Tasting Techniques

This was the first lecture of the French Wine Society meeting.

So, what is taste? Without going into a massive scientific description we have 5 primary tastes: salt, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami. Also, we may be able to perceive piquance (sensation of chili peppers), fatty acids, and metallic molecules. The point is that this limited number of options does not cover the sensations we get from wine, and that is because a lot of taste is what we smell. It does explain Dewey Markham's lecture comments perfectly, sweet balances acid (acid is perceived as sour, it is a response to H+ ions); this is a critical point. We have numerous "bitter" receptors, which is where tannin is perceived. Our mouth sensations are limited to those tastes. Umami for the uninitiated is a taste response to the salts of glutamic acids, such as monosodium glutamate, which are a savory flavor (the wonderful flavor enhancer in Chinese food). So, there is what we get in our mouths. I really think that this comes down to acidity, status of tannins, and the balance of the wine.

Smell, olfaction. One needs to recognize that a Nobel Prize was awarded for this in 2004. This really comes down to the binding of volatile chemicals with receptors in the olfactory organ. Admittedly, we cannot keep up with our Yorkies on this end (photo of wine terrier above), but we still are pretty good. Theory aside, we have a vast range of sensations in the world of smells, and this is where a large part of our appreciation of wines lives. Charles Curtis's handout relative to aging summarizes the aroma options well.

This lecture and the associated 7 flights compared similar but slightly different wines to look for the subtle differences in our perceptions. The wines were excellent and clearly made the intended points. The immediate goal was to prepare a format for a blind tasting of 5 wines. In the big picture, this set the standard for how to deconstruct the quality, local, and aging potential for wines. The example wines were typical of their terroir; the blind tasting wines showed the difficulty of perceiving the subtle differences as one attempts to deduce the origin of the wine.

Without tasting notes, the flighted wines were:

1: Cremant and Champagne
Lucien Albrecht, Cremant d'Alsace Brut
Delamotte Brut, NV

2: White Graves and Sancerre
Chateau Coucheroy, Pessac-Leognan, 2007
Vincent Delaporte, Sancerre, 2009

3: Macon, Chablis, White Cote d'Or
Domaines Lefaive, Macon Verze 2008
Simonnet-Fevre, Chablis Grand Cru les Clos 2006
Louis Jadot, Meursault 2007

4: Roses from Provence, Tavel, Loire
Domaine Ott, les Domaniers Cotes de Provence 2009
Chateau d'Aqueria, Tavel Rose 2008
Domaine des Nouelles, Rose d'Anjou Loire 2009

5: Beaujoulais and young red Burgundy
C. Cordier, les Grandes Plantes, Beaujolais-Villages 2009
Domaine Faiveley, Mercurey 2007

6: Right Bank/ Left Bank Bordeaux
Chateau Daugay, St. Emilion 2005
Chateau Lanessan, Haut Medoc 2005

7: Southern and Northern Rhone
Perrin et Fils Vacqueyras 2007
Tardieu-Laurent, Crozes Hermitage Vielles Vignes 2007.

This was an impressive line-up of wines which well illustrated the intended points. This set the stage for the remainder of the meeting. I really think the point here is how does one put together the sensations in a wine to come up with a composite, the typical taste. Grapes and terroir drive this, but the wild card remains what the winemaker does; more to come about funky non-indigenous yeasts and how to make a rose taste like banana.