Wine lovers often use the term decanting interchangeably with aeration, when in truth, they are markedly different steps. Aeration is a method of bringing your wine in contact with oxygen. Most often people like to pour a young, tannic red wine out of the bottle into a separate vessel exposing it to a lot of oxygen, essentially speeding up the aging process.
Decanting, on the other hand, is when you gently pour an older wine into another vessel for the purpose of separating the wine from the sediment that has collected in the bottle. Most people prefer not to find dark flakes and grains swirling around in their wine. I personally prefer to pour the older wine gently from the original bottle into the glass and skip the middle step of using a decanter. The chances of losing delicate aromas in an older vintage wine increase with each additional step you put it through. Cheers! Hoosier Wine Guy
2 Comments
Some do’s and don’ts:
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Wine tasting should be fun and you should feel like you are visiting with friends, so if you have a question, ask away! It doesn’t matter if you mispronounce the wine. I would much rather educate wine newbies than listen to some arrogant, self-proclaimed connoisseur drone on about what he has in his cellar. The tasting class or room may turn into a party at any time, so have fun! Do drink lots of water during the day. A good rule of thumb is to drink one glass of water per glass of wine. You will thank me for this later, or not. Don’t wear scented products or smoke any kind of cigarettes while tasting. Even vanilla lotion or a splash of spicy aftershave can interfere with the aromas and flavors of the wine. Also, do not chew gum or use mints during or prior to the tasting as they too will interfere with the flavor of the wine. Do take advantage of small crackers or small pieces of bread that may be made available during a tasting, especially when switching between grape varietals. They help to cleanse and neutralize the palate. Ladies, please do not spackle or use lipstick while wine tasting. It interferes with the wines flavor and gets all over the glasses. It makes the glass washers very unhappy when you leave! :) Cheers! Hoosier Wine Guy Corks serve two purposes, to keep the wine in and to keep the dirt, air, and other undesirable items out of the bottle. Cork is made from the bark of an oak tree, specifically known as Cork Oak. Cork Oak is a living thing and has flaws and imperfections which can lead to trouble.
Most often these problems can be divided into three areas; taint, oxidation, and bottle variation. Taint occurs when bacteria contaminates the cork and reproduces in the bottle. Wines thus affected are said to be corked. The most common chemical compound that this interaction creates is 2-4-6 trichloroanisole, and this gives the wine its corky smell. At first, these wines become dull in flavor and the fruit taste disappears. At the next step of affliction the telltale smells emerge; typically described as the smell of a damp dirty cellar or old musty newspaper. Some people are more sensitive to the signs of corked wine than others, and some people are unaware that infected wine is really off. Fortunately, corked wine is rarely encountered. In all the wines I have consumed over the years, I have only had a corked wine once. The one time that I did have it, it was by design. It was during a wine class I attended that the instructor presented it to us so we would recognize it when we encountered it. It is not dangerous and is safe to drink. In fact, some people did not mind the taste. The vast majority of us will probably never encounter a corked wine. Wine makers are on top of the cork game. Also, more and more, synthetic corks and screw caps are being used. This is why you are seeing more wines standing up these days. Synthetic corks and screw caps are just fine in the upright position. Natural cork though, needs to be kept moist. It is best to lay these bottles on their side when storing wine long term. Cheers! Hoosier Wine Guy Many factors can shape the taste of wine. I chose five broad categories. This is a Reader’s Digest version, but if the subject interests you, you can have great fun researching the possibilities.
In the end a bottle of wine is not rigid. The juice in the bottle is flexible. The taste has been evolving from the time the grape was planted until we finally consume it. One of my favorite quotes from the 2004 movie Sideways goes as follows: Maya: No, I- I like to think about the life of wine. Miles Raymond: Yeah. Maya: How it's a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining; if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I'd opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive. And it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your '61. And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline. Miles Raymond: Hmm. Maya: And it tastes so _______ good. (Sorry, took the liberty to edit the last line so as not to offend.) I have heard it said that no two bottles from the same case will taste exactly alike. I think I will buy a case and try and find out! Cheers! Hoosier Wine Guy One of the most endlessly discussed topics in the wine world is the stylistic difference between "Old World Wines," primarily from France, Italy, Spain and Germany, and "New World Wines" primarily from the United States, Australia and South America.
Old World wines are all about tradition and terroir. Terroir is a French word that, loosely translated, means "a sense of place". European wines are all about the soil and climate in which they are grown. Most, rather than being named for the grape variety that produces them, are named for the region, area or even village where they are produced. Hence, a Chardonnay from France might be a labeled as Chablis, a Pouilly Fuisse or a White Burgundy, or named for the village where it was produced, like Chassagne-Montrachet. Each area or region attempts to maintain its own traditional wine making style. Overall, old world wines are traditionally designed for food with lower alcohol contents, higher acidity and less forward-fruit than their New World counterparts. New World wines stress their varietal heritage. So a Chardonnay from Napa Valley may be stylistically similar to one from the Hunter Valley in Australia, but dramatically different from a White Burgundy from France (also Chardonnay). Many New World winemakers train at the University of California, Davis Viticulture & Enology School, while fathers in Burgundy still train their sons to make wine from the tiny vineyard holdings that have been passed down through a dozen generations or more. Overall, New World wines tend to be riper and bolder with higher alcohol levels and more forward fruit than the European wines. America and Australia, and to a slightly lesser degree South America and South Africa, tend to make more wines that stand alone well, or as Britain's Decanter Magazine condescendingly refers to them as "cocktail wines". And, the reality is that while European tradition intends wine to be paired with food, a new generation of wine drinkers are more likely to serve Chardonnay as a cocktail before rather than with dinner. Here is an idea for your next party. Conduct a New World vs. Old World wine tasting. Select five or six New World wine varietals and match them up with their European counterpart. Here are some ideas... Match a California Chardonnay with a Chablis or Pouilly Fuisse from France. A California or Chilean Sauvignon Blanc with a French Sancerre or Pouilly Fume. An Australian Shiraz with a Côte Rôtie or a Saint-Joseph from the Northern Rhône Valley. A California Sangiovese with an Italian Chianti. A California or Australian Cabernet Sauvignon with a Cabernet-based French wine from Bordeaux. An Oregon Pinot Noir with a French Red Burgundy. Or, try an Australian Shiraz, Grenache, Mourvedre blend against a good Chateauneuf du Pape from France. And for even more fun taste some of the wines before you serve any food and then taste them again over dinner. Trust me, it will surprise you. Cheers! Hoosier Wine Guy |
Archives
April 2016
Categories |