Comparison of Wine Tasting

Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine to establish the complexity, character, potential (suitability for aging or drinking), and possible faults.[1] The final perception of wine tasting results from interactions between the senses of sight, smell, and taste.

Sight

A wine's color is better judged by putting it against a white background. The wine glass is put at an angle in order to see the colors. Colors can give the taster clues to the grape variety, and whether the wine was aged in wood.[1]

Typically, industrial mass producers of wine use filtration to make the wine more visually appealing to the consumer. However, the use of filtration is a controversial subject in winemaking, because some of a wine's flavor, aging potential, and complexity come from some of the particles suspended during the filtration process.[2] One of the world's leading wine experts, Karen MacNeil, states that filtration strips the wine of too much of its natural flavors and characteristics,[3] while lack of clarity and brightness do not necessarily affect the taste of wine negatively.[2] Reasonably, artisan winemakers reject filtration in order to conserve the full flavors and characteristics of the wine. Furthermore, some winemakers will add the phrase "unfiltered" to their wine label, to show proudly that their wine preserves its full genuine quality.[4] Normally, the consumers of some premium wines from artisan winemakers may expect to see some natural tartrates and sediment as the wine ages.[5]

Flavor = Smell and Taste

The sensory impression of the flavor of wine is determined principally by the two main chemical senses of smell and taste.[6] Note that flavor is not the same as taste. Flavor includes the smell of a food item as well as its taste.[7] Moreover, the sense of smell is the main determinant of flavor.[6] Approximately 80% of what we taste is actually attributed to the sense of smell; and, all the flavors we taste are actually determined by the sense of smell.[8] While proper smell occurs during inhalation through the nose, the contribution of the sense of smell to the sensing of flavors in the mouth occurs during the exhalation phase through the mouth. Also, the smell of food is perceived differently during an initial proper smell and a subsequent tasting in the mouth.[9,6]

Wine Tasting

The five basic steps in tasting wine are recognized to begin with the letter "s"[1,10]:

1. See color and textures.
2. Swirl to aerate.
3. Sniff for smell.
4. Sip for taste.
5. Savor (including aftertaste[11]).

The following table summarizes in brief and compares the common wine tasting sensory descriptors of flavors and aromas for common red and white wine varietals.[1] Although the properties of the same wine varietal from different wineries may be quite different, the following summary provides a general indication of typical wine tasting expectations.

Red Wines	Common Sensory Descriptors
Cabernet Sauvignon	blackcurrants, eucalyptus, chocolate, tobacco.
Merlot	black cherry, plums, tomato.
Shiraz	tobacco, black/white pepper, blackberry, smoke.
Petite Syrah	earthy, black pepper, dark fruits.
Pinot Noir	raspberry, cherry, violets, "farmyard" (with age), truffles.
Zinfandel	black cherry, pepper, mixed spices, mint.
Grenache	smoky, pepper, raspberry.
White Wines	Common Sensory Descriptors
Chardonnay	butter, melon, apple, pineapple, vanilla (if oaked, e.g., vinified or aged in new oak aging barrels).
Riesling	citrus fruits, peach, honey,[1] flowers, tropical fruits, mineral stone (such as slate or quartz), petrol note (with age).[12,13]
Gewürztraminer	rose petals, lychee, spice.
Sauvignon Blanc	gooseberry, lime, asparagus, cut grass, bell pepper (capsicum), grapefruit, passion fruit, guava.
Pinot Grigio	white peach, pear, apricot.
Muscat	honey, grapes, lime.
Sémillon	honey, orange, lime.

 

References

1. "Wine tasting," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2008, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_tasting>.
2. "Clarification and stabilization of wine," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2011, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarification_and_stabilization_of_wine>.
3. MacNeil, Karen, The Wine Bible, pp 35-40, Workman Publishing, 2001, ISBN 1563054345.
4. Pyevich, C., "Why is Wine so Fined?" Vegetarian Journal, 1997, January/February, XVI(1).
5. Robinson, J. (ed), The Oxford Companion to Wine, Third Edition, pp 173, 271-272, 661-662, Oxford University Press, 2006, ISBN 0198609906.
6. "Flavor," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2011, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavor>.
7. "Sense," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2011, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense>.
8. Vorstermans, Luke, 24 'Gee Whiz' Facts about Your Sense of Smell - Part 1, The Sense of Smell Lab., 2011, <www.thesoslab.com/facts-part-1.asp>.
9. Masaoka, Y., Satoh, H., Akai, L., and Homma, I., "Expiration: The moment we experience retronasal olfaction in flavor," Neuroscience Letters, 2010, 473(2):92-96, Elsevier, doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2010.02.024, PMID 20171264.
10. Zraly, Kevin, Windows on the World: Complete Wine Course, Sterling Publishing, 2006, ISBN 1402726392.
11. Jackson, Ronald S., Wine Tasting: A Professional Handbook, pp 2-3, Academic Press, 2002, ISBN 012379076X.
12. "Riesling," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2008, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riesling>.
13. Bird, Owen, Rheingold - The German Wine Renaissance, pp 90-97, Arima Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-8459-079-7.