HISTORY OF CHEESE&WINE WINE TASTING TECHNIQUES Food and particularly wines are tasted on the basis of their appearance, aromas and flavors, to establish their sensory profile and consequently their quality. From Wine tasting to Wine drinking, it depends on a series of logical observations dictated by precise techniques, which enable all the various aspects of the wine character to be appreciated. Capturing the true nature of wine requires attention and concentration, great care and passion, but anyone who learns the art is rewarded with great emotions. The process of Wine tasting can be divided into three parts: a visual exam, an olfactory exam and, finally, a tasting exam. 6 Visual exam The visual examination is the first step in the sensory analysis for tasting wines. It gives us information that is often confirmed in the later olfactory and tasting examinations. Visual analysis addresses four aspects of the wine’s appearance: it considers clarity, color, consistency and effervescence. As regards clarity, the wine can be: • veiled: refers to a wine with accentuated opacity and heavy cloudiness • moderately clear: refers to a wine with some suspended particles • crystal clear: refers to a wine completely free from suspended particles with a particularly intense brightness • brilliant: wonderfully bright, often heightened by the presence of carbon dioxide bubbles that reflect the light, so it’s most often found in sparkling wine To judge a wine’s clarity, one must look at it against the light, holding the glass at a 45° angle over a white surface and looking down at the wine from above. If a wine is clear it displays no particles in suspension. Otherwise, it is said to be hazy or fairly clear. If a wine not only shows no suspended particles but also exhibits an intense luminosity, then it can be described as crystal clear. A wine’s color is determined by the length of contact of the must with the grape skins, a process called maceration. A lengthy maceration gives red wines their full red colour, while a partial or brief maceration yields a rosé. Other factors that influence a wine’s colour are the temperature and length of the fermentation process, and the number of pumpovers, a “re-mixing” operation in which the fermenting must is pumped over the grape skins which rise to form a layer, or “cap,” over the fermenting mass.
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BIBENDA WINE 2012 - The Guide to the Finest Italian Wines, 2012, BIBENDA Editore, Roma
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