You are in a restaurant, you must approve the wine that is proposed to you and that will be served at the whole table. Here are some indications that will help you to better appreciate the wine service which is organized in three steps: look, smell, taste...
Eye and Sight 👀 :
When the wine is poured, you observe the disc formed by leaning over the glass, then you examine it at eye level to define its quality, its color (color of the wine) and its legs (tears).
The disc: This is the upper surface of the wine in the glass, it must be shiny.
the lateral examination of the wine: it allows to observe the clarity of the wine. A clear wine is a wine without particles in suspension. When it is cloudy, it is often a defect. But there are unfiltered wines, therefore with particles, which are perfect.
The colour (no ball, eh) : This is the colour of the wine (white, rosé or red). White wine is either colourless, yellow, golden or amber when it ages. The red wine is either clear, purple, garnet, ruby, purple and tiled with age. These colours can be more or less intense. They are described as deep, sustained, dense or on the contrary light, weak, lively, clear, faded, evolved, past.
The legs: By tilting the glass and then straightening it to make the wine flow along the wall, legs or tears are formed. This is an index that qualifies the level of liquidity or viscosity of the wine. It is said to be fluid or creamy.
The nose or smell 👃🏻:
Once the observation is over, you smell the wine a first time WITHOUT MOVING IT to detect the smells of sulphites, fermentation and reduction. This is the first nose. Then, swirl it in the glass and smell again. You must first judge the frankness and freshness of the aromas; bad smells express a defect (corked for example). We classify the aromas in 3 categories:
* The primary aromas: express the aromas of the grape variety, for example, the very fragrant Muscat, reminds you of musk, or the Sauvignon that of the tomato stalk!
* The secondary aromas: come from the activity of fermentation. The most remarkable are found in the typical aromas of the primeur wine. For example the Beaujolais nouveau and its banana aroma.
* Tertiary aromas come from the maturing in barrels; they are woody, spicy or toasted aromas.
From floral to fruity in their youth, they evolve towards notes of macerated fruit, dried or candied fruit.
Mouth or taste 👅:
The gustative phase determines the structure of the wine, its sweetness, acidity, bitterness, fatness and concentration. It indicates whether the wine is balanced, a sign of quality. The wine should not be too alcoholic or too sweet. To have a fresh sensation in the mouth, a balance between sugar, fruit and acidity is needed. For white wines, the quantity of sugar incorporated shows whether it is dry, sweet or syrupy. The quality will also be established with between sugar and acidity.
Moreover, the wine is defined by its persistence in the mouth after tasting it. It is counted in units of time of "Caudalie". The sip of wine swallowed, the aromas are maintained in the mouth: We speak of aromatic persistence. It can be average when it is between 3 and 10 seconds, or very long lasting as with some Madirans (appellation of the south-west of France), or even exceptional (more than 20 seconds) with some old yellow wines from the Jura in very fine vintages.
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