2007 ~ No. 10
Whet Your Palate
In
the last issue, Cynthia Goddeau wrote, “To partake in
the mystery of tasting wine is a wonder in itself.”
With this in mind, and at the risk of oversimplifying a skill
that wine professionals spend years developing, we thought
it would be fun to feature a series on wine tasting. Fret
not if you can’t tell a Cab from Merlot without looking
at the label; these articles are designed for the layman,
to help build an understanding of a wine’s nuances and
an appreciation for its flavors and aromas.
This issue deals with the visual aspects of wine, with aroma
and taste to follow.
The Eyes
Have It
The
first thing most wine pros do when tasting a glass of wine
is to look at it. (My husband mocks this process, intently
studying what’s in his glass before announcing, “This
wine is red!” Luckily, he amuses me.)
But color tells you some important things about the wine.
For example, beyond red and white, it gives a clue as to the
grape. Pinot Noir is so light, you can hold it in front of
the newspaper and read through the wine. Shiraz, on the other
hand, can be an opaque, inky black-purple color. And Nebbiolo,
the great Piedmont grape, gives itself away by the orange
tint around the rim. White wines also show differences in
color: Chardonnay is typically a rich golden color, while
Pinot Grigio is such a pale yellow it’s almost clear.
In addition, a wine’s color gives a clue to its age,
important for a professional in a blind tasting! Tilt the
glass away from you and look at the outer rim, called the
meniscus. In red wines, it becomes more brick colored with
age, while the rim of white wines darkens to amber or brown
tones.
Using color to determine grape and age isn’t a skill
most people need to have. But if you’re in a restaurant,
for example, it is important to look at the wine before tasting
it. But what are you looking for? There are two key things:
Brightness
Take a general impression of the surface of the wine. It should
sparkle like a good diamond. If the wine appears dull or lackluster,
this indicates a lack of acidity in the wine (ie, it will
have a rounder, flabbier quality on the palate). A lack of
brightness also can indicate a slightly dull taste.
Clarity
This one is simple: A clear wine is a healthy wine. If the
wine is cloudy in appearance, it probably doesn’t taste
very good either. However, if a wine is older or unfiltered,
it may appear murky because of sediment from the bottle that
gets into the glass. This is not a flaw and does not harm
the quality of the wine.
Practice
Makes Perfect
So,
what’s the best way to look at a wine? First, use a tulip-shaped
glass, which allows you to tilt the glass without risk of spilling,
and also helps concentrate the aromas. When pouring, don’t
fill the glass all the way; a few sips worth at the bottom of
the glass will do.
When you first pour the wine, resist the urge to swirl; that
comes next. The best way to examine a wine visually is to
hold the glass by the stem, tilted away from you, and ideally
in front of a white background, such as a napkin, tablecloth
or even a piece of paper.
Let’s put this into practice with three wines: Joseph
Drouhin Macon Villages 2005, J. Lohr Chardonnay 2004, and
Bogle Cabernet Sauvignon 2005. These bottles should be easy
to find if you want to try this at home.
First up, the Macon Villages. In the glass, it is clear and
pale, though it’s 100% Chardonnay. This wine is a very
light yellow, perhaps even straw-colored, in the center becoming
very watery around the rim. This is a good sign of the wine’s
youthfulness.
Next, pour the J. Lohr Chardonnay. From California, its color
is noticeably deeper, with a yellow-gold color and medium
intensity. This wine is also clear with a light-colored rim
similar to the Macon Villages.
Finally, put some of the Cabernet into your glass. This wine
shows classic Cab character, with its deep red color and medium
intensity. Note how the color changes, becoming lighter as
you look towards the rim.
What else do you see in these wines?
Please Explain!
Okay, so if Chardonnay is typically a deep
gold color, why is the French wine so much lighter than the
one from California?
