How to taste wine? Measuring instruments are human eyes, nose and mouth, and there are three links waiting for you.
The first step in wine tasting is to observe and see the clarity and transparency of wine. Wine should be bright and clear. If it doesn't look bright or even cloudy, be alert; The second step is to let the wine reverberate in the cup, let its aroma be released, and smell its aroma gently but deeply. He should smell attractive, and any signs of mildew may be caused by the cork not sealing the bottle properly. If the wine smells bland, it means that the wine is slightly oxidized; The taste in the third step can further confirm the aroma information obtained by the nose and reveal the composition of wine, including its sweetness, acidity and concentration. The key to tasting wine is to stick your nose into the cup and smell its aroma gently.
There are several key processes in wine tasting. Of course, different people feel different, but we still need to know the relevant knowledge, which will help us give full play to the subjective initiative of tasting.
Perceptual coordination
In our tasting wine, there are four main components, tannic acid, acid, alcohol and sugar. Among them, tannic acid and acid are hard components in wine, which makes the taste of wine stronger and stronger. Alcohol and sugar (if any) are both soft ingredients, and the harmony of wine is the relationship between hard ingredients and soft ingredients, that is, the relationship between four ingredients. As far as taste is concerned, this wine is harmonious if there is no special flavor, such as astringent tannins or too much sweetness.
Taste length
Length is a word used to describe the wine tasting process, that is, your tongue can taste from beginning to end, instead of stopping halfway when sliding. Wine with a length will come into contact with different parts of the tongue responsible for various taste channels. At present, some wines taste very advanced, which will leave a deep impression on the first taste, but they are very short, and the length is undoubtedly an important factor to measure the quality.
And depth.
This is another subjective and unmeasurable modifier. If the taste of wine is not single, then the feeling in the mouth will not be single, but there is a potential layering, so it will be said that this wine has depth. Depth is a description closely related to length, and the wine with distinct layers is more like a wonderful southern beauty and beauty, which makes people linger.
Important taste stratification
Good wine can show different sides, making people feel the indescribable joy of discovery while savoring it. Some experts use "sense of taste layering" to express the aroma of wine, and some experts use it to express the overall feeling, which is the overall impression that wine gives you.
The aftertaste is elegant.
After swallowing, the feeling left by wine in the mouth and throat is aftertaste or aftertaste. Good wine can still make people feel its aroma after swallowing, while for example, poorly balanced wine may leave the spicy taste of alcohol or the bitter taste of tannin, or leave no aftertaste at all.
Of course, while tasting wine, we will get higher feelings and experiences. Finally, the question for you is: Do you like it? Being with your favorite wine is like spending a romantic evening with your lover, and only you know the taste best.
A good bottle of red wine, like a handicraft, is valuable for collection. And its value increases with time. 199610 On February 2nd, an auction was held in the Eiffel Tower. A bottle of 1846 red wine from chateau Lafite—Rothschild was sold for 52,000 francs. Prove that a bottle of famous wine, like a famous painting, is a work of art that can be collected forever.
To appreciate red wine, we must first look at the color of red wine. The color of red wine is rich and varied, with diversity and variability. Red wine produced by different red grape varieties has different colors. The red wine brewed by Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc is bright ruby, while the red wine brewed by Beichun, Gongniang 1 and Vitis amurensis is purple. The color of red wine changes with the storage time. New red wine, usually bright red and purplish red. Ruby or deep ruby red wine. Red wine stored for many years is brownish red or dark red.
During the storage of red wine, tannins and anthocyanins in red wine condense to form a complex of tannins and anthocyanins, which is relatively stable in color and gives red wine a yellow tone, which is the main body that determines the color of red wine.
The color of red wine can convey a lot of information about the quality of wine. Experienced sommeliers have a general understanding of the internal quality of red wine by observing its color.
To describe the color of French AOC red wine, the commonly used terms are: deep ruby color, beautiful color; Have the luster of ruby; Rich and charming colors give people a wonderful feeling.
A good red wine, if you appreciate its colorful and ruby-like color before drinking, will make people enter a wonderful artistic conception. Drinking itself is the pursuit of a spiritual pleasure, and red wine plays the greatest role.
