There are many things in life that we do not take to at first. Wine, like many things, is an acquired taste, i.e. it is something that is usually unpleasant upon immediate experience and requires a deliberate effort. Most wines come with a strong, dry taste that is often challenging to the palate. Frequently, a newcomer to wine may find unpleasant the taste of tannins or its dry flavour, but the idea of having a glass of wine with friends at a social gathering does appeal to most of us. Fortunately, acquiring a taste for wine is easier than you may think. Cultivating and developing this taste requires that your sensory organs first get trained how to taste wine and subsequently, you need to taste a wide variety yourself, evaluate what is in your glass and discover what you like best.
Émile Peynaud, the legendary French oenologist, renowned both as an academic and as a consultant, stated categorically that:
“Practically anyone can learn to taste well if he or she is prepared to make the effort: a few years of regular practice are all that is required.”
If you desire to acquire a taste for wine, you are probably wondering where to begin. Initially, the world of wine and wine appreciation may seem intimidating. Thousands of years of history, thousands of types of wines and wine producers and so many rules about how to serve wine and how to pair food and wine... it’s enough to make the timid run and hide! But wine tasting and fine wine appreciation does not have to be scary or intimidating! Everyone can begin the process of learning about wine at their own pace and in their own style. You’ll learn something new every time you taste, and hopefully have fun along the way. A newcomer to the world of wine should pay attention to few important points if he or she wishes to draw the maximum pleasure from it.
The first step in wine appreciation is to always remember that wine enjoyment requires you to pay attention to your senses of sight, smell and touch, as well as taste. However, just before you even start to pour the wine, ensure that you’ve got the right wine glass. A good-quality glass (not necessarily expensive) is essential in order to get the most enjoyment out of the contents of every bottle. Start with a clear wine glass. The rim should bend inwards to help funnel aromas to the nose, and big enough to allow you to swirl without spilling. Also, avoid holding the glass by its bowl but rather by its stem, since the heat of your hand will quickly warm the liquid. Fill the glass only about one-third of the way to leave room for swirling and to give the wine room to let the aromas construct. Resist the temptation to fill the glass to the top or drink the wine too quickly. Take some time when tasting the wine.
Now you are ready to start using your senses. First use your vision. Look at the colour of the wine. Is it clear or cloudy? Examine the colour, especially against a light. This will differ according to what wine it is. Reds vary greatly in colour. What colour is it specifically? Don’t just say “dark red”. It helps to hold a white piece of paper behind the glass, which will show whether the colour is more towards purple or maroon. A Merlot, for example, will usually be an intense ruby red, while a Cabernet Sauvignon will be a darker, deeper red.
White wines range from pale green to yellow to deep golden brown and become more golden as they age. Some dessert wines, especially those that have been in oak barrels, tend to be golden. If you are sampling more than one wine, it is advisable to compare them side by side. The colour can give you clues to its age. White wine tends to gain colour with age, whereas red wines lose colour. A young red wine is typically a bright raspberry colour. An older red wine might be mahogany or brick-like in colour. Notice the distinction between older and younger wines and unique grape varietals. Some words to keep in mind are bright, dull, opaque, clear and dense.
The next step involves the sense of smell. While firmly holding the stem, gently swirl the glass in tiny circles on a flat surface for 10 to 20 seconds allowing oxygen to penetrate the wine. The purpose of swirling is to aerate the wine and release vapours evaporating from the sides of the glass, for you to smell. As the wine coats the sides of the glass, it releases its bouquet. This is when you smell and inhale deeply to get the first impression. Try to identify all of the distinct aromas. At the top of the glass, the smells are more floral and fruity; deeper in the glass, they are richer. Try to detect the full range of scents from berry to floral to spicy to woody ... and so on. The aroma can be the most revealing characteristic of the wine, so pay close attention. With practice, you should be able to recognize most of the subtle aromas. Some key scents to search for are fruit/berries, citrus, vanilla, flowers, and oak. Consider intensity and appeal. Through our sense of smell, wine reveals its pleasures to us. It is acknowledged that 80% of our sense of taste is actually in our nose. Also, observe the streaks of wine (legs) as they roll down the side of the glass. The legs can help you determine the body of the wine.
