WINE TASTING

Sight is the first sense which is involved in wine-tasting. The information which we obtain through a visual inspection will reveal aspects of the wine such as its limpidity or transparency and its colour: the intensity and the shade or tonality give information about the development of the wine and we can have an impression of what its body and strength is like.The sense of sight predisposes the wine-taster when the wine is cloudy or when it presents an abnormal colour.

"Blind" tasting
Is an interesting and recommendable exercise. To distinguish a rosé wine from a dry white wine is no easy task. Using our sense of sight, we can also observe the fluidity of the wine (the density), whether it has carbonic gas or not (slightly sparkling or carbonated wines) and the capillary action on the sides of the glass, that is, if the wine cries or has legs. These tears are liquid traces which the wine forms on the sides of the glass when this is moved around and are related to the alcoholic grading and to the glycerine.
The limpidity
Is the absence of cloudiness, and refers to the aspect of the wine. Adjectives such as bright, limpid, transparent or clear, opalescent and finally cloudy are used to define it. The limpidity is observed against the light; if there are particles in suspension they will look similar to particles of dust in the air. If the impurity appears as a cloudy or milky mass, these are colloidal elements.
The colour
Depends on the variety of vine, the elaboration processes, and the age of the wine. Within the colour we can distinguish between the intensity and the shade or tonality.
The chromatic intensity
Of a wine is due to the presence of coloured pigments responsible for the colour in the wines, called anthocyanins and flavones. The intensity may be pale, light, clear, weak, strong or dark.
The shade
Is a more specific precision of the colour. The garment of a wine is composed of the intensity and the shade. The colouring intensity gives an idea of the richness of a wine while the shade reveals its age.
The basic colour
Of white wines is yellow although you can distinguish shades which are superimposed such as green in young wines and brown in old wines. The greenish yellows usually correspond to young white wines while the golden yellows are characteristic of more mature wines, including licorosos. If the shade is mahogany, amber or honey-coloured - not advisable - this indicates oxidised or decrepit whites wines.
The shade
Of the rosé wines depends on the vine stock, the maceration period of the dark grapes in the must and its age. A Garnacha rosé wine has the colour of a fresh rose guaranteeing its youth and liveliness. A rosé wine of short maceration will be paler, almost grey. There is a transition between pink and red, with bluish components for rosé wines made with Cabernet Sauvignon and other varieties, to the orangey colour characteristic of mature rosé wines. The dominant shade in red wines is the reddish colour. The colour of red wines depends on the development undergone by the anthocyanins. When the wine is young, the anthocyanins are free and show up as a blue colour which, mixed with the red, gives purplish tones. With the passing of time, the anthocyanins join with the tannins to give brownish, coppery, yellowish and golden tones. This mixture of tones tends to produce tile-red and brick-red colours. Thus if the wine is purplish, maroon, or ruby coloured, the wine is young. If the tone is cherry-coloured or vermillion, the red wines will be mature. Lastly, if the colours are tile-red or iodised, the wines are of a certain age but if they are brick-red, we have red wines of a considerable age and probably very noble.

The sense of smell recognises and classifies the volatile products as long as they are soluble in the olfactory mucous membrane and have an odour. The sense of smell is ten thousand times more sensitive than the sense of taste. The sensitive area of the nose measures approximately some 5 centimetres square, is a yellow colour and is limited by the middle nasal concha. There are two ways of access to the olfactory mucous membrane: the direct nasal way (inspiration through the nose) and the retro-nasal way which is that which passes through the rhinopharynx, that is, from the mouth cavity up to the nostrils. You can smell via the retro-nasal way thanks to the warming of the wine in the mouth and to the swirling around of the wine with the mobility of the cheeks and the tongue and which, with the swallowing movement, creates an internal pressure which reinforces the vapours of the wine through the nasal concha. Only four basic flavours are known while there are hundreds of aromas. The olfactory stage is without doubt the most complex of the wine-tasting.

There is balance and harmony when the flavour enhances the smell and vice-versa. The sensations of taste and smell should mutually compensate each other. If not, we would find, as an example, a white wine with low acidity which swamps the aroma or with an excessive sweetness which covers up the fruity aroma.

Primary aromas:

These come from the variety. They are present in the grape. The intensity of these aromas depends to a great extent on the micro-climate, the pruning and the date when the harvesting takes place. Each variety has its own aromatic hallmark. There are "aromatic" varieties which easily express their aromas while there are others to which greater attention needs to be given. The most aromatic variety par excellence is the moscatel. The chardonnay, the albariño, the gewürztraminer or the sauvignon blanc in white wines also display their aromatic genes. The cabernet sauvignon or the syrah in red wines are also good examples of this. The primary aromas may be different in the same variety if this is cultivated in different geographical areas. The tempranillo does not have the same aromatic features in Ribera del Duero as in Rioja nor does the Chilean cabernet sauvignon have the same nose as one cultivated in Bordeaux. Wine-tasters only distinguish the aromatic fraction which is free and is not linked to the precursors of the aromas. These aromas are located in the skins and in the adjoining cells although on occasions they are also in the pulp and seeds such as the linalool- which means that the extractive enology has to work with musts which have been partially cleaned.

Secondary aromas:

These are those which come from the fermentation. The transformations carried out by the yeast and the bacteria mean that certain substances are formed which are detectable with the sense of smell. As a general rule, it is said that the richer the must is in sugars, the greater the secondary aroma in the wine will be. The temperature of fermentation and the aeration will be decisive; thus, for example, if the temperature of fermentation is low in white wines, the superior alcohols are reduced and the esters increase. These aromas also come from the malolactic fermentation. They are usually the aromas which predominate most in all wines although there is some disagreement on this point. The mature fruit or jams or compotes predominate although the lactic ones also stand out.

Terciary aromas:

These are the aromas characteristic of those wines which have been subjected to ageing either just in the bottle - these are exceptional wines whose changes in maturity mean that their bouquet can be perceived when tasting them - or in oak barrels and afterwards in the bottle.

The taste receptor centres are located on the tongue. The other parts of the mouth such as the lips, the cheeks and the soft palate are sensitive to taste although they react to the tactile and thermal sensations. The taste buds are distributed irregularly on the tongue and communicate with the brain by means of the glossopharyngal, lingual and trigeminal nerves.

There are four types of taste buds but only two of them are sensitive to the specific flavours: the caliciforms which are those which are in the back part of the tongue and the fungiforms which are on the tip of the tongue. All soluble bodies have a special taste but only the four fundamental tastes which are sweet, salty, bitter and sour, and all the pure or mixed tastes are within these four basic or fundamental tastes.

The sweet taste is detected on the tip of the tongue. The salty taste is detected on the sides of the tongue, sour ones near the salty ones towards the centre of the tongue and bitter ones are perceived on the back part of the tongue.

The epithelial mucous membranes react to the thermal and tactile sensations. In wine-tasting you can distinguish the active tactile sense which is the one which is experienced on the tongue and the passive tactile sense which is the one felt on the palate, the cheeks and the lips. Some wine-tasters think, as is described below, that the sensation of astringency is a tactile sensation. The temperature and the sensation of warmth and stickiness which certain alcohols of wines produce are perceived by the tactile sense as well as the causticity which certain acids in wine have.

The flavours and aromas together with the tactile sensations lead one to think in images in relief with geometrical shapes.