Getting Your Wine Education - Language

Most of us learn about wine on a "need to know" basis. We may already know we like it and how to drink it but learning to taste wine has a learning curve so there are a few things you need to know right from the beginning if you want to talk to others about your tasting experience.

The Language of Wine -Basic Terms

AROMA - is the an individual component used to describe the smell of the grapes reveals a lot about its flavor before you actually taste the wine. All of the individual aromas combine to for "The Wine's Bouquet"... the total smell of the wine. The wine's "nose", a term used to describe the bouquet and aroma, are further released by constantly swirling the wine in the glass which exposes the wine to more oxygen, making it release more aromatics. Smells also helps to determine whether the wine is faulty.

Any wine can have many different aromas and the best will often have a complex collection. As knowledge of different wine grape varieties increases, so will your ability to identify different aromas and which belong to each grape.This is learned over time by trial and error.

Smelling the wine should not be rushed. The aroma of the wine, which in most wines corresponds to its flavor, is one of the most important aspects of tasting a wine. It tells the taster about most aspects of the wine's quality. To do this properly, you should inhale deep and long to learn the wine's secrets and to anticipate the taste that will soon be on your tongue.

Check to see if you can detect a musty smell - a wine that presents unpleasant "mildew" or "moldy" aromas can be the result from improperly cleaned storage vessels, moldy grapes or cork and could indicate bacteria growing on the surface of your wine. The wine is said to be "corked" and should be poured out.

BALANCE - a good wine will have elements of acidity, astringency and fruit

BODY - is the sense of fullness a wine gives as it enters the mouth.

FINISH - is the aftertaste left in the mouth after the wine has been swallowed. A wine with a finish that lasts for a longer than usual period is said to have a long finish.

TASTING - described with two different impressions - first, as it tastes first in the "mouth" or "palate", followed by the "finish" or aftertaste.

VARIETAL - refers to the type of grape you will be tasting, it's helpful to learn about the characteristics of each grape so you realize what you are tasting and how you would expect it to taste based on the grapes used.

SCORING WINE - trust me, everyday people wine lovers are not expected to score wine nor do they want to. Should you be so inclined to learn more about it you should know that cork dorks use it to have a consistent way to evaluate wines so they are able to make a comparisons between wines they've tasted. There are several systems used to score wine. A very simple one is the UC Davis Wine Scoring system.

Ice Wine - Nectar of the gods

One sip and I was hooked… no wonder they call it nectar of the gods!

This is an intense dessert wine that has been made from very ripe grapes that were frozen on the vine. The frozen water is removed during pressing, leaving a very sweet must. A modern technique called cryroextraction utilizes a freezer in place of mother nature.

It is made from late-season grapes that are allowed to freeze on the vine, then picked before they thaw and pressed while frozen. The grapes are about 80% water, while the remaining 20% is the concentrated juice that is used to make the wine. The ice is essential; the shards puncture the inside of the skin to release more flavor. The production process creates a unique wine that tantalizes the palate with fruity sensations such as apricot, peach and mango.

The difference between ice wine and other dessert wines is that ice wines show a much clearer fruit and varietal character. This is because other sweet wines are made from botrytis (”noble rot”) affected grapes, or with grapes that have been laid out and dried. Because ice wine grapes are healthy at harvest, a good amount of acidity remains, which gives the wine a raciness that other dessert wines generally have to a far lesser degree. While the liquids freeze, the sugars do not, resulting in a concentrated, very sweet wine.

Because there is so little liquid remaining, the juice from many more grapes are required to produce ice wine than traditional wine.

True ice wine is that made from grapes that are kept on the vine until the temperature sinks below 19.4 Fahrenheit. In the U.S., New Zealand and some other regions, winemakers have started producing simulated ice wine by tossing the grapes into a commercial freezer. These simulated ice wines are considered to be of lesser quality and will typically sell at half the price of ice wine made in the traditional way.

Both methods do employ the same basic idea: a grape is made up mostly of water, and since only the water will freeze at these low temperatures, the sweet grape nectar can be pressed from the grapes while the frozen water remains trapped in the skins.

Legend has it that ice wine, also known as Eiswein, was discovered by accident in Germany, near the city of Wurzburg, (Franconia wine region) in 1794 when an unexpected frost froze the grapes before they could be harvested. The vintners in the region attempted to salvage the crop by picking and pressing the frozen grapes and knew when they sampled the first pressing that they had something extraordinary, a surprisingly exquisite ice wine. The Wurzburg estate still produces ice wine.