Now you are ready to taste the wine. When sampling, the first touch is the feel of the wine on your tongue. The body of the wine refers to its texture and weight, often compared to the texture of milk. Evaluate the wine’s viscosity with that of full bodied, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk. Is it soft or brisk? Is there a refreshing zing around the edges of your tongue? Is it flat and flabby, or is it sparkling? Tannins (in red wines) will feel prickly or dry on your tongue. Younger red wines are usually more tannic. When tasting a wine, take a small amount in your mouth, swirl it around lightly so all your taste-buds are exposed, and spread it across the tongue from front to back and side to side before swallowing. Assessing the wine by taste should confirm the conclusions drawn from the appearance assessment and the smell assessment.
During the tasting you should have in mind the following:
* The tip of the tongue detects sweetness
* The inner sides of the tongue detect sourness and/or acidity
* The outer sides of the tongue detect saltiness
* The back of the tongue detects bitterness and/or alcohol
Remember this well-established fact - the human tongue can only detect the five basic tastes, yet it can pick up on over a million scents. Ask yourself some basic questions. Does the wine taste the same as its aroma? Is it sweet, acidic or crisp? Is it light or full-bodied? What is the memory of the wine on your palate? Did the wine leave an aftertaste in the back of your mouth – if so, for how long?
The finish of the wine refers to any lingering after-notes you taste after swallowing. Length is the term used to describe the amount of time a wine’s flavour lasts in your mouth, with longer lengths indicating higher qualities of wine.
Wine tasting is not the same as drinking it. To experience the true flavour of a wine requires that you slow down and pay attention to your senses. Effectively tasting red and white wines can truly make you appreciate all the work that was put into making the contents of that bottle. Noticing the different aromas, textures and flavours can enhance your encounter, allowing you to genuinely take pleasure in the wine.
Taste with friends who enjoy wine. This provides a great opportunity for learning more, especially if the people you taste with are better at describing the wine than you are. This need not be a wine-specific event – it can just be part of normal social interactions where wine is served. And don’t let anyone make you feel as though your tasting skills are inferior. No one knows all there is to know about wine. A taster’s learning curve lasts a lifetime. There are always new wines to learn about and experience, and we hope that you enjoy the journey as much as we do. If you are a newbie into wine, the only way to get over the initial shock and develop an appreciation is to treat your taste buds to an array of wines and then pick your flavour. Wine varietals have both subtle and obvious tastes and may essentially vary from each other in taste, sweetness, scent and other peculiarities.
Wine appreciation, like art appreciation, has several stages and/or phases. Much research has been conducted to segment consumers into having different levels of wine knowledge. How do our wine preferences change over time? How do we, the consumers, move from “fruit forward” wines to more complex flavoured wines? What are the critical phases in your life history which have changed your wine consumption habits? The difficulty lies with the idea of segmenting wine drinkers based on these preferences. In straight marketing terms, segmentation is the process of dividing the market (buyers) into groups, where the preferences are more similar within the group than between the groups.
Wine companies have recognized the need to better understand consumer preferences. Such an understanding allows wineries to design wine styles that better respond to consumer needs, wants, and expectations. It is a question that many wine marketers or consumer psychologists would love to crack. Current knowledge about the development of preference for foods and beverage supports the fact that a particular wine style won’t appeal to every wine consumer, considering the biological, cultural, and genetic variability existing among individuals. Wine sensory characteristics, commonly referred to as “taste”, were reported by researchers as one of the most important factors in consumers’ wine choice decision. It is believed that consumers who have just started to drink wine tend to prefer sweeter and fruitier wines, sensory characteristics that were very familiar and for which preference had been established during childhood.
According to some reports, wine drinkers can be segmented based on their stage of wine appreciation and knowledge on the subject.
* Newcomers to the wine world (say LEVEL 1) discover that apart from sweet wines, there are dry or at least off-dry wines that can be served with food. When starting out, inexperienced wine drinkers will normally prefer either red or white. They are not really concerned about vintages, origin, or much else except price. Basically, they enjoy drinking wine but are overwhelmed by the huge selection available on the open market. They would like to receive more help and information when shopping in the wine section at retail stores. After passing this stage, most of us show interest in learning the basics of wine tasting and appreciation.
