Two nights ago I opened a bottle of 2007 Silver Palm Cabernet only to find that it didn't quite taste like it did a few days before when I tasted a bottle at work. Last Thursday my boss opened up a bottle of our soon to be new premium cabernet sauvignon by the glass so we could taste it. When I smelled it, it smelled of fresh cherries, and it was really smooth and clean. I thought it was great. This bottle at home smelled a little "hot", meaning I felt like it was going to taste like a wine with a higher alcohol content than what it was. It tasted raisiny and left a bitter aftertaste on my tongue.
I'm not sure what exactly is wrong with this particular bottle, but many wines end up with an "off" taste or smell. This can mean numerous things, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to describe them:
"Corked" wine is something that describes a wine has been tainted by TCA (trichloroanisole). THis is given off by a cork that is tainted. This will make a wine smell moldy or musty, which is often describe as wet newspapers. This is a smell that you won't forget once you've smelled it once. This is actually pretty common, in fact it occurs in about 2-5% of corks. Many producers are working on TCA-free corks or switching to plastic corks to minimize faulty wine.
A wine that has been treated with a high level of sulfur might smell or giving you that feeling in the back of your throat as if a match was struck. Wines with considerable amounts of residual sugar might be treated with higher levels of sulfer to stop refermentation. This usually disappears with time or if you swirl your wine around your glass, although you may feel a parched feeling the next morning.
Oxidation is something that takes a little more time to get familiar with. A wine will taste flat or stale if it is exposed to too much oxygen. A wine will start to brown (similar to a cut apple), but this is obviously easier to see in white wines. Some older wines need the air to open up the esters, one reason why people use decanters for older wines (the other is to keep sediment in the bottle instead of your glass.)
Practice: Set aside a small glass of wine, somewhere where you where you walk past often such as your kitchen counter. Each day take a sniff of the wine and notice how it changes. After a while, if you have the same kind of wine, open a fresh bottle and taste the difference.
There are many other faults to wine, these are just a few of the most common. If you ever come across a wine that is faulted, don't be ashamed to take it back to where you got it and ask for a new bottle. It's common and not really the fault of a producer, especially corked wine, so stores usually get credited for bottles like this, and you deserve to taste the wine the way it was meant to be tasted.
I happened to have a second bottle of Silver Palm so I opened it and compared the two glasses which confirmed my first opinion. This isn't always the case, as I usually only buy one of a bottle, unless it's something I know I enjoy already.
Cheers!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Tasting Basics
Before getting into any details about specific varieties and regions, it's a good idea to know how to taste a wine correctly. This way you can start to piece together what you taste to find similarities and differences between the wines you drink.
Most of us think of flavors when we hear "taste", however, flavor is more of the combination of aromas and taste. Tasting is more how a substance reacts on your tongue; more like a "mouth feel." There are five tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and the lesser known (and understood) umami. The latter is less known and doesn't quite pertain to wine as it does to food, so right now I'll stick to the basic four. For each I will give you a quick way to practice so you can start to notice how each wine reacts with your tongue.
Sweet:
Sweetness is something most wine contains, however, "dry" wines will contain less than 0.38 ounces and often as little as 0.07 ounces of residual sugar per quart. Sugar content will range from 0.35 - 7.0 ounces per quart in wines.
Practice: Take sugar granules and place them on different parts of your tongue at different intervals. Take Notice where on your tongue reacts strongest. For most, this will be at the tip of your tongue. Now, next time you taste wine, notice how strong of a reaction you get in that area and you can start to determine sweetness levels of the wine you drink
Sour:
Sourness on your tongue when you drink wine is the measure of acidity of the wine. This "crisp" taste is more enjoyable to some than others, but acidity is what allows wines to last; without it, a wine will taste "flat" or lack a nice "zip". Too much acid can be unbearable and give the wine a more tart feel in your mouth.
Practice: Take something high in acidity, such as vinegar, or (if you aren't that brave) lemon juice, and take a sniff. Notice how the sides of your tongue almost curl up in anticipation of what is to come. This taste is so strong, the tongue will react act the thought of it before you even taste it. Next, just to prove the point, take a small sip and swish it on your tongue. You should get the reaction the strongest at the same place as when you smelled the substance.
Salty:
Saltiness isn't found much in wine, especially in a very noticeable quantity, but to have a complete take on total mouth feel here's an experiment:
Practice: Make a saline solution by dissolving some salt in water and swish it on your tongue. Notice where you pick up the taste the most. Usually it will be a little in from where you get acid and back. This practice will help you more with tasting food than wine, then again, those two generally go hand in hand.
Bitterness:
This taste is most sensitive at the back of the tongue. Bitterness is also not as important in wine as acidity and sweetness. A few wines can leave a bitter taste in your mouth such as Italian reds. Bitterness is confused with tannin as much as sweetness is confused with "fruitiness". I'll tell you more about this later.
