WINE TASTING TECHNIQUES

WINE TASTING TECHNIQUES

(Kindly refer to our guidebook for detailed information on 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.

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 fr most often found in sparkling wine

• 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.

Olfactory exam

The olfactory examination is the most complicated evaluation of the entire sensory analysis, since recognising all of the aromas released by a glass of wine can be quite challenging. It is important to hold the glass by the stem, with the taster’s hand as far away as possible from the wine in the bowl of the glass; this will prevent any odour or perfume from interfering with the wine’s aromas. This examination takes into account intensity, complexity, quality, description.

Taste exam

The taste examination represents the third and final step in the sensory analysis of the wine. It is also the summarizing step, since it permits us to draw a final conclusion about the wine being tasted.

The taste of a wine is the product of three different “families” of sensations:

• Flavour: sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness.

• Tactile sensations: pseudo-warmth, smoothness, astringency, prickle, thermal sensation, and weight on the palate

• Retro-nasal or palato-nasal sensations

The retro-nasal or palato-nasal sensations impressions pertain to the final phase of the tasting because they refer to the complex of aromas that one perceives after swallowing and after exhaling through the nose. These sensations afford the opportunity to re-experience some of the impressions already perceived and to actually discover some new ones. This is made possible by the higher temperatures that various substances display after passing through the oral cavity; these higher temperatures encourage the volatilization of these substances.

Serving temperatures

• The ideal temperature at which to serve red wines is around 16-18 o C.

• The ideal temperature at which to serve white wines is around 12 o C.

• The ideal temperature at which to serve sparkling wines and champagnes is around 6-8 o C.