Sensory Evaluation and Techniques of Wine Tasting

This article examines the tasting of wine. A sommelier is expected to have a thorough knowledge of the characteristics of wines offered. The aromas of wine are central to its tasting.

The human tongue is limited to primary tastes perceived by taste receptors acidity, bitterness, saltiness, sweetness, and savoriness. The wide array of fruit, earthy, floral, herbal, mineral, and woodsy flavors perceived in wine are derived from aroma notes interpreted by the olfactory bulb.

Definition of Wine Tasting

Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. The practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production. Today, a more formalized approach to wine tasting is in use, with established terminologies for describing the range of perceived flavors, aromas, and general characteristics of a wine. Modern professional wine tasters use constantly evolving terminologies.

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Types of Wine Tasting

Various types of wine tasting exist, including the following.

1. Blind Tasting

Blind tasting is a method in which the wine is served without tasters knowing details about the wine, such as the bottle or label. Sometimes, the wine is served from a black wine glass to mask its color.

This approach avoids impartial judgment, as a taster’s judgment can be prejudiced by knowing details like geographic origin, price, reputation, color, or other considerations.

2. Vertical Tasting

In a vertical tasting, different vintages of the same wine type from the same winery are tasted. This emphasizes differences between various vintages.

3. Horizontal Tasting

In a horizontal tasting, wines are all from the same vintage but from different wineries. Keeping the wine variety or type and wine region the same helps emphasize differences in winery styles.

Vertical and horizontal wine tastings are methods that highlight differences between similar wines.

Factors Influencing Wine Tasting

When it comes to wine tasting, factors to consider include:

• Perception
• Expectancy

People expect expensive wine to have more desirable characteristics than cheaper wine. When given wine falsely presented as expensive, people virtually always report better taste than when the same wine is presented as inexpensive. Similarly, expectations about wines arise from their geographic origin, producer, vintage, color, and other factors.

For example, when Brochet is served as a white wine, it receives descriptions like “fresh, dry, sweet, and lively.” If the same wine is dyed red, it receives red wine terms like “intense, spicy, supple, and deep.”

1. Tasting Flights

Tasting flight is a term used by wine tasters to describe a selection of wines, usually between three and eight glasses, but sometimes as many as fifty, presented for sampling and comparison.

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Stages of Wine Tasting

Four recognized wine tasting stages exist:

1. Appearance
2. “In glass” aroma of the wine
3. “In mouth” sensations
4. “Finish” (aftertaste)

The results of these four stages are combined to establish the following properties of a wine:

1. Complexity and character
2. Potential (suitability for aging or drinking)
3. Possible faults

A wine’s overall quality assessment, based on this examination, follows further careful description and comparison with recognized standards, both with respect to other wines in its price range and according to known factors pertaining to the region or vintage, such as:

1. If it is typical of the region
2. If it diverges in style
3. If it uses certain winemaking techniques, such as barrel fermentation or malolactic fermentation
4. Any other remarkable or unusual characteristics

Whereas wines are regularly tasted in isolation, a wine’s quality assessment is more objective when performed alongside several other wines in tasting “flights.”

Wines may be deliberately selected for their vintage (“horizontal” tasting) or from a single winery (“vertical” tasting) to better compare vineyard and vintages, respectively.

Alternatively, to promote unbiased analysis, bottles and even glasses may be disguised in a “blind” tasting to rule out prejudicial awareness of either vintage or winery.

Steps in Wine Tasting

In wine tasting, wine is often perceived before being consumed to identify components that may be present. Different terms describe what is perceived. The most basic term is aroma, which refers to a pleasant smell, as opposed to odor, which indicates an unpleasant smell or possible wine fault.

The term aroma may be distinguished from bouquet, which refers to smells arising from chemical reactions during fermentation and aging. Wine tasting entails the following steps.

Examine the Wine’s Appearance

Tilting the glass slightly can make it easier to see how the color changes from the center to the edges. Holding the glass in front of a white background, such as a napkin, tablecloth, or sheet of paper, is another effective way to discern the wine’s true color.

Observe the color and clarity of the wine. For red wine, is the color maroon, purple, ruby, garnet, red, brick, or brownish? For white wine, is it clear, pale yellow, straw-like, light green, golden, amber, or brown? Intensity, depth, or saturation of color is not necessarily linear with quality.

White wines darken with age, while red wines lose color, turning brownish, often with harmless dark red sediment at the bottom of the bottle or glass. This is also a good time to take a preliminary sniff of the wine to compare its fragrance after swirling and check for offensive odors indicating spoiled (corked) wine.

1. Swirl the Wine

Swirling increases the surface area of the wine by spreading it over the inside of the glass, allowing aromas to escape from solution and reach the nose. It also introduces oxygen, helping aromas open up.

2. Note the Wine’s Viscosity

Observe how slowly the wine runs down the side of the glass while swirling. Wines that are more viscous are said to have “legs” and are likely more alcoholic. Viscosity does not indicate quality but may suggest a fuller-bodied wine.

3. Smell the Wine

Initially, hold the glass a few inches from the nose, then bring the nose closer to the glass. Note the aromas detected.

4. Sip the Wine

Take a sip of wine without swallowing. The difference between drinking and tasting is expectorating. Roll the wine around in the mouth, exposing it to all taste buds, which detect sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Pay attention to texture and tactile sensations, such as an apparent sense of weight or body.