Practice: Put a few drops of bitters on your tongue and move it around and see where it lasts. Bitterness is a taste that doesn't go away quickly, so when you're done it's ok to take a big swig of water.
Now every time you taste a wine, try to take notice of all of these feelings on your tongue. You'll start to see a lot of similarities and differences between varieties. This will help you in pairing wine with food, and also maybe you'll start to notice that some wines you always considered "really sweet" are actually only considered "medium-dry" in the wine world, such as Riesling or Gewürztraminer.
Most of us think of flavors when we hear "taste", however, flavor is more of the combination of aromas and taste. Tasting is more how a substance reacts on your tongue; more like a "mouth feel." There are five tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and the lesser known (and understood) umami. The latter is less known and doesn't quite pertain to wine as it does to food, so right now I'll stick to the basic four. For each I will give you a quick way to practice so you can start to notice how each wine reacts with your tongue.
Sweet:
Sweetness is something most wine contains, however, "dry" wines will contain less than 0.38 ounces and often as little as 0.07 ounces of residual sugar per quart. Sugar content will range from 0.35 - 7.0 ounces per quart in wines.
Practice: Take sugar granules and place them on different parts of your tongue at different intervals. Take Notice where on your tongue reacts strongest. For most, this will be at the tip of your tongue. Now, next time you taste wine, notice how strong of a reaction you get in that area and you can start to determine sweetness levels of the wine you drink
Sour:
Sourness on your tongue when you drink wine is the measure of acidity of the wine. This "crisp" taste is more enjoyable to some than others, but acidity is what allows wines to last; without it, a wine will taste "flat" or lack a nice "zip". Too much acid can be unbearable and give the wine a more tart feel in your mouth.
Practice: Take something high in acidity, such as vinegar, or (if you aren't that brave) lemon juice, and take a sniff. Notice how the sides of your tongue almost curl up in anticipation of what is to come. This taste is so strong, the tongue will react act the thought of it before you even taste it. Next, just to prove the point, take a small sip and swish it on your tongue. You should get the reaction the strongest at the same place as when you smelled the substance.
Salty:
Saltiness isn't found much in wine, especially in a very noticeable quantity, but to have a complete take on total mouth feel here's an experiment:
Practice: Make a saline solution by dissolving some salt in water and swish it on your tongue. Notice where you pick up the taste the most. Usually it will be a little in from where you get acid and back. This practice will help you more with tasting food than wine, then again, those two generally go hand in hand.
Bitterness:
This taste is most sensitive at the back of the tongue. Bitterness is also not as important in wine as acidity and sweetness. A few wines can leave a bitter taste in your mouth such as Italian reds. Bitterness is confused with tannin as much as sweetness is confused with "fruitiness". I'll tell you more about this later.
Practice: Put a few drops of bitters on your tongue and move it around and see where it lasts. Bitterness is a taste that doesn't go away quickly, so when you're done it's ok to take a big swig of water.
Now every time you taste a wine, try to take notice of all of these feelings on your tongue. You'll start to see a lot of similarities and differences between varieties. This will help you in pairing wine with food, and also maybe you'll start to notice that some wines you always considered "really sweet" are actually only considered "medium-dry" in the wine world, such as Riesling or Gewürztraminer.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Welcome!
On September 15, 2010 I will attempt to pass a difficult test to receive another title of achievement in the world of wine. This title is Certified Wine Educator (CWE). I've been actively studying wine for about a year now. By "actively" I mean buying more books, taking notes, and taking practice tests. Last May I tested and passed an exam to become a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW). This title is to show a high level of academic knowledge of wine, wine making, and regions. The next test is to show a very high level of academic knowledge as well as an educated palate.
I've been interested in wine for a few years now, but back then I didn't seem to realize how intriguing the subject is, and how easily it would pull me in. There is so much to learn about wine. It is an endless education process. Besides having to learn all the basics and past great wines, I have to keep up with each year: new vintages, weather, new laws, etc. This requires a lot of reading, tasting, and talking about wine. This is what brings me here. I would like to share what I am learning as well as answer questions to help sharpen my educating ability and experience. I look forward to sharing and hopefully finding followers who share my interest in wine or would like to learn more about this delicious education.
I've been interested in wine for a few years now, but back then I didn't seem to realize how intriguing the subject is, and how easily it would pull me in. There is so much to learn about wine. It is an endless education process. Besides having to learn all the basics and past great wines, I have to keep up with each year: new vintages, weather, new laws, etc. This requires a lot of reading, tasting, and talking about wine. This is what brings me here. I would like to share what I am learning as well as answer questions to help sharpen my educating ability and experience. I look forward to sharing and hopefully finding followers who share my interest in wine or would like to learn more about this delicious education.
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