Chapter 2

1. Chapter2 Taste Basics and the Basics of Wine Evaluation

2. Aperitif: How important are wine service elements? Sensory Evaluation Basics of Wine Evaluation The look of wine - visual examination The smell of wine - olfactory examination The taste of wine- taste examination Psychological Factors Setting up a Tasting Session Chapter 2 Outline

3. Chapter 2 Key Concepts • Sensory testing approaches • 6-Ss of wine evaluation • Wine serving temperature • Identifying sweetness, saltiness, acidity, bitterness and tannin • Varietals differences in primary wine components, texture and flavors

4. General Wine Service • Psychological components: etiquette, customs, traditions, and fashion. • To make guests feel comfortable and special. • To provide education, knowledge and friendly service. • Modern sommeliers are less intimidating. • Key service elements: ensuring timeliness, at the right temperature, service is smooth, unobtrusive, and professional.

5. Opening and Pouring Wine • 1) Present bottle with the label facing the host. • 2) Place bottle on the table and remove the capsule. • 3) Insert the corkscrew and remove the cork. • 4) Tradition requires that the host is shown the cork. Just place it on the table next to the host’s wine glass. • 5) To finish, wipe off the lip of the bottle with a clean and professionally folded cloth napkin.

6. Pouring Etiquette • 1) To pour, stand behind the person to her or his right with bottle label facing left. • 2) Hold the lip of the wine bottle just above and off-center of the wine glass. • Tilt the bottle to pour a stream of wine into the glass (pour about an ounce in the host’s glass for approval). • 3) Finish the process by giving the bottle a twist. • Tilt it toward you before taking it away to minimize any drips. • Service order: first is the most senior lady at the table, then, the other ladies are served, followed by the men, and finally the host.

7. Definition of Sensory Analysis • A scientific discipline used to induce, quantify, analyze and assess the responses to products based on sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. • These senses allow us to evaluate stimuli in the environment and provide analytical tools for evaluating food and wine.

8. Affective Testing • Determines reactions related to product quality and consumer acceptance of a product. • Requires a large number (75+) of individuals - representative of the target population segment. • Requires little to no preliminary training for individuals involved. • 3 common types: paired comparison, ranking, and rating.

9. Analytical Testing • Used to discover detectable differences between or among samples. • Used to learn the nature of any differences. • Requires a smaller group (usually 12-20) with substantial level of training. • Trained panelists are used as instruments to assess differences in color, odor, taste, texture, and other aspects of quality.

10. The 6-Ss of Wine Evaluation • Seeing • Swirling • Smelling • Sipping • Spitting/Swallowing • Savoring

11. Wine Evaluation: Visual Examination • Seeing: Information about style, aging or fermentation method, alcohol, and other clues. • Color: Clues on varietals, growing region, climate - all hints to the ultimate taste. • Clarity: Indication of the quality of winemaking technique and handling. • Clarity can range from cloudy, about clear, clear, crystal to brilliant.

12. Visual Examination - Continued • Swirling: Looks at the consistency, opens up aromas. • Consistency: Refers to how fluid or viscous – normal viscosity varies by the type of wine. • Tears (legs) are primarily a sign of high alcohol. • Effervescence: carbonation level or bubbles. • Bubble size, number of bubbles, and persistency of bubbles are all considered.

13. Olfactory Examination • Smelling: Perceived flavor is primarily driven from smells. • Nosing Steps: 1). Fill glass no more than 1/3rd full, 2). Swirl, 3). 1st nose (1 long smell or several short), 4). 2nd nose • Key elements: intensity, quality, and persistency of aroma. • Bouquet: Embraces any physical and chemical changes that impact the wine smell once the wine is put into the bottle.

14. Taste Examination • Sipping/Swallowing and/or Spitting: technique varies for each taster. • To swallow or spit-out depends on the purpose of the tasting. • Primary evaluation: balance between sweetness and acidity (and tannin in red wine). • Savoring: Evaluates flavor intensity and persistence. • Indicators of quality: flavor persistence, a balanced flavor and texture, complexity level, and clean taste.

15. Psychological and Physiological Factors Factors: taster’s personality, external elements, and biases. • Preconceived notions of a particular winemaker, type of wine, or region. The methods used in sensory analysis are strictly controlled to maintain proper temperature, lighting and to minimize off-odors. • Blind tasting attempts to negate biases about price and prestige.

16. Factors - Continued • Adaptation and palate fatigue are important considerations • No more than 6-8 wines should be evaluated at one setting. • Odor blindness may be a pitfall in some tasters. • Taste modifiers, serving temperature, and smoking are other physiological factors.

