Wine tasting
Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional wine tasters use a constantly evolving specialized terminology which is used to describe the range of perceived flavors, aromas and general characteristics of a wine. More informal, recreational tasting may use similar terminology, usually involving a much less analytical process for a more general, personal appreciation.
Results that have surfaced through scientific blind wine tasting suggest the unreliability of wine tasting in both experts and consumers, such as inconsistency in identifying wines based on region and price.
History
The Sumerian stories of Gilgamesh in the 3rd millennium BCE differentiate the popular beers of Mesopotamia, as well as wines from Zagros Mountains or Lebanon. In the fourth century BCE, Plato listed the main flavors of wine, and classified the aromas as "species", or families.Aristotle proposed a sensory tasting defined by the four elements further deepened by the Roman philosopher Lucretius in the first century BCE.
Although the practice of tasting is as old as the history of wine, the term "tasting" first appeared in 1519. The methodology of wine tasting was formalized by the 18th century when Linnaeus, Poncelet, and others brought an understanding of tasting up to date.
In 2004, Richard Axel and Linda B. Buck, won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their contribution to the knowledge of the senses of taste and smell.
Tasting stages
The results of the four recognized stages to wine tasting:- appearance
- "in glass" the aroma of the wine
- "in mouth" sensations
- "finish"
- complexity and character
- potential
- possible faults
Whereas wines are regularly tasted in isolation, a wine's quality assessment is more objective when performed alongside several other wines, in what are known as tasting "flights". Wines may be deliberately selected for their vintage or proceed from a single winery, to better compare vineyard and vintages, respectively. Alternatively, in order to promote an unbiased analysis, bottles and even glasses may be disguised in a "blind" tasting, to rule out any prejudicial awareness of either vintage or winery.
Blind tasting
To ensure impartial judgment of a wine, it should be served blind – that is, without the taster having seen the label or bottle shape. Blind tasting may also involve serving the wine from a black wine glass to mask the color of the wine. A taster's judgment can be prejudiced by knowing details of a wine, such as geographic origin, price, reputation, color, or other considerations.Scientific research has long demonstrated the power of suggestion in perception as well as the strong effects of expectancies. For example, people expect more expensive wine to have more desirable characteristics than less expensive wine. When given wine that they are falsely told is expensive they virtually always report it as tasting better than the very same wine when they are told that it is inexpensive. French researcher Frédéric Brochet "submitted a mid-range Bordeaux in two different bottles, one labeled as a cheap table wine, the other bearing a grand cru etiquette." Tasters described the supposed grand cru as "woody, complex, and round" and the supposed cheap wine as "short, light, and faulty."
Similarly, people have expectations about wines because of their geographic origin, producer, vintage, color, and many other factors. For example, when Brochet served a white wine he received all the usual descriptions: "fresh, dry, honeyed, lively." Later he served the same wine dyed red and received the usual red terms: "intense, spicy, supple, deep."
One of the most famous instances of blind tasting is known as the Judgment of Paris, a wine competition held in 1976 where French judges blind-tasted wines from France and California. Against all expectations, California wines bested French wines according to the judges, a result which would have been unlikely in a non-blind contest. This event was depicted in the 2008 movie Bottle Shock.
Price bias
Another well-publicized double-blind taste test was conducted in 2011 by Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire. In a wine tasting experiment using 400 participants, Wiseman found that general members of the public were unable to distinguish expensive wines from inexpensive ones. "People just could not tell the difference between cheap and expensive wine".Color bias
In 2001, the University of Bordeaux asked 54 undergraduate students to taste two glasses of wine: one red, one white. The participants described the red as "jammy" and commented on its crushed red fruit. The participants failed to recognize that both wines were from the same bottle. The only difference was that one had been colored red with a flavorless dye.Geographic origin bias
For six years, Texas A&M University invited people to taste wines labeled "France", "California", "Texas", and while nearly all ranked the French as best, in fact, all three were the same Texan wine. The contest is built on the simple theory that if people do not know what they are drinking, they award points differently than if they do know what they are drinking.Vertical and horizontal tasting
Vertical and horizontal wine tastings are wine tasting events that are arranged to highlight differences between similar wines.- In a vertical tasting, different vintages of the same wine type from the same winery are tasted. This emphasizes differences between various vintages.
- In a horizontal tasting, the wines are all from the same vintage but are from different wineries. Keeping wine variety or type and wine region the same helps emphasize differences in winery styles.
Tasting flights
Tasting notes
A tasting note is a taster's written testimony about the aroma, taste identification, acidity, structure, texture, and balance of a wine. Online wine communities like Bottlenotes allow members to maintain their tasting notes online and for the reference of others.Serving temperature
The temperature that a wine is served at can greatly affect the way it tastes and smells. Lower temperatures emphasize acidity and tannins while muting the aromatics. Higher temperatures minimize acidity and tannins while increasing the aromatics.| Wine type | Examples | Temperature | Temperature |
| Light-bodied sweet dessert wines | Trockenbeerenauslese, Sauternes | 6–10 °C | 43–50 °F |
| White sparkling wines | Champagne, other sparkling wine | 6–10 °C | 43–50 °F |
| Aromatic, light-bodied white | Riesling, Sauvignon blanc | 8–12 °C | 46–54 °F |
| Red sparkling wines | Sparkling Shiraz, some frizzante Lambrusco | 10–12 °C | 50–54 °F |
| Medium-bodied whites | Chablis, Semillon | 10–12 °C | 50–54 °F |
| Full-bodied dessert wines | Oloroso Sherry, Madeira | 8–12 °C | 46–54 °F |
| Light-bodied red wines | Beaujolais, Provence rosé | 10–12 °C | 50–54 °F |
| Full-bodied white wines | Oaked Chardonnay, Rhone whites | 12–16 °C | 54–61 °F |
| Medium-bodied red wines | Grand Cru Burgundy, Sangiovese | 14–17 °C | 57–63 °F |
| Full-bodied red wines | Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo based wines | 15–18 °C | 59–64 °F |
WSET recommendations
The Wine & Spirit Education Trust uses the following recommendations for serving temperatures:- Sweet wines e.g. Sweet Muscats, Late-harvest wines ' to
- Sparkling wines e.g. Prosecco, Champagne ' to
- Light/medium-bodied whites e.g. Fino Sherry, Muscadet ' to
- Medium/full-bodied oaked whites e.g. White Burgundy ' to
- Light-bodied reds e.g. Beaujolais, Valpolicella, Bardolino '
- Medium/full-bodied reds e.g. Vintage Port, Rioja, Bordeaux, Burgundy ' to
Glassware
The glass of reference is the INAO wine glass, a tool defined by specifications of the French Association for Standardization, which was adopted by INAO as the official glass in 1970, received its standard AFNOR in June 1971 and its ISO 3591 standard in 1972. The INAO has not submitted a file at the National Institute of Industrial Property, it is therefore copied en masse and has gradually replaced other tasting glasses in the world.
The glass must be lead crystal. Its dimensions give it a total volume between 210 ml and 225 ml, they are defined as follows:
- Diameter of the rim: 46 mm
- Calyx height: 100 mm
- Height of the foot: 55 mm
- Shoulder diameter: 65 mm
- Foot diameter: 9 mm
- Diameter of the base: 65 mm