葡萄酒品尝 The taste of wine.doc

Chapter 1 The Science and Practice of Winetasting SOME DEFINITIONS Definitions are unavoidable; each word needs its meaning explained, and its usage defined, so that a dictionary of technical terms becomes both a foundation and a safeguard. To start with we need basic definitions. Winetasting is both an ancient art and a modem science. As a science it forms part of the broad field of measurement and interpretation of sensation, tempting one to make its vocabulary that of sensory analysis, but this is inimical to the spirit of tasting whose mode of expression is as ancient as the advent of quality wine. The language of tasting, which is continually evolving, was at first very regionalized. When one compares the opinions of early tasters they were many and various, and sometimes contradictory. Gradually, however, definitions have been standardized. According to one historian it was in 1312 that Philippe le Bel set up an amateur group called Les Courtiers-Gourmets-Piqueurs de Vin (The Brokers-Gourmets-Tasters of Wine), forerunners of our professional tasters. This Parisian group is still in existence today. The noun dégustateur was first defined in 1793 as one whose profession is to taste wine. Gourmet was synonymous with dégustateur but preceded it. The verb déguster (to taste) made its first formal appearance in 1813. The definition which the Larousse dictionary gives is fairly restrictive: déguster means to evaluate with ones sense of taste the fiavour and qualities of solid or liquid food; our other senses are ignored here. In more recent times the Association fran?aise de Normalisation (the French Standards Association) has defined tasting as an operation consisting of trying, analysing and evaluating the organoleptic and more particularly the olfacto- gustatory characteristics of a product. Le Conseil international de la Langue fran?aise (International Council for the French Language) repeats this definition and adds: It can be more or less detailed and