The ABC's Of Wine TastingWine offers a complex experience for all the senses. Begin with the eye, taking in the color, clarity, and intensity of your wine. Then the nose. The aroma rising from a glass of wine yields intimations of a wine's style, origin, history, and aging. Finally, let the wine meet its intended: the palate. Throughout the tasting process, take care to pick up the glass by the stem. Avoid handling the bowl of the glass, which can block the wine from the light, smudge the glass, and alter the wine's temperature. |
  Tilt the glass, and look at the wine through the rim. This reveals the full spectrum of the wine's color.To appreciate the wine's intensity, look straight down from above the glass. To best judge clarity (luminescent? cloudy? containing particles?), allow light to shine sideways through the glass. Notice the jewel-like quality of the wine, how it captures and reflects light. Next, swirl the glass - an important step in unlocking a wine's true complexities. Hold the stem firmly but not tightly between thumb and forefinger, much as you would hold a pencil. Keeping the base on the table, rotate the wrist, gentle at first and then growing more animated. Don't be afraid to be bold; allow the wine to wash up the sides of the glass, almost to the rim. |
Look for three elements of appearance: color, intensity and clarity.
|
Type of grape or grapes. Wines made with Sangiovese
grapes, such as Ruffino's Chiantis and Fonte al Sole, tend to be
ruby or garnet in color, while wines made with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes
are usually darker, with purple or black tones.
|
|
|
Conditions of the harvest. Darker colors can mean
a warm summer and dry autumn (an ideal season, which produces fully ripe
grapes with a high ratio of skin to juice). Lighter colors and less intensity
often signal a rainy season that has left unripe or diluted grapes. |
|
|
Vinification process. The longer the skins remain
on the grape during vinification, the darker the resulting color. |
|
|
Aging. Young wines are deeper in color, while
older wines mellow in color.
|
  Don't be shy about putting your nose right in the bowl of the glass and taking a bold sniff. Some experts recommend inhaling once, deeply and intensely; others recommend inhaling a few times in quick succession. In addition to providing sensory pleasure and offering clues in its own right, smelling the wine helps ready the palate, as taste and smell share a passageway. |
You have already swirled the glass, which makes for intensified aromas
as the thin liquid film evaporates from the sides of the glass.
| Don't be shy about putting your nose right in the bowl of the glass and taking a bold sniff. Some experts recommend inhaling once, deeply and intensely; others recommend inhaling a few times in quick succession. In addition to providing sensory pleasure and offering clues in its own right, smelling the wine helps ready the palate, as taste and smell share a passageway. |
|
|
The grape or grapes. The Sangiovese grape,
the primary grape for Tuscan wines, smells of cherry and violets, sometimes
chocolate or plums. Click here for a primer on grapes'
characteristics.
|
|
|
Fermentation process. Fruity aromas are produced
by cool fermentations, while spicy, earthy aromas arise from warm fermentations. |
|
|
Aromas also develop when the wine
is racked off the skins and held for clarification, particularly if the
wine is racked into oak barrels. Ruffino's Riserva Ducale Chianti Classico,
for example, is aged in Slavonian oak barrels. The resulting wine is a
glorious blend of ripe fruit aromas and flavors, which also take on characteristics
of leather and cedar. |
|
|
Aging. Fruity aromas often indicate young wines.
When a wine ages, it grows more aromatically complex, developing a "bouquet."
(Many experts bestow the term "bouquet" only on wines that have undergone
significant aging.)
|
  Hold the sip, letting the wine map different regions of the mouth. The inner cheeks, for instance, respond most to the sharpness of tannins, while the back of the throat takes in the heat of alcohol. When you do swallow, remain tuned also to your sense of smell, as aroma greatly enhances taste. After swallowing comes the finish, which can be perceived when you exhale through your nose and mouth. |
Put the glass to your lips and take your first sip, getting enough to
roll around in your mouth but not too much so you're forced to swallow.
|
|
Alcohol content. This is based primarily
on the grapes' ripeness at harvest time. The more ripe the grapes, the
higher the sugar level and therefore the higher the alcohol content (because
sugar converts to alcohol during fermentation).
|
|
|
Acidity, which balances alcohol content.
Acidity is inherent in the grapes, although its levels can also be manipulated
at a couple different stages of the vinification process.
|
|
|
Tannins (the astringent feeling especially
palpable on the inside of the cheeks). It is red wines that contain tannins,
as they are extracted mostly from grape skins. Tannins act as a preservative
and so are particularly present in wines meant for long aging.
|
|
|
The finish. The finer the wine, the
more satisfying the finish. Ruffino wines are known for their long, complex
finish. It is the finish - rather than the initial impact on the palate
- that is the mark of a good wine.
|
 |
| |
 Aroma/Flavor: Cherry and violets, sometimes chocolate or plums Structure/Texture: High in acid with moderate tannin, velvety texture, extremely dry Used in Fonte al Sole; Chianti Ruffino; Aziano Chianti Classico; Santedame Chianti Classico; Riserva Ducale, Chianti Classico Riserva; Lodola Nuova Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
|
| |
 Aroma/Flavor: Earthy flavors, apple, lemon Structure/Texture: Moderate acid, high extract Used in Libaio
|
