| Tasting wine is often a daunting process. One of the | | | | thinnest, with almost a tinge of wateriness, while the |
| easiest things to do is decide whether you like a wine | | | | heavy cream is thick and dense. The whole milk falls |
| or not. One of the hardest things to do is to describe | | | | between the two, not as think as the skim milk, but |
| it. We have all been out to dinner, or been to a wine | | | | not as heavy as the cream. Think of wine along |
| tasting, and had someone run through a litany of | | | | those same lines. Is the wine light-bodied, |
| descriptors that made us look down into the glass | | | | medium-bodied or full-bodied? This is a really useful |
| and think to ourselves, "How did they see all that?" | | | | descriptor of a wine. |
| The key is to break it down into simple categories, | | | | Next, let's look at oakiness. Does the wine have no |
| and learn how to describe what it is we taste. This | | | | oakiness or wood in the taste, or does it feel as if |
| creates the building blocks to learn and describe | | | | you just licked a two-by-four? Generally, you do not |
| more. | | | | want a wine that is at either major extreme, unless |
| In tasting wine, put things on a scale. Upon first | | | | you like to lick plywood. But I will doubt that and |
| taste, let's think about the intensity of the wine. | | | | move on, as this is a pretty straightforward attribute. |
| Does it grab you, like a raw onion, or a bite of a | | | | Tannins are the lifelines of the wine. Tannins come |
| Granny Smith apple? Or is it more subtle and | | | | from the skins and stems of the grapes, and on |
| subdued? Put it on a scale of one to ten, and use | | | | taste, can often have a drying feeling. I feel it is well |
| that as a descriptor. It the wine is very intense, and | | | | described by asking yourself this question when you |
| grabs you right away, that is towards the higher end | | | | taste a wine: Does it feel like I just clapped out two |
| of the spectrum, and if it is more subdued, or not | | | | erasers and have the feeling of all that chalk dust in |
| very intense, that is on the bottom part of the | | | | my mouth? If the answer is yes, than you are |
| spectrum. | | | | getting a lot of tannins. A lot of tannins can often |
| Now let's think about the acidity of the wine. Is the | | | | mean that the wine is "shut down" or "too young" |
| wine acidic, or is it sweet? This attribute will generally | | | | and is hard to get a sense of what is really there, as |
| fall somewhere in a range. To take whites for | | | | it is overpowered by the tannins. Again, having some |
| example, if we look at two whites, and one is a | | | | balance in this attribute is often a good thing. Too |
| sauvignon blanc and the other is a California | | | | few tannins can often mean that wine lacks |
| chardonnay, often times the sauvignon blanc will be | | | | structure or an ability to last for the long haul. |
| more crisp and acidic, and the chardonnay will display | | | | The last thing to focus on is complexity. How many |
| more sweetness. Where is the wine you are tasting | | | | flavors do you get when you drink the wine? The |
| fall on that spectrum. By thinking about it this way, | | | | way I like to describe it like making salsa. If I put a |
| you can describe an attribute. For example: "This is a | | | | bunch of chopped-up tomatoes in a bowl, that is 1 |
| very acidic, crisp wine." | | | | flavor (pretty simple structure). If onions are added, |
| In the same vein, ask yourself whether the wine is | | | | another flavor (and certainly a level of intensity!) is |
| dry or sweet. If it is overly dry, you might have a | | | | added. If I add peppers, cilantro and salt, I have |
| mouth feel that you need a drink of a glass water. If | | | | added 3 more flavors, and a great deal more |
| it is overly fruity, it might taste too sweet. Try to | | | | complexity. So ask yourself: how many things can I |
| put this attribute on a spectrum. Sweetness needs to | | | | identify in the taste of this wine? If you can only pick |
| be described in two ways: Versus dryness, and | | | | out one flavor, than it is a simple, straightforward |
| versus acidity. | | | | wine. If you can pick out five or six, than it is a |
| Now let's think about the body of the wine. To best | | | | complex wine. |
| think about the body of a wine, let's make a | | | | So taking all of these tools, and thinking about all of |
| comparison to milk. If you took 3 glasses, and in one | | | | this on a spectrum can you help you describe what |
| glass poured skim, one glass poured whole milk and in | | | | you are taste in the wine. Once you are able to |
| the third poured heavy cream, you would have | | | | more understand your palette and tastes, you can |
| noticed varying degrees of consistency and weight | | | | focus in on the attributes that give you the most |
| to the three different glasses. The skim milk is the | | | | pleasure out of drinking wines. |