17. Setting Up a Tasting Session • Time of day has impact on our ability. • late morning being the best. • Physical setting has an impact. • Sufficient natural lighting, a white background, unadorned glasses. • Consider the sequence in which wines will be presented. • Consider temperature – most wines are tasted within 10-20 C/ 50-68 F.

18. Recommended Temperatures: Reds with Food or Drinking • Tannic Reds = 63-65°F / 17-18°C:Australian Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Rhône Wines, Vintage Port, Bordeaux, Châteauneuf-du-Pape. • Medium Bodied Reds = 58-61°F / 14-16°C :Southern French Reds, southern Italian reds, Rioja, Toro, Pinot Noir, Valpolicella, young Chianti. • Red Wines with Light Tannin = 54–55°F / 12–13°C:Young Beaujolais, red Sancerre, Bardolino, young Spanish and Portuguese reds.

19. Recommended Temperatures: Whites with Food or Drinking • Fuller-bodied and Aromatic Whites, Sweet Wines, Roses, Sherry and White Port = 48–50°F / 9–10°C: Chardonnay, Sauternes, Tokay, white Rioja. • Light, Crisp and Sparkling Whites = 45-46°F / 7-8°C: Alsace, Chablis, Riesling, Good Champagne and Sparkling wine, Sancerre, Sauvignon Blanc. • Cheap Sparkling Wines = 36–39°F / 2–4°C

20. Temperature Importance • Temperature greatly influences our senses. • Most wine is tasted within the 10-20 C (50-68 F) range. • Temperature has a substantial impact wine smells and tastes. • A variation of only 3-4 F can explain discrepancies in the amount of tannin perceptions in red wine.

21. Chapter 2Lagniappe“Something extra” Additional Wine Evaluation Considerations

22. Evaluation Purposes • The purpose of evaluation in this course is to assess wine sensory dimensions and compare with complementary food sensory dimensions. • Asking the question: Do the levels of these dimensions predict a pleasant sensation when the food and wine is tasted together?

23. General Wine Evaluation Purposes • Many times wine is evaluated to determine its quality: Is it good or bad? • And may be as simple as “I like it” or “I dislike it” Two main aspects are used in evaluating wines: • Descriptive Analysis • Rating Tests

24. Descriptive Analysis • Objective: create a common language to describe characteristics and quality. • The first major effort occurred in the mid-1970s in the brewing industry – creating a 2-tiered wheel to describe beer. • In 1979, the concept was used to analyze whisky. • In 1984-87, the Wine Aroma Wheel was developed at the University of California, Davis.

25. Wine Aroma Wheel • Starts with an inner circle with basic terms such as: fruity, spicy, nutty, vegetative, etc. • The second level separates the terms into subgroups (e.g. vegetative is dvided into fresh, canned & dry). • The outer level is more specific in describing smells (e.g., vegetative/fresh = stemmy, bell pepper, mint, etc.)

26. 3 Levels of the Fruity Descriptions

27. Rating Tests • Rating tests are used in this text for evaluating food and wine. • The tests ask the question: on a given scale, where would you place this sample? • There are a wide variety of rating tests used in wine evaluation. • Commonly, they use a 20-point or 100-point summed scale.

28. The principle of wine rating scores • Break down the evaluation into major organoleptic parameters (e.g. appearance, color, aroma, body, etc). • Evaluate these parameters separately for their contribution to the wine under study. • Each parameter receives a score based on its assumed importance (weight) to wine quality. • The sum of these scores provide a total quality rating.

29. A history of scorecards • One of the most recognized is the Davis Scorecard. • As the wine industry has changed over the years, the scorecard has been revised to reflect changing importance of parameters. • Less weight on appearance and more weight on aroma/bouquet and flavor. • Adding a general quality parameter to allow a judge to express overall opinion on wine quality.

30. More Recent Rating Systems • Studies of the 20-point card indicated that many times the card point spread was limited to 12 to 16 by judges – thus not using the full scale. • A new card was developed using total parameter weights of 20 and a 1 to 5 scale for each parameter. • Thus, creating a 100 point scale (i.e. 20 X 5 = 100).

31. Quality ratings on this scale

32. Changes in this newer system • Look of wine is less important in current industry and technology • No separate assessment of acidity, sweetness, body – but part of balance indicator • Harmony added as an integral impression • Negative attributes are assessed separately and deducted from 100 point total if present. • Example scorecard on next slide.

33. Date__________Variety______________ Vintage____________ Wine No.__________ Total _________

34. Additional Reading on Wine Evaluation Jackson, R.S. (2002). Wine Tasting: A Professional Handbook. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Margalit, Y. (2004). Concepts in Wine Technology. San Francisco, CA: The Wine Appreciation Guild, Ltd.