Recork

BY RICCARDO TARABELSI

Recaps occur all the time. Sports broadcasters recap a game. Company managers recap meetings with staff. People recap their vacations on Facebook. I thought I would recap or, in this case, recork one of my favorite classes to teach: Wine 101.

After pouring everyone a white wine and red wine, we proceed to do what is called a blind tasting. Doing a blind tasting of wines is probably one of the most effective and educational ways to improve your palate as you try to discern the nuances of a wine using your senses. What tasting blind (it’s not actually done blindfolded) means is tasting a wine that has been poured for you without you witnessing which bottled it was poured out of. Most of us, including myself, rely on our sensory memory to “predict” what aromas we might smell or what flavors we might taste in a Pinot Noir, for example. But when you don’t know anything about the wine sitting in front of you, except for that it is red or white, you must depend on your senses to do the detective work. Here are some tips on how to identify a mystery wine by using all of your senses:

First up is your sense of sight.

Using your eyes to help you identify a wine is greatly underestimated. There is lots of information that can be gathered by simply looking at the unidentified wine. Start with the color. Wines have a distinct color according to the variety of grape used in its production. Rieslings tend to be very light and almost white, while Chardonnays have a fuller golden hue. Gewurztraminers

look like an apricot melted into your glass. Pinot Noir is a very light-colored red grape, while Cabernet has distinct purple hues, and Grenache displays inky, black depths.

Also note the viscosity, which is displayed by the way the wine clings to the side of the glass. A wine high in viscosity will have higher levels of glycerine, an indication of both sweetness and body. Crisp, clean whites will run down the sides into the bottom of the glass where a full or sweet wine will slide slowly down. Viscosity is also a good way to judge the level of alcohol. A high alcohol content is evidenced by the “tears” or “legs” of the wine, which gently run down the side of the glass when you swirl the wine. Wines high in alcohol have well-defined legs that crawl slowly back towards the wine. A general rule to follow is that wines from warm growing regions are higher in alcohol than wines from cooler climates. Wondering if the white you are tasting is a Riesling from Germany or Australia? Well, Australia is warm, and Germany is (relatively) not, so how high is the alcohol content?

Next, on to your nose and your sense of smell.

The aroma of the wine is the most important factor in determining what the wine is. The palate can differentiate only five different tastes, but the nose can identify up to 180 different aromas. Grape varietals have certain characteristics that are common to wines made of that grape. Chardonnays smell like golden apples and tropical fruits. Pinot Noirs have aromas of flowers and red fruits. While you don’t need to be able to say, “This wine has passion fruit, it must be a Chardonnay,” any fruits or spices that you can memorize will help you to ascertain the wine’s origin. One thing to remember is that sense memory is based on memory. If you have never had a Chardonnay, how can you expect to remember what it smells like? Practice is very important.

There are several clues to be found in the scent. Does the wine

smell hot? That can be an indicator of high alcohol, which, as we know, is an indicator of climate. Do you smell a lot of fruit or more earth? Wines from the new world (Australia, the U.S., and South America) tend to be very fruit forward. On the other hand, wines from the “old world” regions of western Europe tend to have more complex earthen aromas. These are not hard and fast rules, but guidelines. They do, however, bring a few more pieces to the puzzle.

Your sense of taste is next as you sip the wine.

Roll it around the inside of your mouth so that it coats all parts of your tongue. Each part of the tongue identifies different sensations, so it is important to hit them all. Can you taste any residual sugar? Is the wine high in acidity or tannins? Is it simple or complex? Is it of a low or high quality? These and many other questions can be answered with the palate. Certain grapes are high in residual sugar such as Riesling, Pinot Blanc, and Gewurztraminer. Others are high in tannins such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Nebbiolo. A wine that has just one flavor or aroma is called simple, while wines with many flavors and aromas are considered to be complex. Complexity is a sign of quality. These are all clues to the wine’s origin, style, and age.

Let’s not forget your sense of touch.

There is always a certain “feel” a wine has in terms of its style that could possibly give you a clue as to its origin. A full-bodied wine will feel heavy, while a light-bodied wine will feel transparent.

At the end you must add everything that you have learned about the wine and put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Making a correct assessment of a glass of wine is never easy. Do not get discouraged by wrong answers. Practicing this blind tasting method will help develop your sense of sight, smell, and taste as well as develop your sensory memory as you discover the identity of the wines you taste. Carpe Vino!

Riccardo and Marybeth are the owners of R Wine Bar & Kitchen on the East Bank of Downtown Sioux Falls. They have three sons, Dante, Berent, and Jaxon and three dogs, Hershey, Palfrey, and Vinny. For all of your wine questions or comments, contact Riccardo at riccardo@rwinebar.com.

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