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THE VISUAL STEP IN WINE TASTING-
Mary Kirk Bonnet
Sommelier-Conseil, Wine Expert Guide for French Wine
Explorers
"Radiant, deep garnet with orange hues, great legs".
No, we're not describing the top model coming down the
runway, we're talking about something equally as beautiful
though-wine! The appearance of wine, (what the French
romantically call "la robe du vin" lor "the dress of
wine") gives tasters their first impression of a wine.
Indeed, there's more to good looks than meets the eye!
Let's take a detailed look at this first step of the wine
tasting process. When visually examining a wine, these are
the characteristics to focus on:
Color (shade and intensity), Brilliance, Clarity, Density,
Deposits, Effervescence
The first step of the visual phase is evaluating the shade
and intensity of the wine's color.
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Fill your wine glass about a third full, hold it by the
stem and tilt it away from you at a 45° angle, look at the
wine from above. View the wine from against a white
background.
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The main color of the wine is found in the middle of the
bowl of the glass while the hues can be seen just inside
the edge or meniscus of the wine. These hues found at the
meniscus are important because this is where we can first
detect meaningful color change.
Color in Red Wines:
Youthful red wines are violet-red in color. As they
age, they will evolve to ruby to garnet to
cherry red to tile red finally to reddish
brown in mature wines. The presence of purple hues
inside the meniscus indicates a young wine. Orange hues
indicate a wine that has aged. A brown wine is one that is
past its prime and is oxidized.
The color intensity of red wine can go from pale to
light to bold to deeply colored.
Intense color means a more concentrated wine in the mouth,
while paler wines are lighter bodied.
Pale red wines point to grape varieties like pinot noir or
gamay which have less anthocyanins (the coloring pigments
found in the red grape skin). Compare this with anthocyanins-loaded
varieties such as syrah or cabernet sauvignon which produce
dark, deeply-colored wine. Pale or light red wine can also
be an indication of poor weather conditions (too much rain),
excessive yields, or substandard winemaking techniques.
Color in White Wines:
White wines also change color as they age, although this
isn't quite as obvious as red whites because we tend to
drink white wines in their youth. White wines start a pale
green-yellow color. They will evolve through straw
yellow to golden yellow to an amber color
in mature wines. Green hues inside the meniscus indicates a
young wine. Brownish hues indicate a white wine that has
aged and is possibly oxidized.
The color intensity of white wines can range from pale
to light to bold to deeply colored.
Color in white wines is due to the concentration of yellow
pigments (flavones) found in the skin of the white grape.
The intensity of the color of white wines tends to deepen
with age.
Grape varieties such as Sauvignon and Riesling have greenish
hues while Chardonnay and Semillon display more golden hues.
Most white wines are meant to be drunk young, in the
straw-yellow phase. Those which have evolved to an amber
color may already be oxidized. Exceptions are the
concentrated dessert wines such as Sauternes or Late Harvest
Gewürztraminer which start yellow-gold and evolve to antique
gold with age. The great white wines from Burgundy also have
a rich golden color because they have been aged in oak and
taken on subtle color from the wood.
Brilliance:
The next thing to look for is its brilliance, the way it
reflects light on the surface. An attractive wine almost
"twinkles" in the glass. This brilliance is actually a
function of the wines acidity. The brilliance of a wine can
range from crystalline (found in vivacious white
wines) to brilliant (the majority of wines) to
dull. A dull wine can indicate a wine that may be rustic
or past its prime.
Clarity:
Next is to analyze the clarity of the wine. Hold the glass
up to the light and look at the wine through the glass. The
wine should be limpid and clean. If it is
hazy or cloudy, chances are there is a fault or
spoilage in the wine. With modern winemaking techniques this
is a very rare occurrence, but it can happen.
Density:
The last step in visually analyzing a wine is determining
its density or viscosity. This is done by examining what we
in France poetically call "les jambes", the legs
or "les larmes", the tears of a wine. Hold the
glass by the stem and gently swirl or rotate the glass so
that the wine covers the inside of the glass. It may produce
drops that slowly stream down the side of the glass: these
are the legs (or tears). They are classified from
non-existent to fluid (streams present) to
dense (streams more pronounced). Their presence
indicates the alcohol content of the wine. Wines powerful in
alcohol will produce distinctive legs, while light, watery
wines will not. Checking out the legs is a fun step that
impresses your friends and gets the conversation going
during a wine tasting-so why pass it up?!
Deposits:
When visually analyzing a wine, it's important to note
deposits. Deposits and particles are sometimes found in
wines, but generally they are harmless and don't influence
the taste of the wine.
In red wines, you can detect the deposits right from the
bottle by holding it up in front of a light and looking
through the bottom or sides of the bottle. Deposits or
sediment are found in mature wines, but also in unfiltered
red wines. Before serving the wine we might want to let the
deposits settle down to the bottom of the bottle or decant
it (separate the liquid from the solid).
In white wines, we sometimes detect crystals (what German
winemakers call "wine diamonds") in the bottle or
accumulated on the cork. Many people mistake this for sugar
crystals or bit of glass and suspect shoddy winemaking
techniques. These are crystals of tartaric acid, an acid
naturally found in wine. These crystals precipitate out of
the wine when it gets very cold. Most wines are now
cold-stabilized or filtered to prevent these crystals from
forming, but you may still come across them in an
artisan-made wine. They are innocuous and in no way change
or alter the taste of the wine.
Effervescence:
The last point to visually evaluate is the presence or not
of carbon dioxide, (manifested as bubbles) in the wine. In
sparkling wines, we will (of course!) find bubbles and
evaluate their size and persistence. Bubble size can range
from coarse to medium to fine to
creamy. You'll also want to observe the persistence
of the streams of bubbles or fizz. This persistence can
range from excellent to good to weak.
Higher quality sparkling wines will have smaller, finer
bubbles and retain their fizz longer.
This summarizes all the different aspects which can be
evaluated during the visual phase of wine tasting. It is
important to note that although it seems like quite a bit of
information to process, this step actually takes seconds for
a professional wine taster to do. The trick is practice,
practice, practice (twist my arm!). It's important to
experiment and taste wines of different grapes, age and
regions to get a grasp of the variety that is out there as
well as to become familiar with them.
Hopefully, this has been useful to you, and next time you
pour yourself a glass of wine, look twice at it before you
drink it down; who knows what it might reveal about itself!
Ready to taste?!
Join us on one of our tours to learn about the the olfactory
phase (nosing the wine) and conclude with the gustatory
phase (putting the wine in our mouth). Click here for
details about our scheduled tours:
Tours |
