Summer White

We've been hit with a heat wave.

It's been so horribly hot and I no longer hold up well in the heat.  While alcoholic beverages are not the typical prescribed solution, Giuseppe and I have had ice cold glasses of white wine at the beach to cool off.  Our wine this summer has been Manta Sauvignon Blanc from Chile.  Sam, my hero and good friend at Acker Merrall & Condit, recommended it.  Yes, the big auction house Acker Merrall is also an everyday wine shop.  They are great.

What do we know about Chile other than it's a region where a lot of affordable wines can be had nowadays??  A bit about the country:

• Chile is approximately 3000 miles long and 220 miles wide.  It is geographically isolated by mountains, Pacific Ocean and Antarctica.
• Chile has a Mediterranean climate.
• Vines in Chile are grown 32-38 degrees latitude south of the equator (FYI--the majority of all wines in the world are grown between 30-50 degrees latitude north and south of the equator).
• The sauvignon blanc grown here is a less aromatic clone

• There are 4 major wine regions in Chile: 

1. Coquimbo, which includes the Limari Valley.  Mostly cabernet sauvignon is grown here.
2. Aconcagua/Casablanca.  A lot of chardonnay and pinot noir grown here.  
3. Central Valley, this includes the Maipo, Rapel (sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon) and the Maule.  The Manta is from the Maule. 
4. Southern Region which includes the Itata, and Bio Bio.  (Pais, Moscatel grapes used for brandy, distillation and rustic wines.)

Giuseppe and I both felt that it was crisp, had flavors of Fuji apples, lemons, grapefruits, gooseberries, some tropical flavors with a mineral note.  It's quite tasty for the value!  For less than $10 a bottle (I've seen it ranging from $7-10), it's the white wine we're drinking and serving this summer.

A toast to Sam for the great recommendation! 

Links:
www.ackerwines.com


 

Systematic Approach to Tasting

One of the things I learned in wine school was something called the Systematic Approach to Tasting.  It's a very descriptive and systematic way of evaluating and tasting wines.  While I do not write formal tasting notes for every wine I drink nowadays, I still do use the systematic approach in my mind.

Yesterday I wrote about some components to be aware of when tasting a wine -- sugar, acid, body, tannins.  Let's look at some other things.

Appearance
Yes, I know.  It's red or white or pink.  Not exactly.  The best way to 'evaluate' an appearance is to NOT look at a wine up to a light.  I see that all the time.  It's so retarded.  Be cool and tilt your wine glass against a white background, like a tablecloth or white piece of paper (the menu will do if it's written on white paper).  Is the wine star bright or cloudy?  Are there bubbles?  If yes, note the size of the beads (large like Coca Cola bubbles or fine and small and steady?).  Are there legs -- when you swirl the glass and all these streaks of wine start falling on the inside wall of the glass???

Color
What's the intensity of the color?  Is the color the same from the core (the middle of the glass) to the rim?  Or is the rim something much lighter?

Odor
Smell the glass, swirl the glass.  Check for off odors.  Is it clean or unclean?  I was at the beach the other day and was tasting a wine.  I smelled the glass with the wine in it and it wreaked of Cascade dishwashing detergent.  I had to rinse out the glass completely with my wine, pour it out and have new wine repoured.  Lest I digress...Bouquet.  What do you smell??

Taste
The tongue can sense sweet, salty, sour and bitter.  Move around your tongue with the wine inside your mouth so all taste buds can come into contact with the wine and its receptors.  Allow the wine to warm in your mouth so volatile compounds can escape.  Draw some air to extract the volatile compounds and force them up the olfactory epithelium through the opening in the back of your mouth (this sounds so technical!).  You know how some wine geeks (like me) make this look of inhaling air and slurping noise??  Yes, that's it.  Spit.  What flavors do you taste?  I have found that the aroma wheel is a really useful tool to enhance one's wine vocabulary.  For example, in tasting a red wine, there are typically berry flavors, but what kind of berries?  Strawberries?  Blackberries?  Cherries -- red or black??? Raspberries??  Or citrus: lemons, lemon curd, citrus skins.  Nutty?  Tropical fruits of pineapples or stone fruits, stone fruit pits, caramels, etc.  You get the picture. 

Record impressions -- acid, sweet, what's the body, are the alcohol levels high (heat), balance (tart and sweet) 

Conclusion
What do you think?  Do you like it?  Do you think it's worth what you paid for??  Is there something off balance (too alcoholic and not really all that acidic)??


I hope that this has been helpful.

Jennifer


Link:
www.winearomawheel.com

Evaluating Wines

I've been in cleaning mode lately.  Giuseppe and I are trying to scale down our 'things'.  It's amazing how much 'stuff' we accumulate, isn't it??

In going through some of my old study notes, I came across some material that I thought my readers would find helpful.  Like what, you ask???  I wrote that evaluating wine for quality is not as subjective as one would think.  One can train one's palate.  It can improve along with one's vocabulary in describing one's likes and dislikes of a wine.

Let's start with some components that we should be aware of when tasting a wine.  

We have a preference for sugar.  It's the American sweet tooth.  (It is the tip of the tongue that senses sweetness.)  Over 90% of wine is dry fermented to alcohol.  Approximately 7 grams is detectable to the typical tongue.  For an American that threshold is more like 10-12 grams. 

Acid: the sides of the tongue detect acidity.  Make a benchmark for yourself the next time you taste something acidic, like a salad dressing, fruit or wine.  Why is it important?  Acidity counters other factors and tastes in your wine, like sugar.

Tannin: it's the tactile sensation in your mouth that I've discussed in previous blog entries.  You can sense it in your upper gums, middle and the back of your tongue.  There is no aroma to tannins.  Tannins are typically in red wines or wines that have an oak presence.

Alcohol: is it heavier or oilier in your mouth?  We sense alcohol about 5-10 seconds in the back of our tongues and throats.  Sometimes I get a hot feeling in my cheeks when I taste something with high levels of alcohol.

Body: is it full, medium or light bodied? 

The next time you taste, think about the sugar, the acid, the tannins, alcohol levels and body.  Tomorrow, we can go over some vocabulary.