Tasting Notes

Ever look at a wine’s description and wonder why it mentions coconut, mango, honeydew, and even odd minerals like graphite? Are those things in the wine? Why did this winery put walnut in my wine?

Wines are identified by four main characteristics: variety, vintage, location, and tasting notes. The variety denotes the type of grape that was used to make the wine, such as Chardonnay or Pinot Gris or Merlot. The differences in grape variety are as distant as the difference between a cat and a dog. Vintage is the age of the wine and can identify a fine-aged red or a bright and crisp, steel-aged, boutique-style white. The location of a wine pinpoints expectations you can have about the wine, i.e. an Italian Chianti or French Bordeaux. Location can also signify distinct differences in flavors due to the soils and environment in which the grapes grew. For example, I once tasted a wine with salty notes due to the vines being close to the ocean. The most difficult characteristic, tasting notes, is the hardest to grasp because it is speculation based.

Using our cat versus dog analogy, by signifying the variety of grape, you’ve determined what kind of animal you’re working with. You know that typically with this type of animal, you can expect specific qualities perhaps barking or meowing. Now depending on the vintage and location, you can speak more to what breed of animal you have; imagine chihuahua versus labrador retriever. Now the tricky part is describing the specific animal you have in front of you. Is it playful? Does it have specific markings? Does it like to play fetch or would it rather snuggle up next to you? When making wine a lot of very specific processes can determine flavors and styles like if it rained before the grapes were picked, what it was aged in, what yeast was introduced, how old the grapes were, how the grapes reacted to the fermentation process to name just a few.

Imagine your tasting a Sauvignon Blanc. You can infer that a typical flavor you get from this grape is a vibrant citrus note. Often, you will taste acidic flavors of grapefruit with this kind of grape. What’s interesting about this specific wine you are tasting is that you are also picking up distinct flavors when it hits the tip of tongue from when it hits the back of your throat when you are about to swallow. Smoliers can distinguish between unique wine profiles depending on what flavors hit different areas of their mouths, but if you are just trying to simply enjoy your wine, you want your whole mouth to be happy at one time. Things you might be able to taste when you try wines are the definitive flavors of woodiness, fruitiness, floral aspects, nuttiness, and more. With time and practice, yay!, comes the ability to notice a wine’s mouthfeel and unequivocal tasting notes. Happy practicing!