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Winoledge
takes on the next step in the world of wines with this April edition. I hope
the occasions of Easter and Holi must have given you reasons aplenty to
explore a few wines. I must tell you that one of the best ways to know about
wines is to drink it. While words can describe near close to all, you must
sniff, swirl and sip different wines to know the difference, the tastes,
the latent taste and aftertaste that various wines have to offer.
The
tasting of wine is a very simple process and is given in steps below.
-Select
the wine.
Reds must
be tasted at room temperature ( 22-25 degree Celsius), whites at 10 – 12
degree Celsius, and sparkling ( champagne like wines, or wines with lots of
bubbles) at 6 degree Celsius. Sparkling wines are often not tasted and
presumed to be fine but you must do the tasting to train your palates.
- Whites
can be tasted readily while heavy red wines must be left open for some time
before tasting. This is called breathing the wine.
-Pour the
wine in a clean glass, 2/10 of the glass.( remember this is just tasting for
tasting purposes )
-Hold the
glass with its stem (this helps in not affecting the temperature of the
liquid.) Remember never to hold the bulb of the glass while tasting.
- Tilt
the glass to poke your nose in the glass, (incidently the first set of
perception of the olfactory nerves is called nose as well). Here a weak or
strong smell can suggest you the pre-taste and strength. As an avid wine
drinker , I can also use this step to tell if the wine is drinkable or off
(has over fermented and not fit for consumption.)
-Swirl
the glass a little to release the inner flavor. Once sniffed again, the
second set of perception of the olfactory nerves is called bouquet. You can
find flavours like fruity, oaky, melony, leather like, peach, berry,
bananas, pineapple, tannin etc. being released through the swirl.
-Sip the
wine and coat your palate with it for the taste. This reflects the acidity
or sweetness along with the taste of the wine. Often inexplicable as it is a
mixture of so many different flavours.
While the
above exercise is more on the practical side of winoledge, theory has its
importance too. I guess you can enjoy a bit extra if you know more about
anything. Wines can be classified in various ways like colours (red ,white,
rose), origin (old or new world), class( normal table wines made from
machines to exclusive handpicked grapes made by manual process), tastes(
sweet or dry), types ( still, sparkling, fortified etc). I know this sounds
confusing, I would thus not explain it all in one go but use these terms
when need be and explain it at the time of use.
The
selection of right wines with the correct food item not just complements
the meal but also enhances the experience of drinking the wine. In the olden
days there was a process of matching wines with food items and a general
rule used to be followed. The below given five points can be termed as
general guidelines to select wines with food items. Not much has changed
since than but wine drinkers have become more experimental, so even though
these guidelines hold well, no particular preference or choice can be
overlooked.
-In
general white wines ( wines that are white , golden or semi golden in colour
made either from white or red grapes) go well with white meat( veal, chicken
and seafood) and vegetables.
-Red
wines ( wines that are red in colours and made from red grapes only)go well
with read meat( lamb and beef) while rose( pink wines made from red grapes
only) goes well with pork meat.
-Food
items like chocolate, vinegar based and eggs do not go well with any still (
normal flat wine ) wine.
-Sparkling wine goes well with any type of food items including the ones
above.
-In a
meal consisting of few courses, one should start with the dry wines and
finish towards the sweet ones.
Remember
taste are general guidelines only, and you must and shall develop your own
choices. What is most important is to get out and experiment. Remember on
your next lunch or dinner if you select a glass of wine you would have just
broken the ice to a mysterious world.. On a trip to a vineyard in the Rhone
region of France I came across a board which said “ Women and wine have the
same venom”. I didn't have much choice but to agree and move over. Such is
the complexity of this beverage.
Cheers
and have a great month of April
Cheers!!!
Yogeesh |
