When tasting wine, you must make a note of the actual flavour, this is perhaps most represented by the wine’s sugar, tannins, and acid components that most affect a wine’s flavour. It is these that affect the appropriate food pairings and the wine’s style itself. Let’s explore the palate.
Sweetness
You might have guessed, but the sugar level determines this. Residual sugar after fermentation will contribute towards the sweetness of Italian wine. While fruit and alcohol flavours can accentuate In the same way, acidity can mask it.
Acidity
This is, surprisingly, where the ‘fresh’ taste of wine comes from. Acids in wine are either malic and tartaric or lactic. However, other odourless acids can sometimes be added in the winery which adds a sharpness. It was the taste that gives the tongue that tingling sensation and causes your mouth to water. The longer your mouth waters, the stronger the acid level is.
As mentioned before, acidity can mask sweetness, and sweetness can mask acidity. To test acidity in sweet wines just hold it in your mouth and see how it waters. White wines have a higher acidity level than red or rose.
Tannins
These flavours occur from the compounds found in the skins of every red grape and some white grapes, or oaked wines, and also come from stems and seeds of grapes. Tannins cause a dry mouth and a bitter flavour which lands on the back of the tongue. This contributes to a wine’s complex flavour.
Body
This is the feeling that wine has in the mouth, the texture or impression it leaves upon you.
A great general rule of thumb is that the more alcohol, the higher the tannin or intenser the flavour, the fuller the wine will be.
Finish
This is the sensation or aftertaste that you get after swallowing the wine. This is a great indicator for quality, so long as the impression lasts, this is indicative of a better one. Wines with a shorter finish mean that the flavour will dissipate after a couple of seconds. Higher quality wines should have a nice finish that lasts a minute or so.
Making your conclusion
This requires you taking into consideration the following aspects.
Balance
It’s important to consider the balance between fruit and sugar with acidity and tannin. Too much fruit, sugar and wine will seem much too thin. Too much acidity or tannin will leave the wine feeling unstructured. Each component of the wine needs to harmonise or it will be of poor quality. This also rings true for the primary, secondary and tertiary flavour groups.
Length of Aftertaste
The longer a desirable aftertaste, the better the wine.
Concentration
More concentrated a flavour does not mean a higher quality of a wine, because you need to think of balance. Don’t forget that wines which are weak and seem diluted are not at all quality products but each of these components needs to fit together with the overall balance of the wine. The concentration of flavours and structures usually indicate a better wine.