* The next step (LEVEL 2) is the knowledge acquisition stage, during which we discover that there is more to wine than a mass produced beverage. This is the time we start learning about different types of grapes, or “varietals”, and how they manifest in wine. We are generally still in the learning stages, and prefer wines with softer taste and low tannins, such as Merlot. We buy by the colour of the label or the sound of the name, more than on knowledge of anything in particular. We gain some insights into what we like more and develop some favourite tastes. At this stage, brand names start to mean something and we begin to understand some of the subtle differences in wine. We discover that there are varying degrees of dryness in dry wines, and some of the more tart wines taste rather neutral when they are well chilled. Many people are happy to remain at this level because it allows some adventuresome dining and pairing different wines with foods without spending a lot of money. It doesn’t require knowing a lot of unessential details. It does, however, call for an open mind or palate, along with the desire to learn just a bit about new wines that you hear about from friends. Most of the wines bought at this level are under €8 a bottle, and are often not as well known or as widely recognized as some brands. Moreover, people become very excited when they discover a €6 bottle that tastes great, and recommend it to everyone in sight.
* At LEVEL 3 of wine development, most people are sharing discoveries and staging or attending tasting events which offer opportunities in gaining knowledge about the wine, about people’s reactions to great and not-so-great wine, and provide an insight into our own likes and dislikes. Wine becomes their preferred beverage and they are aware of regional differences, terroir, varietals and types of wine. At this stage, you can remember the difference between different varietals, and you are showing particular preferences. Maybe you like Merlot, but don’t care for Cabernet as much. Maybe you have decided that you are more of a Sauvignon Blanc person than a Chardonnay person. There are many things to learn about producers, vintages, regions, and all the other varietals of grapes and blended wines available in wine shops. Most people start to accumulate knowledge of fine wine and styles, aged red wine, an enjoyment of delicate and fine distinction in white wine, and toward complexity as well as fruit in all wine. Most of the wines people buy at this level are under €15.
* LEVEL 4 is the stage at which the wine lover knows more about wine than most. As we progress in this stage, we may also discover and appreciate great wines. We are prepared to spend a considerable sum to acquire wines that are recommended by reputable wine experts, and when in restaurants or at home, we now select the wine before choosing the main course for a dinner. We pay extra attention to special glassware, decanters, cork pullers, wine racks, wine coolers and wine posters and attend wine tastings and wine dinners. We begin to remember which vintages are good and which are not. We may plan vacations around winery tours, read wine books, wine magazines and privately published newsletters. At this point, it’s not enough to know how certain wines taste — we need to start learning why. This is where the real effort of a self-education comes in, and where we need to locate resources, whether they are web sites, books, friendly wine shops, tour operators, classes, or knowledgeable staff at a favourite restaurant, winery or tasting room.
* At LEVEL 5, wine lovers formally become collectors and spend a lot of time and money on wine cellars, wine books, wine tasting events, etc. The experience that is gained at this level can only come with the means to actually purchase and drink wines with a consistency, breadth and depth across the major wine regions and across many vintage years. At this stage, wine lovers actively seek out and experience the full range of the wine world, and in doing so, they build and deepen their personal preferences for wine and the understanding of the standards against which all wines are measured. They are not only continuing to learn the names of wineries and their wines, but also learning to pay attention to who the winemakers are and how specific vineyards taste, independent of wineries and wines. People who reach this stage own and actively maintain a cellar that is geared towards their enjoyment and continued education. They purchase wines to drink now, and also wines to deliberately store for years, and quite possibly may buy wine for investment purposes as well. Those who have reached this point are so passionate on the subject that they cannot help becoming collectors of rare wines. However, most of us are economically prevented from ever reaching this stage.
Obviously, there are no clear dividing lines between these levels or their assigned behavioural activities and knowledge. This division could, however, offer some insights in the understanding of factors that could favour this type of consumption evolution.
Wine is a highly differentiated product derived from the grapes of many varieties grown in different regions under various agronomic and climatic conditions, which vary by location and year. The wide range of wine products and prices reflect this differentiation. For a long time, wine producers have focused on wines sensory intrinsic properties to attract new consumers or keep the loyal ones. Naturally, the price of wine, as with other goods, will be strongly and positively associated with its quality as perceived by consumers.
However, wine is so much more than a beverage. At its best, it is a work of art, capable of ever-changing complexity and beauty. It can also be intellectually satisfying, offering a lifetime of potential learning about wine producers, vintages, regions, grape varieties, food and wine pairing, etc. Beyond all that, wine simply tastes good. It is romantic, seductive and mysterious. It can be everything from elegant and sophisticated to rustic or hedonistic. Wine, in moderation, can even be good for you! Besides all the above, a few glasses of wine at a party lubricates the mind and tongue, leading to great conversation, joyous frivolity and lots of fun! So much of wine appreciation involves learning to like strange flavours, thinking about what we are experiencing as we taste and bringing all these elements together in rich combination.