The most admirable thing is the aroma of red wine. There are more than 600 chemical components in wine, including aromatic substances, ranging from 200 to 300. Some of these 200 or 300 aromatic substances reinforce each other, some coordinate with each other, and some inhibit each other. Uneven length, cadence, constitute a beautiful movement. People's taste organs can only feel four basic flavors: sour, sweet, bitter and salty; People's olfactory organs can feel more than 200 kinds of smells.
How to identify the aroma of red wine? Pour 1/4 ~ 1/3 glasses of red wine into a standard goblet for wine tasting. First of all, raise a glass to Qi Mei, and observe and appreciate the beautiful color of red wine. Then put the cup under your nose and enjoy the aroma of red wine. The aroma of red wine is delicate and elegant, slowly and gently permeating, as if enjoying light music. The smell of wine is generally carried out in two steps. The first step is to put your nose into the glass when the wine surface in the glass is still. The aroma you smell is elegant and light, which is the most diffuse part of the wine. Step 2: Hold the glass column by hand and shake the tasting glass constantly, so that the wine rotates in circles in the glass and the wine liquid hangs on the glass wall. At this time, most of the aromatic substances in the wine can be volatilized. After stopping shaking, smell the aroma for the second time. At this time, the smell is fuller, richer and richer, which can truly and accurately reflect the internal quality of wine.
According to the different aroma sources, the aroma of high-quality wine can be divided into three categories:
Berry aroma from different grape varieties is called grape variety aroma or fruit aroma.
The aroma produced in the fermentation process is called wine aroma, or fermentation aroma.
The aroma derived from aging in oak barrels is called aging fragrance or oak fragrance.
The fruity aroma of red wine comes from the berries of raw red grapes. As we all know, the aroma substances of grapes mainly exist in the peel of mature grapes. Red wine is fermented with skin. Due to the impregnation in the fermentation process, the aromatic substances in grape skin are dissolved into red wine. In addition, the alcohol fermentation process can also strengthen the dissolution process of aromatic substances. Therefore, the fruity aroma of red wine is much richer than the raw materials of wine grapes.
The fruity aroma of wine is the soul of wine, and it is also the characteristic that distinguishes wine from other drinks. Different red grape varieties have different fruit aroma components, so the red wine produced has different fruit aroma. Experienced sommeliers can judge grape varieties and the quality of grape raw materials by smelling the aroma.
To describe the fruity aroma of high-quality red wine, the usual words are: rich fruity aroma, rich fruity aroma, full fruity aroma, green grass flavor, green pepper flavor, violet flavor, strawberry flavor and so on.
During the alcoholic fermentation of red wine, yeast not only decomposes sugar into ethanol and CO2, but also produces some by-products, such as higher alcohols, higher fatty acids, various aldehydes and esters. Many of these by-products are aromatic substances. The aroma produced in the process of wine fermentation is called the bouquet of wine. The aroma of wine mainly depends on the sugar content in grape berries. The higher the sugar content of grapes, the stronger the bouquet. When red wine is fermented, yeast strains with good aroma should be selected, so as to make the fermented wine elegant and harmonious with fruit aroma. For wine, compared with bouquet, fruity aroma is dominant, followed by bouquet, and fruity aroma is stronger than bouquet, otherwise it will lose the typicality of wine. Since 1970s, the world wine consumption trend has changed. More and more people like to drink fresh fruity wine, especially dry white wine, which is popular all over the world, which also shows the importance of fruity wine.
During the storage of wine, especially when the wine is stored in oak barrels for a long time, the aroma of wine will also change. There are two main changes. One is that various components in wine react with each other, such as oxidation reaction, reduction reaction, esterification reaction and hydrolysis reaction. It changes the aroma of wine and gives it an old bouquet, also called aging fragrance. Another process is to extract oak components from wine. Tannin, vanillin, vanillin and other components in oak are dissolved in wine, giving wine oak flavor.
