Ever Wonder? What is the Right Amount of Wine to Pour into a Glass?

Well, first let me start by saying you can never have too much wine, right? While that may be true, you can actually have too much wine in your glass. Pouring the ‘right’ amount of wine into a wine glass can actually enhance your enjoyment of the wine.

While we taste with our tongue, it only provides us with a limited amount of information. If you’ve ever tried eating something (like a slice of orange) while holding your nose closed, you’ll know that food has limited flavor when you don’t include the food smells or aromas that enter through your nose.

This is true with wines. While our tongues can only detect the basic tastes (sweet, salt, bitter and sour), our nose is capable of detecting thousands of aromas. Put another way, taste refers to what’s going on inside our mouth including our tongue. But, aromas are detected inside our noses and relates specifically to our sense of smell. Put them both together and you get flavor!

Now, this is where the wine glass comes in. If you fill your wine glass to the top, as shown in the picture, and take a sip, you’ll certainly get taste on your tongue and a bit of aroma as the glass approaches your mouth. But, if instead you fill the glass just about one-third full, just to the point where the glass is at its widest point, you’ll leave the upper two-thirds for the aromas. And, by giving your glass a slight swirl (yes, wine drinkers swirl for a reason!), you’ll release even more aromas into the bowl of your wine glass. Then, when the wine glass approaches your mouth, take a sniff and then a sip. The wine will then have even more flavor.

This is a simple yet very effective trick to get even more enjoyment out of a glass of wine. Cheers!

Wine Flavors from Barrel Aging - Part 2

Last time we learned that aging wine in barrels can impart flavors ranging from none, in older 'neutral' barrels, to subtle hints of vanilla, or bolder flavors of chocolate and smokiness, depending on the barrels age and the degree to which its inside was toasted.

But, barrel aging can also affect a wine’s flavor in a very different way. And, that has to do with a very important component of air, namely oxygen.

Originally, wood barrels were used as a means of transporting wines over great distances. It was somewhat accidentally discovered during this transportation process, that the longer the wine was inside the barrels, the more the wines would change in character - in a positive way.  

This was partially due to the wine’s flavor being directly affected by long-term contact with the wood’s surface.  But, it was also discovered that wood, by its very nature, allows microscopic amounts of air to pass through the barrel and to the wine inside. This minimal exposure of wine to oxygen was found to soften the fruit flavors of the wines and create other flavor notes.

This, quite accidentally, began the practice of aging wine in wood barrels, notably oak.  Today, red wines will typically see a minimum of one to two years of aging in oak barrels before being bottled.

And, we’ll take a look at bottle aging next time. Until then,  Cheers!

Wine Flavors - The Grapes

Last time, we started the exploration of wine flavors. And, basically, a wine's flavor comes from the grapes, the fermentation process and its aging. So, let's jump right in and start with the star of the show, the grapes.

You might think "Well, of course a wine's flavor comes from the grapes." And, yes, the grapes are extremely important in the wine making process and form the basis for how the wine will taste. But, within a grape variety, there can also be tremendous variations associated with factors such as where the grapes are grown and when they are harvested.

Location is very important. Factors such as day and night time temperatures, sunlight, the amount of rainfall and soil type all play into a wine's terroir. Grapes grown in cooler climates such as in Bordeaux, will tend to have their red fruit flavors enhanced (e.g., cherry and red currant) and be a bit lighter in body while warmer climate Cabernet Sauvignon grapes grown in California's Napa Valley produce bigger fruit flavors (e.g., blackberry, black currant and black cherry).

Harvest time also plays a huge role in a wine's flavor.  Winemakers are constantly checking the sugar levels of the grapes in the vineyard (Brix) as they ripen. As the sugar levels increase in the grapes, the acid levels that produce tartness will decrease. So, winemakers chose the Brix-to-acid ratio that will produce the flavor of wine they are looking for.

Where the grapes are grown and when they are harvested plays a huge role in the flavors of all wines. But, once these flavors are established, the fermentation process and aging will also contribute to a wine's final flavor. We'll look into these factors in the next couple of blogs. Until then, Cheers!

Where Do All Those Flavors in Wine Come From?

There are only two ingredients in wine: grapes and yeast.  Yet, white wines can be described as having flavors that include lemon, lime, grapefruit, apple, peach, pear and orange.  And red wines can be described as having flavors of cherry, raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, plum and fig.  And then there are descriptions of vanilla, butterscotch, caramel, chocolate, tobacco, leather, and even tar, just to name a few.  But, if wine is only made from grapes and yeast, how do wines get all those other flavors? 

In a past blog, we reviewed taste and smell as being the elements by which we get our perception of flavors.

But, let's go a bit deeper and do some further exploration of where all those flavors in wine come from.  Basically, wine's flavors come from the grapes, the fermentation process and through aging.

Each of these components provides its own set of flavor compounds that combine to give each wine its own characteristics.

So, next time we'll dive into the most important influence on wine's flavor - grapes. Until then, Cheers!

What is Beaujolais Nouveau?

Ever heard of Beaujolais Nouveau?  Well, its name literally mean 'new Beaujolais' and it really is 'new.'  

On the third Thursday of each November, France releases Beaujolais Nouveau wine to the world. The 'new' part of this wine is due to the fact that the grapes used to make this wine are picked from the vineyards just a couple of months prior to its release!  Yes, just of couple of months! That's compared to most wines that spend a year or more going through the fermentation and aging process before being bottled and shipped to market.  But Beaujolais Nouveau gets from the vineyard to you in about two months!

Word has it that this wine was originally produced for the harvest workers in France to immediately thank them for all their hard work just after harvest was complete. But now its production is somewhere between 30-60 million bottles so that the entire world can enjoy.

This wine is named for the village of Beaujeu in France, which is a small region just south of Burgundy. And there is a celebration in France each year, the 'Les Sarmentelles' festival to celebrate the release of Beaujolais Nouveau that includes music, dancing, fireworks and plenty of wine.

This wine is produced entirely from handpicked Gamay grapes and because it is so new, it is very fresh and fruity. Many describe Beaujolais Nouveau as having flavors of candied cherries, strawberries, red plum, bananas and even bubble gum!  When was the last time you heard of a wine having flavors of banana and bubble gum?  

Many may say that Beaujolais Nouveau is "not very good," but you have to look at the fact that millions of bottles are sold worldwide and that Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to be enjoyed, not critiqued.  What you will find is that this wine is low in tannin (doesn't make you mouth feel dry) and has high acidity (mouth watering) and is great with foods.

So go out to a local wine store and pick up a bottle or two of Beaujolais Nouveau.  It's not going to be the best wine you've ever tried, but it will be an experience. And raise your glass to the French harvest workers and, for that matter, all vineyard harvest worker around the world. Rather than critique it, just enjoy it!  Cheers!