary aromas of the grape(s) used in it's production. With aging, they tend to soften and harmonise better, thus a wine which is more subtle and complex on the nose , is likely to be both mature and higher quality. There is a profound differance between age and maturity, a five -year old cru classe' claret from an outstanding vintage will be mature. Eventually, the nose is likely to become tired, or even oxidised or acetic.
In the technical vocabulary of tasting, aromas are generally percieved to apply to young wines, and are derived from the fruit itself, and the term bouquet applies to the smells which develop as a result of aging, in particular bottle aging.
Fruit Character
Smells and tastes can be classified in a number of ways; these are only some suggestions, with some possible examples:
Floral-the flowery aroma of young Muller-Thurgau German based wines.
Spicey-a Gewurztraminer from Alsace, the vanilla od many oak-treated Australian Chardonnays.
Other smells that may bew found include honey, old leather, smoke and farmyards. The important factor is the retention of these smells in the memory bank, together with the winew to which they are attached.
Although many sweet wines have a distinctive nose, sugar is not volotaile, and therefore cannot be detected by the sense of smell. There are wines such as some trocken wines from Germany, which smell "sweet" and yet are in fact dry.
Taste
Of the major senses used in tasting, the final one is taste. Ideally, this should help confirm impressions already made and add the final impotant details.
In order to liberate the full flavours of a wine a taster will pursue his, or her lips and draw air into the mouth, over the wine while tilting the head slightly forward. It is surprising to what extent a wine will open up in this way as the volatile components are released.
A number of elements in a wine are detected by physiological reactions in the mouth, involving the sense of touch as well as taste. Different facets of the wine's palate are detected by different parts of the tongue and gums, so it is important to expose all parts of the mouth to the wine.
Sweetness
Acidity
Tannin
Body
Alcohol
As "low alcohol" has a specific legal meaning it is safer to refer to wines with little alcohol as being light, rather than low, in alcohol.
Alcohol is an essential ingredient in wine, generally representing about 12% of the total volume. The essential taste of a wine comes from the grapes that have been used and the way they have been treated. Alcohol holds these flavors together, and rounds them off. It is part of the body in a wine, but not the body itself. it is important for the level of alcohol in any wine to be in balance with the level of flavours, thus a full-flavoured wine such as Chateauneuf-de-Pape can support a higher level of alcohol than a delicate Mosel Riesling Kabinett wine.
Fruit Character, Intensity and Length
Conclusions
Whenever possible, one should always taste against a price. If the price is not stated, an estimate of the selling price should be arrived at. Tasting in isolation, is only of limited value. The exercise becomes much more valuable, when inherent cost are both considered.
Finally, while we all have our own likes and dislikes, the professional taster should aim to be as objective as possible in the evaluation of any wine.
TASTING NOTES
It is possible to begin to make qualitative judgement of a wine by just looking at it, but sight is no more than the first step in the progression towards decision making. The second is smell.
Often it is possible to tell the quality of the wine by it's nose. The first thing to consider is the condition of the wine. Is the wine clean, or unclean?
Experienced tasters will exercise caution when the first nosing a wine, giving each wine a gentle sniff first and only afterwards, if all is well, swilling the wine round the glass and taking a deep sniff. This is because some wine faults can adversely affect the sense of smell for some considerable time. The most common faults that can be picked up at this stage are:
Corkiness
This can be recognised by a distinctly musty smell, imparted to the wine by a tainted cork. In faint cases this can be confirmed by tasting. It has nothing to do with any particles of cork which might be found in the first glass of wine when it is poured. These should in no way affect the taste; either that glass should be rejected - or the granules can be picked out.
The smell is perhaps the most aggresive of all, and is common in cheaper white wines, is sulphur. This isused as a preservative and to prevent secondary fermentation in sweeter wines but, used to excess, will give an acrid smell of burnt matches. It can literally get right up your nose and make you wheeze.
This is the smell of vinegar, caused by the presence of vinegar bacteria and oxygen together, usually as a result of very poor practice in the winery.
A wine suffering from this sometimes described as "maderised", ie smelling like burnt wines of Madeira. It can also be recognised visually, the wine having taken a brownish color.
