+- WineBoard (https://www.wines.com/wineboard)
+-- Forum: GENERAL (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-100.html)
+--- Forum: For the Novice (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-2.html)
+--- Thread: Wine "flavors" (/thread-19810.html)
Pages:
1
2
- dthorp - 02-06-2006
I find the wine world fascinating and am trying to learn more through reading and tasting. But there is one area which I can't get past. Winemakers notes always describe many flavors in the wine...chocolate, spice, pepper, floral, currant, etc., and try as I might, I can't identify these specific flavors. I definitely taste that every wine is different but I can't label any flavors other than grapes, oak and tobacco(YUK!!). How can I learn to identify what I'm tasting?
- barnesy - 02-06-2006
Practice, Practice, Practice!
If you really want to learn a bit more, I would recommend getting a nice beginners book which will help describe flavor profiles (I am partial to "Wine for Dummies"). Another useful tool would be a flavor wheel. It is a wheel that breaks up the flavors into major catagories and then subcategories. That ways you can learn to identify the major category and then work your way further once you get good at the broader spectrum.
Remember, practice makes perfect.
Barnesy
- brappy - 02-06-2006
Well dthorp, I guess you have homework to do. Open a bottle, taste, write down what you think, and celebrate by finishing the bottle. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]
- WileECoyote - 02-07-2006
I agree with barnesy. The wheel is great!
- dthorp - 02-07-2006
I'll try your suggestions. Thanks a lot!!
- robr - 02-07-2006
dthorp,
It took me a while before I could start to id individual flavors. For me it was a matter of slowing down and sniffing a loooong time before tasting (and you really need to get your whole nose in the glass), then slowly sipping, swishing, swirling, and sometimes spitting (AAugg!) just to concentrate on the individual tastes. Somethings I still don't taste, but others that I never thought were there pop out at me now, like pepper in Shiraz.
Other flavors I never thought I would be able to pick out are leather, cedar, and tobacco. The dominiant flavors I find in cabernet sauvignon that I like are cherry and a hint of vanilla. In chardonnay I taste lemons, nuts, and butter. In sauvignon blanc its grapefruit, tart apples, and cat urine.
I never noticed any of these before I started to study wine. I still don't really taste currants (cassis), but that may be because I have not tasted any real currants for many years, since I was last in Great Britain.
Keep with it and you will taste them too. It's more a matter of your sense of smell than taste anyway, since we really only taste sour, salty, sweet and bitter. It's really all in the nose, so keep it open!
- Kcwhippet - 02-07-2006
A really good way to get into the tastes in wine, maybe get a copy of Great Wine Made Simple by Andrea Immer. She leads you through all the different wines and what tastes to look for in each - and more.
- andypandy - 02-07-2006
Bernkastler:
You can't pick out currants because it's been too many years since you ate them, but you can recognize cat urine? What is that suppose to lead us to believe?
- Moushegh - 02-08-2006
That line about the cat urine was pretty funny.
However I too taste cherry and vanilla and sometimes spice in Cabs. I would also agree as to the flavors of some (most) Chard. and Sauv. Blanc.
One thing though, how do you what cat urine tastes like?
[img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]
- brappy - 02-08-2006
Can't wait to hear this response.....
[This message has been edited by brappy (edited 02-08-2006).]
- robr - 02-08-2006
It's all smells, scents, aromas, odiferious particulate matter, guys. Geez, you are all sooo hilarious...
[This message has been edited by bernkastler (edited 02-08-2006).]
- Kcwhippet - 02-08-2006
Actually the cat pee aromas in NZ Sauvignon Blancs are closer to gooseberry, but that's not as good a marketing gimmick. That particular aroma is the result of a certain pyrazine in the grape, which actually dissipates the more mature and riper the grapes are. So, if you have a Sauv Blanc with little or no cat pee aroma, the riper the grapes were.
- robr - 02-08-2006
I was quite put off by it the first couple of times I tasted it, and you're right, it's not always there. Now I'm used to it, and even look forward to it. Weird.
If that's what gooseberries taste like, well, I don't think I would like them very much.
- pamelah148 - 02-08-2006
bernkastler I would have to say that was pretty funny. I've got one for you, I tried a White Merlot 2003 I think from Berringer(I think I spelled it right) that at the end of my sip tasted very fishy, strong I would say. Is that possible or is it something else that I haven't had flavor wise before to truly recognize what that taste was? Are my tastebuds nuts or what, needless to say I really didn't like it very well, I like fish but this almost had a fish oil kind of taste.
- robr - 02-09-2006
Pam,
I don't think I have ever tasted fishiness in any wine I have had. Sorry! Maybe it was just a bad bottle.
- andypandy - 02-13-2006
Where does one buy a flavor wheel? There are no wine shops in my state...
- barnesy - 02-13-2006
The first step to salvation is to rent a u-haul....
You can probably find a wine wheel online for free, or rather an image of one.
Barnesy
- WileECoyote - 02-13-2006
I am going to post a link to my personal copy of the wine wheel obtained at a seminar/tasting at Hillebrand Estates at Niagara on the Lake. (Great Time)
Notice the wine stain on the corner. Gently used. I suggest after viewing this, purchase your own full color version.
If I am infringing on any copyrights, let me know and I will remove the link immediately.
http://www.newportseacadets.net/fleetdocs/winewheel.pdf
Another useful link. http://www.winepros.org/wine101/sensory_guide.htm
[This message has been edited by WileECoyote (edited 02-13-2006).]
- Kcwhippet - 02-14-2006
I don't believe you're violating any copyrights. The flavor wheel was developed by Dr. Ann Noble at UC Davis, and you can get it free from their site - - at least you could.
- shewelch - 02-14-2006
Are any of those tasting kits worthwhile? Seemed a bit gimmicky to me...