1. Intro
Try something new, I am not into wine, juts want to know more about this culture
Type of red wine:
- Cabernet Sauvignon: full-bodied with flavors of black cherry, black currant, baking spices
- Merlot: medium-bodied with softer tannins
- Pinot Noir: light bodied with flavor of red berries and subtle earthiness
Tools
- Wine glass: larger bowl to allow the wine to breathe
- Corkscrew
- Tasting notebook, record the impressions
Steps
- Look: observe the color and clarity
- Swirl: notice the wine forms legs and tears
- Smell: take a brief whiff, then a deeper inhale to identify specific aromas
- Taste: take a small sip and let it roll around moth
- Attack
- Mid-palate
- Aftertaste
Food: often pair with heavier dishes
2. Reflection
- Full Bodied? Like the body of milk (skim, 2%, whole)
- Light bodied: more like water
- Medium: like skim milk
- Full: like cream, higher alcohol content and more concentrated flavor
- Flavor from real thing?
- NO, they come from the types of grapes used, the soil and climate and wine-making process
- Wine breathe?
- Contact with air can help wine open up and release more aroma and flavor
- “Legs” or “Tears”
- Thicker, slower-moving legs: higher alcohol and/or sugar content
- Thinner, faster-moving legs: lower alcohol content
- Tannins
- Naturally occurring compounds found in grape skins, seeds and stems
- Provide drying, puckering in the mouth
- Help balance the sweetness and acidity
- Natural antioxidants, help the wine age and develop over time
3. Practice
Bought a red wine from Trader Joe’s
Producer: Cecilia Beretta
Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita: DOCG
- Highest classification of Italian wine
Appassimento: drying the harvested grapes on straw for about three month before fermentation, resulting in a rich, full-bodied wine with high alcohol content