You may have heard of wines being described as “dry.” When I started out learning about wines, I was told that the best wines are dry wines. But what does that really mean? The problem is that the term can mean a couple of different things. Some pe...
Wines with the best “structure” will generally age most gracefully. Finding wines that will improve over time requires that you pay attention to a wine’s structure. What is structure? These are the primary components: Acidity - Wines lose acidity...
Several years ago, we took an initial look at Orange wine. Having recently been asked about Orange wine, I thought it would be worth another look. First, let’s get the most important point out of the way - Orange wine is not made from oranges. Lik...
There are four fundamental traits that comprise a good wine. They are Acidity, Tannin, Alcohol and Sweetness. For a wine to be considered “good,” each of these traits must be in proper proportion to each another. This is because each of these four...
Have you ever sipped a wine and immediately experienced a drying sensation in your mouth? That astringent sensation, generally associated with red wines, is associated with tannins. Tannin is a chemical compound (polyphenol) that occurs naturally in...
When wines get described you’ll often hear terms such as soft, smooth, silky, plush, firm, sharp and round. These are common textures we are familiar with when touching something with our hands. But what do these textures mean in wine? Simply put, a...
While catching up on some recent reading, I came across an article looking at wine decanting versus aerating. The bottom line presented in the article was that older wines should be decanted and young wines should be aerated. This caused me to pause...
Last time we learned that some red wines can make your mouth feel dry due to the natural tannin in the wine that comes from the grape’s skin, seeds and stems. But, if you don’t care for highly tannic wines, there are some things you can do. The tann...
Have you ever taken a sip of red wine and noticed that your mouth feels dry or dusty? Almost that ‘cotton-mouth’ feel? Well, that is a sensation that is associated with red wine. Some red wines. The dry sensation is due to the wine being astringent...
Wine and cheese. They just go together. But, there’s actually a pretty good reason that this pairing typically works together so well. Let’s start with red wines. They can be rather tannic due to the stems, seeds and stems of the grapes. Tannin is ...
We’ve now worked our way through how a wine gets its flavor - from the grape, the skins, seeds and stems, fermentation, barrel aging and last time we touched on bottle aging. There we learned that most wines are not meant for long-term bottle aging. ...
As we continue exploring wine flavors and where they come from, let’s take a step back to last time. As was noted, barrel aging can impart many wonderful flavors to wine. Additionally, barrel aging imparts tannin. And, tannin is very important to a ...
So far, we’ve learned that wine gets it flavor from three things - the grapes, fermentation and aging. Last time we looked at the fermentation process and how the yeast can affect flavor. But before we move on to flavors associated with aging, let’s ...
We’ve explored the various styles of white wines and made it through the light and medium bodied reds. Now it’s time to take the final step and look at the big, full bodied red wines. These full bodied reds are going to be very dark in color, have r...
Recent posts have addressed light bodied red wines including two of the most common, Gamay and Pinot Noir. Light bodied red wines have bright red fruit flavor and little to no tannin. But looking across all red wines you’ll find very few that are li...
Having just completed a series on light, medium and full bodied white wines, it’s now time to transition to exploring red wines. But first, just a quick review of the term ‘body’ as it relates to wine. The four major components of a wine’s body are...
Light bodied white wines are a great place to start when learning about and tasting wines. They are fresh and crisp with bright fruit flavors and high acidity. So the next step up is into medium bodied and full bodied whites. As I have been rese...
Last time we took a quick look at one of the characteristics of wine, its body. A wine’s body is simply based on how it feels in your mouth. And a wine’s body is affected by its alcohol level, tannin, acidity and sweetness. And each plays a role. ...
It’s a question that constantly comes up. “What’s a good wine to buy?” Or there are the related questions of “What wine should I drink?” or “What wine do you recommend?” These are all great questions that are well intended whether from someone wh...
Last time we addressed some general guidelines on how long wines can age, noting that rosé should be consumed immediately after bottling while still bright, fruity and fresh, most white wines are typically best within a couple of years of bottling, a...
Last time, the topic of dry wines was addressed. It was discussed that ‘dry’ wines are technically those with no residual sugar. But, more often than not, wine can cause a drying sensation in the mouth that people associate with ‘dry’ wine. This sens...