It sounds like blind tasting is just something that tall wine experts are good at. Just try it lightly and the origin, year, and vineyard of the wine will blurt out. But is this a bit too far away for ordinary wine lovers? Otherwise, as long as you master some relevant introductory knowledge, you can make a general judgment. Today, Encyclopedia will teach you how to identify some special styles of wine. Are you ready to face the challenge?
1. Preparation for blind tasting
First, choose a comfortable wine tasting place and keep yourself in a relaxed state. Secondly, choose the right wine glass and decanter, remember to blindly taste the wine at the appropriate drinking temperature, so that the wine can reach its best condition and it is easier to judge by its characteristics. Also, the light in blind taste places should be appropriate and not dim.
2, two important factors for blind taste
If you want to judge the style of a wine, the first thing is to do is to look at its production area and climate.
Producing Area: Wine can be divided into two styles: New World (many European winemaking countries) and Old World (without Europe winemaking countries). Wines produced in the Old World generally have more mineral flavors, such as the non-fruit aromas brought by granite, slate or wet riverbeds, while wines from New World countries are known for their strong fruity flavor.
Climate: Climate will affect the judgment of production areas, and it is very important to remember this. The warm climates of the Old World also produce wines with rich fruit flavors, while the cool climates of the New World also produce wines with light fruit flavors and mineral flavors.
3. Identify some special styles of wine
(1) Sweet wine and strengthening wine
The styles of these wines are related to their brewing methods. Learning some professional knowledge can help you better taste these wines blindly. Why not? But don’t forget that only by combining theory and practice can we generate true knowledge.
Sweet wine: sweet wines that can distinguish different styles from sweetness. If a sweet wine is sweet, it may be a beerenauslese wine; if it is particularly sweet, it may be Tokaji Aszu. In addition, some clues can be seen from the alcohol content. For example, Sauternes' sweet wine has a minimum alcohol content of 13.5%, and most of them are 14.5%. Wines made from the same grape variety as Sauternes' sweet wine have a similar style, and the alcohol content of this sweet wine produced in Australia is about 11%.
Enhanced Wine: High alcohol content is a clear sign of strengthening wine, typical strengthening wines include Port, Madeira and Sherry. Porter is generally sweet, while Madeira and Sherry are both dry and sweet. In terms of color, Tawny Port, Palo Cortado Sherry and Bual Madeira look similar, but the flavors are very different.
(2) Sparkling wine
Blind taste of sparkling wine is not simple. Bubbles, acidity and dosage (dosage, sugar added before bottling) are important tasting points. Then, the following characteristics of the classic old world sparkling wine should help you better taste sparkling wine blindly.
Prosecco: If you find a sparkling wine with white flowers, peach and cream mousse flavors and a sweet taste, it must be Prosecco.
Asti Moscato d’Asti: It is full of wildflowers and has an alcohol content similar to beer (5.5%). This wine should not be difficult to judge.
Cava: If a sparkling wine has a rubber or earthy flavor, it may be Cava, and its wine-making grape Xarel-lo is the originator of these unique flavors.
Champagne: Champagne is a chalky atmosphere, a textured taste, and a fine flavor that has not dissipated between lips and teeth for a long time. This is the charm of champagne.
(3) Rosé wine
rosé style is limited by its complex brewing process, so it is difficult to blindly taste it. It is already very good to be able to distinguish between the new world and the old world.The points to pay attention to when tasting peach rosé blindly are: whether it is made of a single grape or mixed, whether it has been lactic acid fermented (or partial lactic acid fermented), whether it has been aged in oak barrels, whether it is dry or sweet. Although it is not easy to taste peach blossoms blindly, don’t be afraid of difficulties and practice more. If you make a contribution, you will always gain something.
4. Judge the year of wine
Regarding judging the year of wine, it takes enough time, money and energy to improve your ability in this regard. However, it is not difficult to identify wines in the past 5 years. Here are some useful clues.
Color: As the age is, the color of white wine will become darker and red wine will become lighter and lighter.
Hissing (the sound of bubbles after the wine is poured into the glass): determine whether a wine is a young German Riesling or a Portuguese green wine (Vinho Verde), you can tell by observing the length of their hissing.
Fruit flavor: A wine with a fresh fruity flavor means it is still young; if it has fallen leaves, mushrooms or earthy flavor, it should have been aged for a long time, so it is relatively old.
or above are some of the introductory blind taste techniques recommended by Encyclopedia for you. Have you mastered them all? In fact, blind taste is also a gradual process. Don’t rush it. Only by practicing diligently can you make perfect. Participating in blind taste is just around the corner.
Source: Red Wine Encyclopedia (translated by Zhu Yan, text/Snooth)
Red Wine Encyclopedia , the first new media in the wine industry, WeChat public account: wikiwine.
