by
Shannon Porter, Personal Wine Consultant with The Traveling Vineyard
What
makes it taste that way?
At
a lot of my tastings, as I describe the scents and flavors – cherry,
oak, leather, for example – people sometimes ask, “are those
ingredients in the wine?” It is a very valid question, but the
answer is no. The only ingredient is grape juice, but there are a variety
of other components that make up the scents and flavors you find in
a wine.
The
three main factors that determine a wine’s smell and flavor are
the grape, the terroir and the barrels in which it was aged. We’ll
briefly go through what each contributes to a wine.
The
Grape
Different varietals of grapes impart different flavors and smells into
a wine. Pinot Noir, for example, usually has a lot of cherry essences,
while a Cabernet Sauvignon will have more of a currant component.
Sauvignon Blanc will be described as “herbal”, while a Chardonnay
will have more of an essence of green apple.
These
flavors and smells are indicative of the juice that comes from each
of these types of grapes. Grapes are the only fruit that is able to
“take on” flavors and smells of other fruits and vegetables.
That is how you get the cherry, currant, banana, pear, melon, green
pepper, raspberry, etc. smells and flavors in a wine. It depends on
the type of grape the juice comes from.
The
Terroir
Terroir is a very important component in winemaking, in fact, the French
believe it is the most important component. The terroir is the combination
of the soil, climate and weather conditions in which the grapes were
grown. Is the climate hot or cool? How much rainfall was there during
the growing season? Is the soil rocky, sandy, well-drained? All of these
factors contribute to the tastes of the wine and are why different vintages
of the same type of wine from the same vineyard will taste completely
different.
The
Barrels
Wine is aged in either stainless steel barrels that will not impart
any flavor or in oak barrels that will add flavor and character to wine
depending on the type of barrels used and the age of the barrels.
Stainless
steel barrels are generally used for white wines where the winemaker
wants to keep the crisp flavors of the varietal, such as Sauvignon Blanc,
French-style Chardonnay and Pinot Grigios.
Oak
barrels are used when the winemaker wants to introduce some other flavors
into the wine. Oak is the only type of wood used for winemaking barrels
and typically the oak has come from either American or French trees.
However, Hungary and Poland are now beginning to make oak barrels for
winemaking. French oak adds flavors of smoke, spices and pepper; while
American oak offers flavors of vanilla, coffee and chocolate.
Even
in our modern era, most wine barrels are crafted by hand and are carefully
charred to a light, medium or heavy degree, depending on what “toastiness”
the winemaker wants in the flavor of their wine. Newer wine barrels
impart a heavier flavor, while older, used barrels create a lighter
flavor. Winemakers may move the wine from newer to older barrels or
age the wines for a while in American oak and then move them to French
oak; all depending on the flavors they want to go into the wine.
Oak
barrels are very expensive and usually need to be replaced after five
years of use. Some bargain winemakers use oak chips or oak powder during
fermentation. This practice is taboo in the making of fine wines.
You Need Your Nose to Taste
When you pour your glass of wine you begin the drinking process by swirling
the glass and then inhaling the aromas. Often this tells far more about
a wine than an actual taste of it. Why is that? When you swirl your
glass you are getting oxygen into the wine and releasing the wine molecules.
When you inhale, these molecules go into your olfactory membranes, where
they are “matched” against chemical combinations of other
smells. This is how you smell cinnamon and licorice, chocolate and vanilla.
It's not that someone dropped a chocolate chip into your wine - it's
that a certain group of chemicals in the wine is identical to that in
a chocolate chip!
The tongue can only really taste four flavors - salty, sour, sweet,
and bitter. Unfortunately all of the subtle flavors of a wine - pepper,
violet, mint, melon - can't be deduced with a tongue. Those all come
from your nose, which is why wines don't taste as good when your nose
is stopped up. Your sense of smell is the key to truly tasting a wine.
Shannon
Porter is an independent wine consultant for The Traveling Vineyard.
She has been interested in wines since the 1980s and began conducting
in-home wine tastings in 2003. She has been featured in 5280 magazine
and to date has conducted over 200 wine tastings. For more information
call 303.888.9283 or visit
www.myttv.com/shannon5290
