Tasting + Assessing Wine

Question 1

The optimal tasting environment will have:

Answer 1

• Good natural light
• No strong smells (perfume, lotion, foods, etc.)
• Space for wine glasses, a water glass, and note taking
• Spittoon

Question 2

What is the recommended amount of wine to be poured into glasses for tasting purposes?

Answer 2

1.7 fluid oz (5cL)

Question 3

When evaluating a wine’s appearance, what are the 3 things you’ll need to describe?

Answer 3

• Clarity
  
  • ‘hazy’ or ‘clear’
• Intensity (how pigmented the wine is)
  
  • ‘pale’ or ‘deep’
• Color
  
  • see white, rosé and red cards for color ranges

Question 4

Explain the differences between “pale” and “deep” intensity of a wine’s appearance.

Answer 4

Pale

• a white wine that has a wide, watery, almost colorless rim
• a red wine that is mostly see-through and has light saturation from rim to core

Deep

• a white wine with color that reaches or almost reaches the rim
• a red wine that has deep, concentrated color and is near-impossible to see through from rim to core

Question 5

What are the 5 colors used to describe white wines?

Answer 5

1. Lemon-Green
2. Lemon (most common)
3. Gold
4. Amber
5. Brown

Question 6

What are the 5 colors used to describe red wines?

Answer 6

1. Purple
2. Ruby
3. Garnet
4. Tawny
5. Brown

Question 7

What are the 3 colors used to describe rosés?

Answer 7

• Pink
• Salmon
• Orange

Question 8

What are some other observations you can make when assessing a wine’s appearance besides clarity, intensity, and color?

Answer 8

• Legs/tears
• Sediment/deposit
• Bubbles (for sparkling wines)
• Pétillance (spritzy quality for still wines)

Question 9

After swirling a wine, what can the legs indicate as they travel down the sides of the glass?

Answer 9

• Depending on the rate at which they form and fall, can indicate sugar and/or alcohol content (though not definitively!);
• If intensely pigmented, they can indicate a warmer climate or carbonic maceration (again, not definitively!).

The legs do not give exact information about the wine; they can help lead to ideas about the wine before smelling or tasting it, though. You will arrive at your conclusions after you complete the SAT.
Note: legs do not indicate quality.

Question 10

What exactly are legs?

Answer 10

Wine legs are the droplets or rivulets that form on the inside of a glass of wine that has just been swirled. They’re caused by the evaporation of alcohol from the sides of the glass.

High alcohol wines collect a higher density of “tears” or legs on the sides of the glass than low alcohol wines.

Sweeter wines are more viscous and, therefore, the tears will flow slower down the sides of a glass.

Try this at home! Swirl a glass of 8% abv Riesling Kabinett and compare it to a 22% abv Port to see the difference, and read more about it here and here.

Question 11

What are the differences between primary aromas, secondary aromas, and tertiary aromas?

Answer 11

Primary

• Aromas that come from the fermentation process and the grapes themselves.

Secondary

• Aromas that come from stylistic winemaking choices after fermentation (e.g. vanilla from oak, or butter from malo)

Tertiary

• Aromas that come from the aging process (e.g. caramel from extended oak aging or mushroom from extended bottle aging).

Question 12

What are the 4 descriptors for development?

Answer 12

1. Youthful
2. Developing
3. Fully developed
4. Past its prime/tired

Question 13

What are some of the possible faults you can find on the nose of a wine?

Answer 13

1. Cork taint/TCA
2. Reduction
3. SO₂
4. Oxidation
5. Volatile acidity
6. Brett
7. Out of condition/poorly stored/stale

The condition of a wine’s nose would be categorized as ‘unclean’ if any of these were identified.

Question 14

Describe the levels of the dry-to-sweet scale.

Answer 14

1. Dry (no {perceptible} sugar)
2. Off-Dry (a kiss of residual sugar)
3. Medium-Dry (perceptible sugar but not enough to pair with desserts)
4. Medium-Sweet (ditto)
5. Sweet (e.g. Sauternes, Port)
6. Luscious (e.g. PX, Rutherglen Muscat)

Question 15

What effect does acidity have on your palate?

Answer 15

Acidity makes your mouth water and can cause a tingly feeling on the sides of your tongue.

Question 16

What are 2 things to consider when tasting for acidity in wine?

Answer 16

1. What is the sugar level in the wine?
   
   • Remember that high levels of sugar and acidity can obscure each other;
   • When in doubt, focus on how much and for how long your mouth waters (look for balance!)
2. Is that tingling sensation alcohol or acidity?
   
   • Alcohol can sometimes trick your brain into thinking that sharp or tingly sensation is acidity

Question 17

What effects do tannins have on the palate?

Answer 17

1. Cause your mouth to dry and make it feel parched and scratchy like a cat’s tongue;
2. Tannins can sometimes leave a bitter taste on the back of the palate

Question 18

What are the alcohol percentage levels for a low, medium, and high alcohol table wine?

Answer 18

Low: below 11% abv

Medium: 11% - 13.9% abv

High: 14% abv and higher

Question 19

What are the alcohol % levels for a low, medium, and high alcohol fortified wine?

Answer 19

Low: 15% - 16.4% abv

Medium: 16.5% - 18.4% abv

High: 18.5% abv and higher

Question 20

What structural components contribute to a wine’s body?

Answer 20

• Alcohol
• Sugar
• Acidity
• Tannin

Question 21

What structural components will make a wine appear lighter in body?

Answer 21

• Lower alcohol
• Higher acidity
• (Lower tannin if it’s a red wine)

Question 22

What structural components will make a wine appear fuller in body?

Answer 22

• Higher alcohol
• Ample, ripe tannins

Question 23

What are the 3 palate descriptors used for mousse?

Answer 23

1. Delicate
2. Creamy
3. Aggressive

Question 24

What does the “finish” refer to in a wine?

Answer 24

How long you taste the wine after you’ve swallowed it or spat it out.

Finish is more about how long desirable flavors remain on your palate and less about the structural components.

If the fruit and other tasty flavors stay on your palate for a long time, the finish is “long.” If a wine’s tannins are harsh and remain on your palate for a long time, you’d say the tannins are “persistent.”

Question 25

1. A wine that is high in residual sugar will taste more balanced if the wine also has a lot of ___.
2. A wine that is high in alcohol will taste more balanced if it has a lot of ___.

Answer 25

1. Acidity
2. Fruit

When considering these concepts, think about lemonade (an acid to sugar ratio) for the first example, and fruity cocktails for the second example (the alcohol in cocktails is hidden by the flavors of fruit juices).

Question 26

Generally, the shorter the finish the ___er the quality, and the longer the finish the ___er the quality.

Answer 26

Short finish = lower quality

Longer finish = higher quality

Question 27

What are the 6 quality levels of wine used for the SAT?

Answer 27

From highest quality to lowest:

1. Outstanding
2. Very good
3. Good
4. Acceptable
5. Poor
6. Faulty

Question 28

When would you use ‘outstanding’ as a quality level when evaluating a wine?

Answer 28

A wine is outstanding if it shows exceptionally in the following 4 categories:

• Balance
• Length/finish
• Intensity/concentration of identifiable flavors
• Complexity

If a wine shows well in 3 of the above categories, it’s Very Good;
If a wine shows well in only 2, it’s Good;
If a wine shows well in only 1, it’s Acceptable;
If a wine struggles for any positive attributes, it’s Poor.

Question 29

What are the levels of readiness for drinking/potential for aging?

Answer 29

1. Too young
2. Drink now but has aging potential
3. Drink now; not suited for further aging
4. Too old