Wine Flavour and Aroma
Wine drinking, like many activities, can be as simple or as involved as the individual wishes to make it. It can be as uncomplicated as enjoying a glass with a meal or a friend. It can be as rigorous and technical as a wine show, where the decisions of professional judges often lead to great acclaim for winemakers, wine companies or countries.
What does the average consumer need to know to enjoy their wine? The short answer is probably not much beyond what they like the smell and taste of.
The best way to assess a wine is to look at it first, smell it and then taste it.We should select a glass that tapers towards the top, as a glass of this tulip shape retains more of the wine’s aroma. Fill it to about a third, and then look at the colour.
Colour varies according to the grape variety and wine type but it is also influenced by a wine’s acidity and its age. Generally, the younger and more acidic the wine is the brighter its colour will be. Acidic white wines appear slightly green, whereas red wines have an intense purple hue.Wines lose colour and flavour as they age excessively and can eventually become brown and smell or taste unpleasant.
Our sense of smell is just as important in enjoying wine as is our sense of taste. Swirl
the wine in the glass, hold it up to the light and look at the colour and the way the wine
drains down the surface of the glass. Next, put your nose well into the glass and take a
long deep breath.You can repeat this a couple of times before tasting.
Our sense of taste depends very much on where the wine strikes our tastebuds and how much air is mixed with it. Swirling the wine in the glass and then sucking it into your mouth so that it mixes with air releases the volatiles and heightens the flavours and aromas.
You will experience more of these sensations as you breathe out through your nose and mouth. Bitter flavours are tasted on the back of the tongue, sweet flavours on the front and sour or acid flavours on the sides.
Having experienced the aromas and flavours of the wines, the following section on wine terminology will give you the tools to help share your discoveries with others and to benefit from their experiences as well.
As you come to enjoy the variety and subtleties of wines you will wish to know more. Wine appreciation courses are a good place to start. The Australian wine industry offers many instructive and enjoyable options to allow people to explore their individual preferences for specific varieties, blends, flavours and styles.