French A.O.C wines are generally stored in brand-new oak barrels for about two years to obtain the aroma and taste of oak. For a high-quality red wine, the aroma should be coordinated, and the oak aroma should be in a secondary position. It smells of oak, but it doesn't attract attention. Red wine brewed by different technologies has different aroma standards. According to the new technology, the production cycle of fruity red wine is very short, and there is no need for barrel storage. This product requires rich fruit fragrance, fresh and pleasant. Red wine brewed by traditional techniques needs to be stored in oak barrels for two or three years, and then after several years of bottle storage, the fruity aroma of the wine changes into mellow or aged aroma. For such red wine, all the aromas should be balanced, rich, elegant, individual and distinctive.
A good bottle of red wine should be fragrant, comfortable and unique.
For high-quality dry red wine aged for many years, the description of aroma is: it has multi-level odor changes; The aroma is full and delicate; Rich fruity aroma and aged oak aroma come together, and the aroma is rich and changeable; Has the arrogant, noble, narcissistic temperament and so on.
The most intriguing thing is the taste of red wine. For red wine, of course, it should look good and taste good. But it is more important to taste and drink, because red wine is for people to drink. As long as it is delicious, it can bring people the enjoyment of drinking.
To know the taste of pears, you must eat them yourself; If you want to know the taste of red wine, you should taste it yourself.
After seeing the color and smelling the fragrance, red wine begins to taste, which is also the most important stage to appreciate red wine.
Hold the tasting cup to your lips and gently sip a mouthful of red wine, with the amount controlled between 6 ~ 10 ml. Human taste cells are mainly distributed on the tip of the tongue, on both sides of the tongue, at the base of the tongue and around the pharynx. Inhaled red wine is evenly distributed in the mouth, so that taste cells in the mouth can come into contact with red wine. Only in this way can we give full play to the functions of all taste cells and accurately evaluate the quality of red wine. Red wine stays in the mouth for 5 ~ 8 seconds, and then it is swallowed. Carefully analyze the feelings of red wine in the mouth and express them in words or words.
Human taste organs can feel four basic flavors: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. All other tastes are synthesized by these four basic tastes. People's taste senses sweetness quickly and disappears quickly. Bitterness and astringency are slowly felt and disappeared.
There are four flavor substances in red wine: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Sweet substances include various residual sugar, glycerin, ethanol and other polyols. Sour substances are mainly various organic acids, such as tartaric acid, citric acid, malic acid and lactic acid. Each liter of wine contains 2~4 grams of salty substances, mainly inorganic salts and a small amount of organic salts. The bitter substances in red wine are mainly phenols and polyphenols.
There are hundreds of flavor substances in wine, so the taste of red wine is ever-changing and changeable. But the taste of high-quality red wine should be balanced, harmonious, thick and vigorous, just like a beautiful music. If it loses balance and harmony, there is nothing beautiful.
Experienced sommeliers, the feeling of tasting wine can be described by three-dimensional modeling. Good red wine should be plump and thick, with a skeleton and a sense of structure, like a sphere.
Red wine should have a mellow feeling in your mouth. The sense of mellowness is the feeling of fullness, balance and harmony of wine. Round is a feeling of comfort and pleasure caused by sweetness. The biggest difference in taste between red wine and white wine is that the content of polyphenols such as tannins and pigments in red wine is high and the taste is heavy. After drinking wine, for a long time, there is a sense of convergence around the base of the tongue and throat, which is not available in liquor. The tannins in red wine should be just right, just like salt in cooking. No matter how good the food is, it is tasteless without or with little salt. Similarly, if you put too much salt, you can't eat even the best dishes.
After swallowing the wine in your mouth, there is still a aftertaste in your mouth for a long time. The length and comfort of aftertaste are also important indicators to identify the quality of wine.
The comprehensive feeling of wine in the mouth, that is, its mellow, full, whether it has bones and muscles, whether it has a sense of structure, etc. , called wine body. A good red wine should be mellow, mature, delicate, smooth, elegant and meaningful.
After careful analysis, observation and appreciation of the color, aroma, taste and body of red grapes, make a comprehensive evaluation of the tasted red wine, or give comments or write comprehensive comments.
For professional sommeliers, wine tasting is a science. Wine tasting is the basis of wine quality grading and product pricing.