Describing wine

Uncorked by Ed Soon

YOU will be surprised to learn that describing the texture and sensations of wine in the mouth is no different to describing food. For example, you might describe soy sauce as salty, steamed fish as smooth textured and satay sauce as chunky.

Sensations: With the first sip of wine, these are the sensations you will get – sweetness at the tip of the tongue; sourness along the sides of the tongue and further back; bitterness on the rear top of the tongue.

Ultimately, being able to identify sensations implies that you will be able to describe a wine’s style – whether a wine is “sweet” or “tart” or “bitter”, depending on which of the sensations are pronounced.

The body of a wine

The body of the wine should also be described when tasting wine.

Wines can be light-bodied, medium-bodied, or heavy-bodied. A light-bodied wine would feel thin in the mouth, much like lime juice. In the same way, a medium-bodied wine is a little heavier, similar to teh-o, or tea without milk. A full-bodied wine might be compared to a kopi manis, coffee with condensed milk, that comes across thick in the mouth.

Light-bodied whites: Portuguese, Italian, and Austrian dry white wines; Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Gewurtztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and unwooded Chardonnay.

Medium-bodied whites: Viognier, Chardonnay and white Burgundy.

Heavy-bodied whites: Chardonnay with high alcohol levels of 13-14%, sweet dessert wines, sherries.

Light-bodied reds: Beaujolais, Cab-mac (Australian), Gamay, Bardolino, Valpolicella, Dolcetto, wines with lower alcohol levels, Vin de Table.

Medium-bodied reds: Pinot Noir, Burgundy, Barbaresco, Syrah, Cotes du Rhone, Chianti Classico, Nero d’Avola, Montepulciano, some Merlots, Cabernet Franc.

Heavy-bodied reds: Ports, Zinfandel, Brunello di Montalcino, Barolo, Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon and blends, Merlot, and Shiraz and blends.

Mouthfeel and textures

Mouthfeel is a term that advanced tasters refer to as a quality parameter of the wine. It is the tactile sensations on the surface of the oral cavity.

Mouthfeel of wine, according to the Australian Wine Research Institute, can be described as irritation or heat sensations derived from alcoholic content, although there are interactions with the acids in the wine. It’s no wonder that wine experts talk about the texture, weight and acidity in wine.

Try using the following terms to describe a wine’s mouthfeel: Dry (parching), harsh (aggressive), dynamic (puckering, chewy, sticky), unripe (green), complex (fleshy, soft, rich), smooth (furry, velvety, silky or satin) and particulate (chalky, dusty, powdery, clay).

Other sensations of mouthfeel are divided into the following categories:

Irritating – Ranging from spritz (some Italian whites) and prickling to tingling and peppery.

Heat – Ranging from chilli hot to warm (eg high alcohol wines).

Textural – Creamy, syrupy (eg Chardonnays and many sweet wines).

Weightage – Viscous, full, or thin and watery (low alcohol, low acid wines).

Acidity – Metallic, steely (Chablis, Rieslings), sour, soapy (low acid wines).

Flavour – Concentrated, active, intense (red wines made from ripe fruit).

Here is little exercise that you can conduct at home. Purchase a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc; a Californian Chardonnay; Gewurtztraminer from Australia, France or Italy; a French Beaujolais; an Australian Shiraz; and a Californian Cabernet Sauvignon. They should all be medium priced.

Pour a glass of each and see if you can identify how each wine has different taste sensations – some are more tart, others are bitter, etc.

You should identify some grassy asparagus aromas in the Sauvignon Blanc; some butter and vanilla in the Chardonnay, a full bodied creamy wine (unless the wine is unoaked); some spiciness in the Gewurtztraminer, a medium bodied wine with lychee-rose aromas; cherries in the Beaujolais, a light bodied red; some pepper in the Shiraz; and blackberries in the heavy-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Sauvignon Blanc would likely be tart while the Chardonnay is round and almost alcoholic in comparison.

As for the red wines, you will find that either the Shiraz or Cabernet is more astringent/tannic, and either will be more tannic than the Beaujolais.

If I had said that you were on your way to becoming a connoisseur in the past, having gone through the above, you can consider yourself very much a connoisseur of wine!

• Ed Soon is a wine educator and trains sommeliers in South-East Asia. He is also a wine editor for various magazines and visits wine regions around the world where he judges wines and spits them out or just drinks them. You can write to him at [email protected]

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