Chapter 1 - Aroma and Taste

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SimplyMag#1--AROMA AND TASTE

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Contents

• Introduction - how to examine wine• Sight• Smell• Blind smelling of spices and juices• Taste• Understanding the taste sensation• Malic acid verses Tartaric acid• Recognising tannins• Assessing the length• Describing the taste• Focused tastings

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Introduction

1. SightLook at the wine and assess its appearance.

2. SmellAssess the aromas and bouquet

3. TasteAssess the palate of the wine (or more accurately – the wine’s affect on your palate)

The three stages of evaluating a wine are:

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Sight

Looking at the wine:

1. Tilt the glass away from you

2. Look at the colour near the rim

3. Look at the colour in the core

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Sight – What to look for

What to look for:

• The degree of clarity

• The intensity of colour

• An indication of the maturity

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Sight – Wine colours

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Smell

Smelling the wine:

1. Swirl the wine in the glass or let it sit for 10 – 15 seconds to build up the aromas.

2. Tilt the glass towards from you and put nose inside the rim.

3. Sniff the aromas.

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Smell – 3 ‘noses’A wine has three ‘noses’:

1. First nose – don’t move the glass – the aim is to detect the most volatile ingredients in the wine.

2. Second nose – gentle swirl contents to accelerate wine’s contact with oxygen. Quite different and frequently more intense.

3. Third nose – after the wine has been aerated for a long time and allowed to rest – taster can evaluate how the aromas develop.

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Smell – Aromas and Bouquet

• Primary odours originate from the grapes – remind us of fruits or flowers.

• Secondary odours come from the wine making process – most common is oak (nutty, charred or woody) and buttery notes (malo-lactic fermentation)

• Tertiary odours come from the ageing process (earthy, tarry)

Aromas(grapes)

Bouquets(wine making)

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Smell – What to look for

What to look for:

• Wine faults

• Intensity of aromas and bouquets

• Fruity aromas

• Wine-making derived bouquets

• Level of complexity

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Smell – Chemical odoursSulphur Dioxide• A necessary evil – acts as a preservative against

oxidation (wine’s worst enemy).• A pronounced white-pepper odour. Piercing and ‘burns’

the bridge of the nose. Sometimes a burnt match odour.

Corked wine• Cork is a bark of a tree, usually disinfected with

potassium hyper-chloride. If doesn’t dry, then becomes mouldy.

• The mould combines with the potassium hyper-chloride and the wine to create a very potent compound Tri-chloroanisole 2,4,6 (TCA). Smells musty, mouldy.

• Even 10 parts per trillion spoils wine (removes the fruit flavours)

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Smell – Odour families

• Aromas and bouquets can be grouped into families.

• White wines rarely smell of red fruits such berries or brown spices such as cloves, nutmeg.

• Red wines rarely smell of white fruits and flowers such as jasmine and apples.

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Blind smelling of juices and spices

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TasteTasting the wine:

1. Huge difference between drinking and tasting – like hearing verses listening.

2. Roll the wine around all your mouth – bring into contact with all parts.

3. Get air into your mouth – accelerates vaporization (you can smell while tasting).

4. After swallow or spit, breathe out through both nose and mouth.

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Taste – 4 principal tongue sensations

Taste buds at the back of the tongue

Taste buds at the sides of the tongue

Tactile senses

Taste buds at the tip of the tongue

“ Bitterness “

“Saltiness”

“Acidity”

“Sweetness” Taste buds at the tip of the tongue

1. Sweetness – a soft, rounded sensation produced as soon as liquid touches the tongue.

2. Saltiness – not a major factor in wine.

3. Acidity – too high makes a wine sharp and green. Too little makes it dull & flabby.

4. Bitterness – at the back of the tongue – part of the balance of a wine.

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Taste – Malic vs. Tartaric Acid

• As grapes ripen malic acid is transformed into tartaric acid.

• Malic acid – detected as a tingling at the back of the jaws and a sherbet like tingling on the tip of the tongue.

• Tartaric acid – detected as a mouth watering salivation underneath the tongue.An indication of origin

Only jaw tingling = Cold climate (Old World)

Only salivation under tongue = Warm climate (New World)

Sherbet-like tingling on tip of tongue + under tongue salivation = Warm Old World or Cool New World

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Taste – Recognising tannins

1. Fine sand-paper like grittiness on the inside of cheeks = quality tannins (usually grape skin)

2. Coarseness on the roof of mouth = tannins from oak barrels.

3. Unpleasant coarseness and bitterness = low quality wine that has been harshly and ‘extractively’ juiced.

Tannins come from both the grapes and the oak barrels. Cause a drying, sandpaper-like effect on the inside cheeks of the mouth.

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Taste – Assessing length

• Count the number of seconds after swallowing or spitting before the fruit flavours disappear from the mouth

• Is called ‘caudalie’ in French – used to assess the extend of the fruit flavours or ‘length’ of the wine.

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Taste – Describing the wine

Acidity – Refreshing, Crisp, Sharp, Tart, Sour, Dull, Flabby

Sweetness – Supple, Ripe, Luscious, Syrupy, Cloying, Sickly sweet

Aroma & Bouquet – See aroma wheel

Length – Short, Medium, Long

Intensity – Pungent, Concentrated, Obvious, Delicate, Dull, Insipid

Bitterness – Acrid, Bitter, Firm, Harsh, Raw, Rough

Tannins – Smooth, Silky, Velvety, Chalky, Big, Aggressive, Woody

Maturity – Young, Youthful, Approachable, Ready, Advanced, Tired

Body (Chapter 2) – Thin, Light, Medium, Full, Rich, Robust

Balance (Chapter 2) – Balanced, Harmonious, Unbalanced, Out of balance

Common Tactile Descriptors