Wine News and Information
The Wine Grape Council of South Australia says growers who are not making a profit should pull out their vines for the sake of the industry. A council survey shows two-thirds of wine grapes were sold below the cost of production last year. The Council’s Peter Hackworth says many growers are making a false assumption that prices will soon rise. “About a quarter of growers think that prices will rise in the next 12 months. Now that’s not our view at all and we don’t see any evidence of that, so we think it’s really important that people who are selling grapes at very low prices in the belief that things will turn around, need to really rethink that,” he said. Mr. Hackworth says the current downturn in the wine industry could last for another decade.
While health organisations have slammed the government’s Health Responsibility Deal, the drinks industry seems to have rallied behind it. Signatories to the deal agree voluntary codes of practice aimed at reducing excessive drinking, excessive calorie or salt intake, improving workplace health and other measures. More than 150 firms, including McDonald’s, Asda, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco, the Co-operative, Waitrose and several major food firms have signed the deal. Asda has pledged to end front-of-store alcohol displays by the end of April, while Heineken says it will cut the alcohol content of one if its major brands – as yet unspecified – by the end of May. Drink producers, including Carlsberg, have pledged to provide clear unit labelling, support awareness campaigns and develop a new sponsorship code on responsible drinking.
Women can enjoy a tipple and stay slim, according to a study that shows moderate drinkers gain less weight than teetotallers. Women who drank red wine gained the least, but the results held for other wines, beers and spirits. Although alcohol contains calories, the US researchers believe the women may have substituted it for other food. Their work in the Archives of Internal Medicine followed over 19,000 women over 13 years. The women recruited into the study were aged 39 or over and of normal weight at the time they joined. Those who drank no alcohol gained the most weight, and there was an inverse relationship between weight gain and alcohol consumption. Even after accounting for lifestyle, dietary factors and things like smoking and exercise, the study found those who drank the least gained the most weight. Moderate drinking was classed as drinking up to about two 150ml glasses of wine a day. The women in the study who drank appeared to substitute alcohol for other food, meaning their overall calorie intake did not go up that much. Apparently the way men and women break down alcohol in their liver may differ, which help might explain the reason women do not pile on the extra pounds.
Monolithos Monthly News
Caring for a vineyard is year round. Each season has different tasks to aid production. Springtime tasks include replacing posts, tying vines and mowing.
Vines that are not secured well will lose a lot of produce because they become heavy as they develop grapes and foliage. The warmer weather of March brings weeds and unwanted vegetation which must be removed. Mowing between rows is important because the vines must be allowed to receive all the nutrients of the sun and rain, not competitive grasses and weeds.
At Monolithos Winery, the bottling of the 2010 wines is underway. The first wines to be bottled are the white varieties, which are laid down for a few weeks before they are made available for purchasing early in May.
The application for building permit is progressing well and we are looking forward to its final approval during the month of April. Our main concern from the very beginning was to select a proper location for the new winery. We acknowledged that good site selection affects visibility and public attraction, energy consumption, productivity and even winemaking style in the case of gravity assisted wine production. Some of the issues taken into consideration and are fully satisfied by the new winery location are:
* Location to be large enough for planned facility and future growth
* Local authorities’ restrictions (building height and size, noise pollution, waste disposal, etc.)
* Well drained soil with adequate load-bearing capacity
* Close proximity to grape and labour supply
* Close to highways, convenient for customers, suppliers and shipping goods
* Availability of potable water, electricity (3-phase) facility
* Sight access to Winery, wonderful scenery, wine tourism and visitors’ aspect
* Compatible with surroundings and the brand image
One of the most important issues was the need to minimize the impact of a large structure on the existing vineyards and surrounding landscape. The new Winery will be built into the hillside, and the simple sculptural main building will reflect the natural grade of the landscape. While the exterior of the winery harmonizes with the countryside, the interior has been designed to be sleek and modern.
Currently, all the 2009 wines are available for tasting and purchasing. If at any time you are passing near the village of Pachna and wish to visit the winery or purchase any of our products, Martin Wood will be pleased to meet and assist you at his “Fig Tree Villa” in Pachna, so do not hesitate to phone him at 25-816212 or 99-165995.
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