The Craft of Tasting Wine

Posted by Zach Morris on Jan 7, 2011 in School | 0 comments

The Craft of Tasting Wine

With a general understanding of the science of taste, we can begin talking about the craft of wine tasting, the fundamental talent of a sommelier. It is important to view sommeliers as craftsmen rather than scientists or artists. Their most important tool is knowing how to properly taste wine.

The Five “Esses” which form the basis for sensory evaluation of wine are as follows:
1. See

-What you are doing?
With about one ounce of wine in your glass, hold it at a 25° angle over a white piece of paper.

-What you are looking for?

Clarity
The wine should be clear. A hazy or speckled wine may be spoiled. There are only two sorts of deposits that are typically acceptable. Tartrate crystals (which look like large grains of salt) and sediment. Both occur more often in older red wines. Very occasionally, an  unfiltered wine will appear to be cloudy.

Brilliance
Brightness comes from the level of acidity in wine. Wines with too little acidity tend to taste flat and flabby tasting, and may appear dull and listless. A wine with good acid structure will sparkle under the tasting room lights.

Depth
The intensity of color is very important clue to the quality of the wine. White wines tend to darken with age, and low-acid wines tend to darken much quicker. Fermenting or aging white wine in new oak barrels will also darken the wine.
A dry white wine that has darkened to a light brown is most likely spoiled or an older wine. Red wines come in a variety of hues, depending on grape varietal and level of extraction. The darker the wine the taster can expect more intense flavors. As wines grow older, the deep red pigments fade away, and the wine grows lighter in hue.

2. Swirl

-What you are doing?
Holding the stem of the wine glass, the taster traces an “o” pattern with the wineglass, without lifting the base from the table.

-Why you are doing it?
The whirlpool effect draws oxygen into the wine and releases alcohol and flavor compounds. This creates an invisible cloud of aromatics trapped within the bowl of the wine glass.

3. Sniff

-What you are doing?
Sticking your nose into the wineglass and inhaling deeply.

-Why you are doing it?
As we stated in the “Science of Wine Tasting,” most of our sense of taste is actually what we smell.

4. Sip

-What you are doing?
Taking a small sip, and then breathing through pursed lips.

-Why you are doing it?
Coating your tongue with the wine, so as to hit as many taste buds as possible, to capture the mouth-feel of the wine (via the Trigeminal Nerve), and draw the wine’s aromatic molecules up into the nasal cavity to interact with the olfactory gland.
The flavors, flavor-sensations, and sensation of the wine will not hit you at once, but will evolve in those first moments after sipping.

5. Savor

-What you are doing?
Collecting ones thoughts after swallowing or spitting.

-Why you are doing it?
This is the moment one collects ones thoughts on what one has just experienced, and attempts to put it into words. Also, the taster is considering the finish of the wine. How long does the taste linger? Usually a sign of a high quality wine is a long, pleasing aftertaste lasting from 15 to 20 seconds after you’ve swallowed the wine. A persistent finish can last over 45 seconds while its flavors constantly evolve on the palate.

Spit
In the wine industry spitting is very important, and is not considered impolite or socially unacceptable. Distributors, importers, winemakers (and yes, your teacher) need to maintain sobriety to do their jobs effectively. If you are tasting more than four ounces of wine within an hour, it is recommended that the wine taster spits.
A container for that purpose will be provided.
…hence the sixth “S”

Georges Duboeuf 2005 Regnie

Posted by Zach Morris on Jan 3, 2011 in News | 0 comments

Violets, minerals, and fresh purple fruit mark the nose here, and the palate is a fascinating (and consistent) combination of fruit, minerals, and wet stones. There’s great acid here, and a sense of seriousness that some of the more familiar Beaujolais crus might have a hard time attaining. For the price–even for five dollars more!– this is a steal.

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Posted by Zach Morris on Feb 28, 2007 in News | 0 comments

Between the wines we’ve been pouring for the Intermediate course and the ones I’ve tasted both at home and at professional events, I’ve recently found myself drinking a lot of wines that I normally wouldn’t. This, of course, isn’t because I don’t like them, but simply because, like most people, I tend to get stuck in a wine rut.

Let me explain: Like most wine lovers, I have a few styles of wine that I gravitate towards. In my case, these tend to be Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines from Bordeaux’s Left Bank, Grenache-dominated reds from the Southern Rhone, classic and international varietals from Tuscany and Southern Italy, Pinot Noirs from Burgundy and the Russian River Valley, and Gruner Veltliners from Austria. I buy these because I enjoy them, and because I relish any and every opportunity I have to explore them in greater depth. (more…)

A Cellaring Primer

Posted by Zach Morris on Feb 9, 2007 in News | 0 comments

With all the talk of the 2005 vintage in Bordeaux, this is probably a good time to discuss a few strategies for collecting wine. Because the truth of the matter is this: While buying a few bottles to lay down can potentially be one of the most rewarding things a wine lover does (aside from drinking Gaja Barbaresco on someone else’s nickel), it can also be the most heartbreaking.

There’s nothing worse than opening a bottle that has been staring out at you from its shelf in the cellar for the past decade, only to discover that it’s flawed. And whatever that flaw may be—corkage, old age, oxidation, whatever—the fact remains that you’ll likely find yourself almost frighteningly upset.

The sad truth, however, is that all wine collectors should expect this: It happens to the best of us. (more…)