Different factors affect wine's taste
Several times a year I am engaged by readers in conversations about tasting wine. During most of these conversations the reader states that he cannot get any flavors from wine. Many people say that wine just tastes like ... wine. That is like saying meat just tastes like ... meat.
There are several reasons why a person may read about a wine and not experience the same impressions. Bottle shock, storage conditions, serving temperature, glassware, food, failing to smell, failing to allow the wine to coat the taste buds and even the atmosphere of where the wine is being served can all make a difference.
Briefly, wine is a series of hydrocarbons and esters that form different impressions of flavor and aroma. These basic compounds are influenced by things — which also have strings of hydrocarbons and esters — with which they come in contact. The amount of sugar and alcohol will alter the basic flavor of the grape juice. Wood, stainless steel, smoke and other non-juice items will add their traits to the finished offering. Sensors in our nose and mouth pick up the impressions that these chemical compounds bring and translate them to what we know from past experience.
The same esters and hydrocarbon strings found in fruits such as apples, pears, cherries, pineapple and strawberries are found in wine. Green pepper, black pepper, allspice, mushroom, roses, violets, vegetable and floral esters and hydrocarbon strings are made evident along with the fruit traits when we experience wine.
Several factors go into getting the best experience from the wine. Proper aging, proper temperature, proper breathing and proper glassware all help in bringing out the best that a wine has to offer.
Like any chemical compound, wine needs to be tasted at its prime time to experience the best that it has to offer. Take something simple like water. When it is cooled to 32 degrees or lower it freezes to ice. It is still water. It has just taken a different form. Is water more or less pleasant and does it taste different at different temperatures? Of course.
A great deal of attention to temperature must be paid to some wines like the 2007 Ch. Ste. Michelle Riesling. Crisp and refreshing when chilled to 50 degrees with light citrus notes. As the wine warms its traits becomes very acidic and tart.
A piece of unripe fruit generally has an unpleasant bitterness or metallic taste. When it ripens to its fullest the sugars it has created make it very pleasant. As it goes past its prime it begins to look bad, feel bad and taste bad.
So, too, is it with wine. When a wine is too young its full flavors are not developed. When it gets too old the flavors die. A quality wine needs some time for the true flavors to develop. A mid-priced Cabernet Sauvignon from California generally matures in five to eight years.
The 2004 St. Francis Cabernet Sauvignon is a nice wine to try an experiment with. Buy two bottles. Drink one now and make notes of the aromas and flavors. Try the other one in a year and compare the notes. I am sure that you will be surprised at just how much difference a year of aging will make!
If you don't want to wait a year try this: Open both bottles. Drink one today and pour the other wine into a decanter. Drink the decanted wine the next day. I assure you that you will be able to tell the difference. Let me know which you prefer.
Glassware also makes a difference in experiencing the best that a wine has to offer. A leader in the field of creating the right glass for the right wine is Riedel Crystal. Eleven generations of glass manufacturing expertise goes into the glasses created by Riedel. It has an extensive line of glassware designed to bring out the best traits of the grape varietal.
Riedel has a boxed set of glasses that includes a Sauvignon Blanc, Montrachet (Chardonnay), Burgundy (Pinot Noir) and Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon) glass. The set is just great for experiencing the differences that the glass makes in bringing out the best pleasures of the wine.
Get a bottle of wine — any wine — and pour some into each of the glasses. Taste from each glass of wine. You will be simply amazed by how different the same wine tastes just because of the glassware.
To get the most aromas and flavor impressions it is necessary to experience a wine at its right temperature when it is ready to drink and in the right glasses to bring out the best the wine has to offer.