Assuming the wine's condition to be sound, the next step is to decide on the intensity of the aroma, for this can give a hint as to the quality of the wine. A weak smell may indicate a weak, insipid wine; fine wines will normally have a more intense nose, though can sometimes appear "closed" or "dumb", particulary whenyoung. A healthy, pronounced nise is always a good sign. The nose can become insensitive to aromas so tasters devote most concentration to the first deep sniff. The nose can be encouraged by swirling the wine about in the glass to expose more surface area to the air and liberate the aromas or bouquet. Should this not be sufficient then cupping the glass in the palm of one, or even both hands to warm the wine slightly may help.
There is little that is more individual than one's perception of oders or flavours. Each person has in his, or her memory a limited number of tastes and smells. These can be built up with experience_ and then they can be related to the wines of each grape variety, or region.
Fruity-the grapey aroma of young Muscat wines, the black currant taste of young Cabernet Sauvignon, the tropical fruit of many late harvest wines.
Vegetal- the rotton leaves of some old Burgundies, the grassiness of young Sauvignon Blanc.
When the wine is placed in the mouth, the tip of the tongue will react if it is sweet; this explains why sweetness is often the first to become apparent.
The sides of the tongue, towards the back, detect acid so this is normally noticed just after the sweetness, although acidity may continue to show through to the finish. Strong acidity makes the mouth water; wines lacking acidity will be flabby and unappealing. If it is salty ( rather rare in a wine), the sides of the tongue, towards the front will take note and if it is bitter, the middle of the tongue towards the back.
Tannin, which is an important constituent if a wine is to age well, has a drying effect on the gums and tongue, in contrast to the salivating effect of acid. It is most pronounced in young red wines destined for long cellarage. a similar sensation, can sometimes be had from fine red wines that are just past their peak, when they begin to "dry out".
Body, sometimes called "mouthfeel", is the impression of a wine's weight in the mouth. Some wines feel light, and are reffered to as light-bodied; others feel heavy, and are called full-bodied.
Finally the alcohol in a wine, which is difficult to detect unless unusually high or very light, can give a warming sensation at the back of the month.
The fruit characters on the palate should confirm those previously found on the nose, though they may be more or less distinct. However they can be more complex, for there should be three distinct stages in the taste of a wine. the first might be called immediate impression and this may last for only a short time, then comes the middle ground when one obtains the full flavours of a wine in the mouth. Finally, there is the finish or length, the period of time the wine's flavour lingers on the palate after the wines is spat out. This can last for some time, another pointer to quality.
The tasting of any wine must lead to conclusions. These will almost certainly include the level of quality, and state of maturity. As many wines when tasted, are not necessarily ready for drinking , the potential development ofte wine may also need to be considered. In the case of a blind tasting, the vintage and origins, both geographical and varietal may be required. these should lead to an averall estimation of the wine in commercial terms. Whentasting a wine of which is the identity is known, it is important to consider whether or not the observations match the wine. A young Muscat should not,for example have a deep golden color.
In order to assist in tasting and taking notes here is a guide with some examples of terms. This is not intended to be an exclusive list.
____________________________AN APPROACH TO TASTING_____________________
APPEARANCE
Clarity________________________Clear-Dull
Intensity______________________pale-deep
Color__________________________white____________________lemon-gold
_______________________________rose_____________________pink-orange
_______________________________red______________________purple-ruby-tawny
Rim vs Core____________________compare color and intensity
Nose
Condition______________________clean-unclean
Intensity______________________weak_pronounced
Development____________________youthful-mature
Fruit Character________________fruity-floral-vegetal-spicy
Palate
Sweetness__________________________Dry-medium_sweet
Acidity____________________________low-medium-high
Tannin_____________________________light-medium-long
Body_______________________________light-medium-full
Fruit Intensity____________________weak-pronounced
Fruit Character____________________fruity-floral-vegetal-pronounced
Alcohol____________________________light-medium-high
Length_____________________________short-medium-long
Conclusions
Quality____________________________poor-acceptable-good
Maturity___________________________immature-ready to drink