Ice wine was not produced in North America until the early 1980’s Ten years later, Canadian wineries along Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula had mastered award-winning ice wines and soon producers in the United States with similar climates (Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania) began to produce grapes for ice wine. Sales of ice wine remain strong as the demand is increasing despite the poor economy. In recent years, Canada has surpassed Germany in ice wine production to become the world’s largest grower of ice wine grapes in the world. Interestingly, Asia is the largest exporter.

Riesling was the original ice wine grape but most ice wine today is made with the Vidal Blanc grape, its thick skin and hardiness allow the grape to remain on the vine longer and resist rot and animal predators. Sometimes a Cabernet Franc may be used, resulting in a rose colored wine.

Scheurebe grape has properties that make it a popular choice for use in crafting great ice wine. Traminer is another aromatic varietal that results in great ice wines. Master winemakers in Germany also make ice wine with the red grape Blaufränkisch, and the result is a magic rose-colored version with notes of exotic berries. An ice wine made from red grapes is very uncommon – freezing the grapes influences the aromas greatly, and this is especially true with red grapes.

In Austria, has the strictest wine laws in all of Europe, only ice wines created by Mother Nature are allowed to carry the proud name. Austria’s flagship grape, Grüner Veltliner, is said to be the truest ice wine of all. Grüner Veltliner is resistant to botrytis, so the end result has particularly clean and clear notes.

With its high acidity and sweetness, ice wine is crisp and refreshing. It has medium to full body and a long lingering finish. Ice wine is typically more expensive than table wine due to its difficult processing requirements. Its alcohol content varies from between 8% and 13%.

Although most popular ice wines are white and have the flavor essence of stone fruits (such as peaches) or tropical fruits (like mangoes), the red Cabernet Franc has what is described as a "strawberry characteristic."

The best ice wines strike a balance of sweetness, acidity and flavor -- all elements that blend to create an impeccable character. The acidity is important for balance, because if it's too sweet, it won't ferment properly, and the "flavor won't have a clean finish -- it's cloying," (CLOYING -Too sweet, without balancing acidity. When sweetness and acidity are in good balance the result is a natural, fresh sweetness like that of a good fruit juice, when it lacks balance it is has the artificial sweetness of a Life-Saver.)

How to Select Ice Wine
As with any other wine, buy what you like, although being knowledgeable about the product helps to ensure you are getting real ice wine.

When ice wine is made from artificially frozen grapes -- those not frozen on the vine it is not legally considered ice wine, and the bottle must be labeled "iced wine." Authentic ice wine must be produced using natural methods and cannot contain any additives.

Cost - $$$ Because seasonal grape yields usually produce a small amount of liquid -- about 10% per harvest -- ice wine can be pricey. Ice wine usually is sold in half bottles. Finding a bottle priced less than $30 is rare; a bottle in the $100 range is not unusual. That's why it's important to buy a quality ice wine that truly pleases the individual palate. Knowledgeable buyers read labels carefully and understand how harvest conditions and sweetness affect flavor.

Why is it so expensive? It is essential to harvest on the first freezing night of the year, because grapes left on the vine to go through a freeze-thaw-refreeze cycle can pick up unwanted flavors. Winemakers are often nervous wrecks by harvest time, as they will have spent night after night waking up repeatedly to check the temperature.

How can you be label-savvy? Ideally, ice wine grape harvests should occur when the temperature has dipped below freezing, and the grapes should be crushed immediately. The label cannot read "ice wine" unless this is the case.

Also, brix typically is noted on each bottle, so you should be able to choose a vintage that will appeal to your taste buds. Brix is the measure of ice wine sweetness in degrees of concentration. It usually ranges from 29% (less sweet) to 56% (an intense, honey-like sweetness).

Serve and enjoy
Because ice wine flavor can be intense enjoy it in 4-ounce servings, chilled -- not cold. I think it alone is a dessert but some people enjoy it with a mild fruit or cheese dessert or chocolate.

Finding ice wine is difficult but a good wine store can order them for you…. Expensive yes, but worth it, every last drop.

Created for Everyday People who Love Wine

Some of people I know who are the most passionate about wine are what some would call uninformed or misinformed - but nonetheless, they've pointed me in the direction of some great wines that I love.

Others are called "Cork Dorks" or "Wine Dorks" - their passion for wine and learning is endless.... sometimes their conversations are too.

"Wine Geeks" on the other hand know their stuff and don't have a need to impress others or flaunt it.

The wonderful world of wine has a place for all of us - and an healthy appreciation to learn from each other and to teach others what little we may know to increase their wine drinking pleasure but at the end of the day I feel the best advice is -

Taste a lot of wine and buy what you love

Not sure how to tell a "Cork Dork" from a "Wine Geek" ?
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