Do you see what I see?
Last post, I introduced the 4 S’s : Sight, Smell, Sip, Savor. Today we’ll dive into sight and what it means when tasting wine. When I refer to sight, I’m talking about the appearance of a wine – what we can tell from looking at it. And, there are a number of things that sight can tell us. However, for the most part, sight only alludes to how a wine might taste. No matter how “bad” a wine looks, you’re almost always going to smell and taste it after you’ve examined its appearance. So, why bother with sight at all?
For me, drinking wine is a sensory experience. All of our senses (even listening to the “Pop!” of a cork) are involved in the process, to varying degrees. When you drink a wine, you will most likely look at it first. How a wine looks will certainly impact your “perception” of smell and taste, but it also is part of the process on its own merit. When a wine looks great, when it has great depth of vibrant color, and the light reflects off it like a diamond, it’s a thing of pure beauty. It builds anticipation. That’s why sight is important.
Sight is also really important when “blind tasting.” That is, tasting a wine without knowing what it is, in order to evaluate its quality without prejudice, and to guess its grape, region, vintage, and possibly even the winery from which it came. In these cases, the appearance of a wine will give us some insight as to its grape, age, and winemaking techniques.
During the sight step, there are a few things that we’ll evaluate about the appearance of a wine:
Clarity – Is the wine clear or dull? Unfiltered wines tend to be more dull, but the wine certainly shouldn’t be hazy and there shouldn’t be any particles floating in it. Because of refined winemaking techniques, most modern wines are perfectly clear.
Intensity/Depth – How deep is the color? Can you see through the wine or is it opaque? Intensity is not necessarily an indication of quality. Some grapes make more intensely colored wines, but it may be an indication of how much flavor to expect during the upcoming “sip” stage.
Color – This refers to the actual color. A white can range from a clear/water color to gold or even amber. As a white ages, its color deepens. Reds range from purple to garnet and then lighten and brown as they age.
Rim vs. Core – This is really only important with red wines. When you tilt your glass forward and peer through it at the wine you’ll notice there is a lighter colored rim around the wine. Here we are assessing how wide this rim is and how much of a color difference it is to the core or middle. Certain grapes have larger, lighter rims, and older wines do, as well.
Legs – This is another one that is really only for red wines. Most people are familiar with the term “legs” (also known as “tears”) in reference to wine. You may have heard someone exclaim, “This wine has great legs!” as if it were a swim suit model. So, what does “legs” mean? When you swirl a wine in its glass, some of the wine will stick to the sides of the glass and slowly drip down. The “bigger” the wine (more alcohol or sugar), the bigger and slower to the legs will be to develop. Does “bigger” mean “better?” Nope, but great legs sure are fun to look at!
Bubbles – Are there bubbles in your wine? If it’s a sparkling wine, I hope so. If it’s not a sparkling wine, I hope not. Bubbles in still wines can mean that a second fermentation has occurred in the bottle, which will negatively impact flavors, and the overall texture of the wine. No bubbles in a sparkling? Oops, you shouldn’t have saved it in the fridge from last weekend!
All in all, sight can tell you quite a bit about wine, but you ultimately are going to drink it. So, I wouldn’t spend too much time with the first “S”, just enough to whet your appetite.
Next time: Smell.
17 Responses to “Do you see what I see?”
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