5. Aspirate Through the Wine

With lips pursed as if to whistle, draw air into the mouth and exhale through the nose. This liberates aromas, allowing them to reach the nose for detection. The nose is the only place where wine aromas can be detected, though enzymes and compounds in saliva alter some aromatic compounds. Aspirating seeks new aromas liberated by the wine’s interaction with the mouth’s environment.

6. Slurp the Wine

Take another sip, introducing air with it, especially for red wine, by slurping without making a loud noise. Note subtle differences in flavor and texture.

7. Evaluate the Aftertaste

After spitting, note how long the finish lasts and whether the taste is pleasant.

8. Record Tasting Notes

Write down the experience using preferred terminology. The most important aspects to note are the impression of the wine and its likability. Many wineries provide booklets and pens for taking tasting notes, encouraging attention to subtleties and creating a record for pairing with meals or moods. Wines have four basic components:

1. Taste
2. Tannins
3. Alcohol
4. Acidity

Some wines also have sweetness, appropriate in dessert wines. A good wine balances all four characteristics. Aging softens tannins, acidity decreases through chemical changes, fruit flavors rise and fall, while alcohol remains constant.

These factors guide decisions on when to drink or decant a wine. Malolactic fermentation imparts creamy or buttery notes to white wines, while oak aging adds vanilla or nutty flavors. Common descriptors include minerality, earthiness, and asparagus.

9. Choose Appropriate Glassware

Match glassware to the wine. Stemware comes in various shapes and sizes. Experienced wine drinkers often use stemware tailored for specific varietals. For beginners, a basic rule is larger glasses for reds and smaller glasses for whites.

Components of Wine Aroma

Volatile and non-volatile compounds contribute to wine aroma. During fermentation and the first few months, chemical reactions among these compounds occur frequently, causing rapid changes in aroma. As a wine ages, aroma changes occur more gradually. Volatile aroma compounds in grape skin and juice vary by grape variety.

Tasting wine involves smelling these vaporized compounds, detected by olfactory receptor cells and transferred to the brain via the olfactory bulb. Ongoing research into aroma and flavor compounds raises concerns about potential manipulation through chemical additives to enhance complexity, as seen in a 2004 incident where a South African winery illegally added flavoring to Sauvignon Blanc. Identified aroma compounds include:

1. Methoxypyrazine: Grassy, herbaceous aroma associated with Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc.

2. Monoterpenes: Floral aromatics in varieties like Gewürztraminer, Muscat, and Riesling, including geraniol, linalool, and nerol.

3. Norisoprenoids-Carotenoid: Aromatic compounds like megastigmatrienone (spice notes in Chardonnay) and zingerone (spice notes in Syrah).

4. Thiols-sulfur: Compounds producing garlic or onion aromas (wine faults, e.g., mercaptans) but also contributing to varietal aromas in Cabernet Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, Merlot, and others.

5. Esters: Formed by acid-alcohol reactions during fermentation or aging, contributing to perceived aromas.

Characteristics Assessed During Tasting

1. Varietal Character

This describes how much a wine presents its inherent grape aromas.

2. Integration

Integration is a state where none of the wine’s components (acid, tannin, alcohol, etc.) is out of balance with others, achieving harmonious fusion.

3. Expressiveness

Expressiveness is the quality of a wine when its aromas and flavors are well-defined and clearly projected. Complexity is influenced by factors like flavor multiplicity.

4. Connectedness

Connectedness, an abstract quality, describes the bond between the wine and its terroir (land of origin).

Advantages of Wine Tasting

The advantages of wine tasting include:

1. Developing learning from experience
2. Assessing wine quality for purchasing decisions
3. Monitoring stored wine to determine optimal selling time for investment protection
4. Describing wine qualities or deficiencies to customers
5. Maintaining a personal record of wines tasted to reinforce learning and experience

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is wine tasting?
   Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine, focusing on its aromas, flavors, and characteristics, using formalized terminologies to describe these attributes.
2. What are the main types of wine tasting?
   The main types are blind tasting (wine details hidden to avoid bias), vertical tasting (different vintages from the same winery), and horizontal tasting (same vintage from different wineries).
3. How does perception influence wine tasting?
   Perception and expectancy affect tasting. For example, people rate wine as better when told it is expensive, and descriptions vary based on expectations of color or origin, such as “fresh” for white wine or “spicy” for red.
4. What are the four stages of wine tasting?
   The four stages are appearance (color and clarity), “in glass” aroma, “in mouth” sensations, and “finish” (aftertaste).
5. What components are assessed in wine tasting?
   Tasting assesses complexity and character, potential for aging or drinking, possible faults, varietal character, integration, expressiveness, and connectedness to terroir.
6. Why is swirling the wine important?
   Swirling increases the wine’s surface area, allowing aromas to escape and reach the nose while introducing oxygen to help aromas open up.
7. What role do aroma compounds play in wine tasting?
   Aroma compounds, like methoxypyrazine (grassy), monoterpenes (floral), and esters, contribute to the flavors and smells detected, varying by grape variety and influencing the wine’s sensory profile.
8. How does glassware affect wine tasting?
   Larger glasses are used for red wines and smaller ones for whites. Tailored stemware for specific varietals enhances the tasting experience by optimizing aroma and flavor detection.

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