eBusiness Weekly
Aurra Kawanzaruwa
Ernest Hemingway put it like this: “Wine is one of the most civilised things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.”
While we may not all agree that wine is the best thing ever, one cannot deny the sensory art that goes into producing a heart-warming glass of burgundy red or crisp white wine. It’s fairly easy to spot a connoisseur by the way they order their wine. However, not everyone is clued up on the right terms used to describe wine so here’s a guide to help you order the exact wine you want using four useful wine tasting terms:
The Fruit Level: All wines can be categorised by the fruit level. There are many ways of describing fruitiness in wine but pretty much all wines can be shuffled into just 2 primary categories: Fruit Forward or Savory.
Fruit forward is the most commonly used term to describe a wine with dominant flavours in the sweet fruit realm. This wine term doesn’t mean that the wine is sweet, it just means that they are bursting with sweet fruit smells. Examples of Fruit Forward red wine terms are sweet raspberry, toffee, vanilla or spices. Fruit Forward white wines are described as citrus, caramel or apple for example.
Savory, earthy or herbaceous wines are the antithesis of fruit-forward wines. While these terms don’t really do this wine profile justice, they help describe dominant flavours of the wine in the not sweet fruit category.
Examples of Savory red wine terms are cranberry, black currant or wood smoked and Savory white wine terms are lemon, green apple or grapefruit for example.
The Sweetness Level: Wines get their sweetness from residual sugar (RS), which is leftover glucose from grape juice that wasn’t completely fermented into alcohol. There are four levels of sweetness.
“Bone Dry”: This term implies extreme dryness with no residual sugar and is usually accompanied by the presence of astringency.
“Dry”: Most still wines fall into the dry category, even though our taste buds might tell us differently. Dry wines range from no residual sugar to 1 gram per 150ml serving. Just so you know, most super premium red wine producers rarely have more than 1/3 gram of sugar per glass.
“Off Dry”: This is a popular term to describe wines with a touch of residual sugar, which can be anywhere from 2–3 grams of residual sugar per 150ml pour.
Most off dry wines are white wines, although on rare occasions you can find high quality Italian red wines that fall into the off dry category.
“Sweet”: Sweet wines are generally Dessert Wines and have a wide range of sweetness varying from about 3–28 grams of sugar per 150ml glass depending on the style.
The Body Profile: Once you have understood the fruit categories and the sweetness you can shift your focus on the body of the wine. Think of this like comparing full cream and low fat milk. Although it is not an exact science, there are a few guiding principles to help you along.
“Light Bodied”: Light bodied wines are generally lower in alcohol and sit in your mouth more like a light refreshing lemonade. They may still have a long after-taste that tingles on your tongue but they don’t fill your mouth like whole milk does. Typical descriptors for light bodied red wines are words like crisp, subtle, floral or bright. White wines that fall in this category can be described as light, zesty, airy or lively.
“Medium Bodied”: This term doesn’t really need to be applied to white wines. Red wines, on the other hand, benefit from this 3rd category of resolution. Medium bodied red wines are usually called “food wines” and are usually described as juicy, spicy, moderate or mellow.
“Full Bodied”: These wines fill your palate with their texture and intensity. Full bodied wines also have the highest alcohol level at 14 percent and above, and are more likely to give you a serious hangover if not drunk in moderation due to the high tannin levels.
These wines can often be drunk on their own without the need for food pairing because of their bitterness. Both red and white full bodied wines share descriptors like rich, intense, lush and concentrated.
The Finish is the distinct after-taste you experience after the first sip of wine. This is most certainly the defining factor of whether your wine is a winner or not. The three main kinds of finish are Smooth, Spicy or Bitter with smooth being the most requested style of finish.
A spicy finish is most often confused with a sharp burning sensation like an alcoholic burn although this is not always the case. A very intense after-taste though can be a sign that the wine is off balance.
Bitterness on the finish is unpopular but it’s actually an amazing trait when you’re pairing wine with rich fatty foods. So now that you have the vocabulary of a beginner sommelier, let your exploration of wines be and adventurous and well informed. Cheers.
