葡萄酒品鉴之道-香港国际葡萄酒协会.pptVIP

APPEARANCE Appearance is the first important step in the assessment of the wine you will be tasting. It will give you the first clues as to the style, quality and age of the wine. APPEARANCE If a white wine is a pale straw colour or has a greenish tinge, you are probably dealing with a young wine made in a dry style like a Sauvignon Blanc. APPEARANCE A more golden colour indicates an older, sweeter white wine or one that has been exposed to wood during its production like a Chardonnay. APPEARANCE With red wine, appearance indicates the age of the wine as well as the cultivar. APPEARANCE If there is a pink or purple edge at the tip of the wine when the glass is tilted (we call this the meniscus), it hints at the youth of the wine whilst a brick red rim is a sign of bottle age. APPEARANCE In red wines there may be a clear watery rim leading to a deep red heart in the middle of the glass. This is an indication that it is probably an older wine. APPEARANCE Wine in the glass should always be clear and bright in appearance. NOSE Once the appearance has been noted we move on to the nose or aroma of the wine. This makes up about 75% of our taste perception although it is not easy initially to put what we smell into words. NOSE What we are actually smelling when we nose a wine is a complexity of volatile chemical compounds or esters which have no descriptive vocabulary of their own. We then “borrow” familiar terms to describe the wine. NOSE Swirling the wine gently in the glass releases these fragrances. The tasting glass with the narrow opening allows these aromas to concentrate. NOSE The wine should be free of off odours caused by Cork taint – when the wine smells musty or like damp cardboard. Oxidation – the wine has been exposed to oxygen or kept too long and smells like Sherry. Volatile Acidity – which smells a little like acetone Brett – which is a yeast spoilage and gives the wine an antiseptic smell. NOSE A wine with little smell can be described as delicat