Well, I picked these two different wines to demonstrate
how the same grape can have different qualities –
not just sight, but also in taste and aroma, as you’ll
see in future newsletters. (Feel free to jump ahead if you
have these wines and write down some impressions of smell
and taste right now.)
The
difference between these two wines is partially a result
of the cooler Burgundy climate, as opposed to California’s
warmer temperatures, which help give the grapes more intensity.
In addition, Chardonnay is a very impressionable grape.
A winemaker has an arsenal of tools that impart a particular
personality to the wine. As a result, factors such as the
grape’s ripeness, use of oak and fermentation techniques
all work together to influence a wine’s color. For
example, the Macon Villages was fermented in stainless steel,
while the J. Lohr spent time in oak, which helps explain
the color difference.
You can see how people study for years to learn these things!
Fall for
Cider
At first blush, cider and wine seem to go together like…well,
they don’t seem to go together very well at all. Then
Terry Maloney, co-owner of West County Cider, set me straight
in an email exchange.
One might call him a visionary: he was a Californian with
winemaking experience transplanted to a Massachusetts farm
replete with apple trees. And, hey, when life gives you
apples…
You describe cider using a lot of terms usually associated
with wine – terroir, single-variety, etc. These similarities
between wine and cider aren't an obvious connection for
most people. How did these parallels come about for you?
Do you have a background in wine?
Before
we started commercially in 1984, we looked at European methods
of making cider, and researched traditional American ones.
We ended up using the California Riesling model for making
our first batch - stainless steel, Epernay II for yeast,
etc. We thought that apples might have complex fruity flavors
analogous to those of wine, and wanted to bring them out.
The language followed. And when you think about it, both
wine and cider are both fermented fruit, or at least should
be.
Before New England we lived in Northern California, the
Bay area, and made wine in a cooperative for our own use.
Plus we spent time in Wine Country, mostly Napa.
What prompted you to start crafting cider, and what made
you feel there was a larger market for it outside of friends
and family? Did you find people resistant or open to your
ciders?
In New England we couldn't find grapes ([though that’s]
different now) and noticed our neighbors were fermenting
cider, much as they always had. We started making traditional
barrel cider for a table drink. That there would be a market
was a matter of faith and feeling. Now, after 20+ years
it is starting to look like there might be one emerging.
People do seem a lot more open to cider now.
Is there such thing as a "typical" cider
drinker?
The only market that has really been researched that I know
of is for six-pack ciders, and that has morphed from "Cider"
to "alternative beverages". From my tasting experiences,
our cider drinkers seem to be younger, and with open palates.
Cider has less than half the alcohol of wine, for the most
part, and the mouth-feel is very different from what a wine
drinker expects.
Please describe the cider-making process.
We let the apples rest for 4-6 weeks after picking, then
crush and press them at a neighboring orchard. We do the
sorting. We bring the juice to our Catamount Hill Orchard,
and ferment it using a commercial yeast, and sometimes a
commercial malo-lactic culture. In most of our ciders we
chill the ciders to stop fermentation and leave some residual
sugar, then filter and bottle. The ciders are frequently
ready to drink after a few weeks, with taste improving over
time.
Can you give a brief history of your company and what makes
your cider unique?
When we started in 1984 we were the first bonded winery
to specialize in hard ciders, and perhaps make a real cider
as opposed to a fruit wine. What makes it unique is that
we make cider with the care and attention that a fine wine
gets, and we use mostly apples that are cider varieties.
Does cider pair well with food? Can you offer some
suggestions/guidelines?
Cider is great with food. It has a clean focused taste that
refreshes rather than taking center stage. Generally, it
goes well with rich foods and spicy dishes, seafood, and
meat other than rare beef. It goes particularly well with
cheese.
For more information, visit www.westcountycider.com.
They don’t have a tasting room, but you can try their
offerings at Cider Day 2007, which takes place November
3 & 4. (www.ciderday.org).
You can also find it at several stores in New York City,
including 67 Wines and Astor Wines.
