WINE TERMS: Describe Wine Like a PRO (Part 1)

I have in my glass medium garnet color red wine on the nose. It shows expressive crisp cherries, cranberries and bright wild raspberries that are intervened within delicate notes of sweet spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and slight hints of thyme. Palate mirrors the nose with elevated mouth-watering acidity and high levels of chalky, fine-grained tannins. Aftertaste is long-lasting, dominated by fresh cherries. So let's learn to describe wine like that. Like with every other thing, color, food, books and art, each of us perceives wine differently. What is fresh lime for me might be ripe lemon to another. Because our perception is so individual, I decided to make this video to give tools and descriptors you can use to describe wine. Maybe it's me talking way too much when describing wine or there are too many terms, but it ended up in two videos. In this video, I will talk about sensory and structural elements of wine in general, while in the next video I will focus on specific terms and descriptors to use. So let's get started. Every wine has acidity. This structural element can link a blind taster to specific grape variety or origin. The easiest way to describe acidity is high, moderate and low. And indeed, there are grapes that constantly deliver high acidity levels, such as Riesling and Chenin Blanc. While other grapes are known to have lower acidity levels or tend to lose it quite quickly, such as Gewurztraminer or Carmener. But acidity, even though it's high, can also be described as tart, crisp and lively. It really depends on how you feel it on the palate. On the opposite, it can be smooth or gentle or even flat or flabby. Alcohol is another element which is used when describing wine. And while alcohol is present in every wine at higher or lower levels, it should never be overpowering or create burning sensation. Alcohol adds body, so it can be linked to full-bodied wines. It also tends to smell and taste sweet. Alcohol in wine can be described as balanced and well-integrated or it can be described as warming, hot or even sharp. Tannins are another structural element of wine. Most of us recognize tannins on the palate as this drying sensation. But some might perceive them as bitter. And in fact, sometimes tannins can actually be bitter. Similarly as with acidity, also tannins in wine can be described in a quantitative way, high, moderate and low. Grape varieties such as Nebbiolo, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon are often linked with high levels of tannins, while grapes such as Pinot Noir and Garnacha are usually associated with wines with lower levels of tannins. But when describing wines, it is also very important to note their quality and structure. Depending on how you feel them on the palate and what is your reference point, tannins can be described as silky, round and even polished, creating overall smooth palate. But they can also be grainy, firm, stalky, astringent, coarse, aggressive and even harsh. Body is something that could be difficult to grasp for some. It definitely was difficult for me for a while. Elements such as alcohol, tannin and sugar tend to add towards the body, while high acidity can make feel wine fresher and lighter in body. The best example that I have heard that actually helped me a lot in understanding how to perceive wine's body is comparing wine with milk. If we drink skim milk, it almost seems like water on the palate. There is no weight. Yet when we taste high fat milk, it has this full and round body that we feel on the palate. Depending on how you perceive the wine, you can describe it as light, moderate or full and rich in body. Aroma or the nose is quite easy. This is what we feel when we smell the wine. There are grapes that are considered to be highly aromatic, such as Muscat and Geburztraminer. You will not need to dig your nose in the glass to feel the aromas. Depending on how intense on the nose wine is, we can describe it as expressive or highly aromatic. On opposite, wine can be described as neutral or shy. Aromas can be divided into three large categories. In fact, one of my early videos was made on that. I will link it here and these categories are primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary aromas are those that are sourced from the grape itself, most of the time fruit and floral characters. Secondary are subject of the winemaking process, such as aging in the oak barrels or on the lees. Lastly, tertiary aromas are those that develop after wine has been bottled, so during the storage period. This leads to another term, bouquet, which is used when we are describing wine that has complexity both on the nose and the palate. It means that instead of just showing simple primary fruit flavors, bouquet offers a mix of all of these three categories. There's a lot of happening on the nose and palate. It's complex. Aftertaste or finish are the flavors that are left on the palate after we have swallowed or spat out the wine. It is important to note that not acidity itself, tannin or sugary sweetness for that matter is considered an aftertaste, but rather flavors that we feel, The longer the finish, the higher quality the wine is considered to be. So here you go, these are the general elements to describe in wine and next time we will look closer to specific terms we can use. I will link the video here when it is uploaded.