Paul Ippolito - The Mystery of Wine Tasting
The Mystery Of Wine Tasting - A Bouquet Of Fancy Aroma Prose
Don't you just love it when you read a wine review that says a wine has "hints of caramel, honey and a touch of oilness" or that its aroma is "fragrant, confectionary and rose petal nose". Indeed, you quite rightly might be excused from thinking, the person writing this was describing perhaps a toffee apple, a flower or a new line of candy bar rather than the wine they were tasting. The process of and language of wine tasting and writing evokes a variety of responses from people ranging from confusion, uncertainty to utter disbelief as to how and why a wine smells and tastes a certain way and even more so the words used to describe these.
I have to confess to being the author of the above linguistic gems in order to describe a Pinot Gris, and Rose` respectively. Hey, don't be too hard on me. Finding the words to describe a wine is quite hard work! Really, it is. The reality is that tasting and describing wine is not as simple a task as it seems and indeed involves challenges to the all of the human senses. What we see, smell and taste is hard to put into words without some basic education and a fair bit of practice. What I want to do in the next few paragraphs is to try and demystify wine tasting for you. Then, hopefully and not before too long, you will be well on the way to better sniffing, tasting and pontificating on wine, complete with a host of new fancy wine words to impress your friends.
First though, some basics about wine tasting!
The quality of a wine is best assessed by your eyes, nose and palate. No computer, robot or machine can do it as well as a human being, yet!
Tasting therefore involves looking, smelling and sipping a wine. Notice that I distinguish between tasting and drinking a wine - the former which implies spitting and having a think about the wine unlike the latter that involves swallowing the stuff and contemplating the next glass!
Find yourself a good wine merchant and patronise them. They are an invaluable source of directing you towards a wine to suit your taste. Most also conduct wine tastings regularly so that way you can try before you buy.
Like everything in life, practice makes perfect, which in this case is a not really such a hard thing to do, given after all we are talking about wine, not some revolting tasting medicine.
Don't get too worried about what anyone else thinks about the wine you are tasting - it's only your own opinion that counts. Wine tasting is not a contest about who can get the fanciest words out the quickest.
Don't let the sexy labelling, those seductive medals on the bottle or the price of the wine affect or influence your preconceptions about how a wine should taste.
When tasting wine, start in the order of sparkling, then white, red, dessert and finally fortifieds. At best, your palate will be able to properly assess a dozen wines, before it starts to fatigue.
Now to the nitty gritty of actual tasting. Remember again, it's all about sight, smell and taste.
Start by pouring a taste into your glass - about less than a quarter of a glass. Remember what I said before, this is a tasting and not a drinking binge.
First we need to look at a wine's colour, so do so against a white background. What you are looking for is depth of colour and clarity of a wine. Colour for white wine can range from straw to yellow to gold and for red wine from purple, crimson to red.
Smell is probably the most significant sense when it comes to tasting wine. Take your glass in hand, swirl it (not too hard) then put your nose into it, right into it and then take a good long hard sniff or two. This is where you will really pick up on the characteristics of a wine.
This is also about the time the confusion and uncertainty kicks in. You will be saying to yourself what the heck can I smell - yes, I know its vinous but I can't really put my finger on what it smells like and as for finding the right words, well, you must be joking. This moment will of course also coincide with some other wit near you harping on about lychees and cat pee wafting up their olfactory passage (nose!). You on the other hand, will probably be flat trying to remember the last time you actually took time out to smell a lychee let alone recall what it smelt like!
Relax, don't get too frustrated if you can't immediately describe the smells coming from your glass - this is an acquired skill and it takes lots of time and practice.
Remember also that wine tasting is a subjective experience -it's very personal and relates to your opinion and no one else's. And by the way, you can't fail wine tasting, all you do is go back and practice more (again not an arduous task).
Do however try and use some words familiar to yourself to describe the wine. This will develop your wine vocabulary. Have a go, that's all that counts.
Tasting wine works on the same principle. Take a mouthful, swirl it around and then have a think about what you can taste, and then spit it out (yes, you have to! - the sooner you get used to it the better). How to spit wine (without ruining every piece of clothing you are wearing) is another discussion for another day - and besides I'm still trying to master this trick myself! A tip however for young players is to wear dark coloured clothes.
While the wine is swirling around in your mouth, ask yourself some questions about the wine you are tasting - is it dry or sweet? What's the fruit acid flavour like - soft, crisp, tart? What's the body of the wine like - light, medium or full?. What are your overall feelings of how it tastes? How would it go with food and what type of food? Does it represent value for money?
Take some notes, don't trust your memory. It doesn't have to be anything fancy - just some basics like the name of the wine, its vintage and some comments regarding sight, smell and taste.
Finally remember to enjoy and savour the experience of trying a new wine and don't take it all too seriously as it will all fall eventually into place, when you too will be able to wax lyrically about that lovely barrel fermented chardonnay that is "well rounded and balanced, exhibiting strong but tight concentrated fruit characters which are well integrated with its French oak!" Have fun and enjoy wine tasting!
Winery Watch
Hahndorf Hill Winery - Situated in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia, Larry Jacobs and Marc Dobson have set out to do what had been achieved in South Africa with Mulderbosch vineyards which were known as one of South Africa's most exciting boutique wineries with its Sauvignon Blanc, earning it international acclaim. Emigrating to Australia in 1996, the pair eventually discovered Hahndorf Hill winery which became their new home which they are rejuvenating. A cellar door has been opened with wine being made at neighbouring wineries under the guidance of much respected winemaker Geoff Weaver. Visit www.hahndorfhillwinery.com.au
Rockbare - Tim Burvill, winemaker at Rockbare is a passionate man who five years ago set out on a mission to make the best varietal expressions possible of Chardonnay and Shiraz. He used McLaren Vale as his base to fulfill this ambition. A proponent of fruit driven Chardonnay, he has over time crafted out a newer style which is in his own words is "a leaner, stylish fruit bomb unhindered by oak. A Sauvignon Blanc with balls, as I like to say". Tim has been less experimental with his Shiraz. Instead he found the oldest vines, cropped them low, nurtured them and then placed the wine into good quality French oak for a year or so. His goal being to craft a big, ripe, rich, inky, berry flavoured wine that is influenced but not dominated by vanillan oak. Watch this producer! More information at www.rockbare.com.au
Parri Estate - Family owned premium wine producer Parri Estate with significant export sales under its belt is now progressing its push into the domestic market by recently opening a cellar door tasting and sales facility in the McLaren Vale wine region in South Australia. Its General Manager, John Phillips is excited at the opportunities which the cellar door and the adjoining vineyards will bring to showcase the brand which was originally established in 1998, augmenting the original vineyard source on the Southern Fleurieu Peninsula. Parri Estate produces a range of premium varieties such as Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier - Chardonnay, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir with all wines being made from estate grown fruit. Visit the website www.parriestate.com.au
Join Paul's wine's newsletter list by emailing: Paul_Ippolito@hotmail.com
About Paul Ippolito
Paul Ippolito is a Sydney wine writer (and lawyer) who has always loved the sound of his own voice. Occasionally, and in order to stem this flow of words, his long-suffering wife, family, colleagues and friends have been known to succeed by giving him a glass or two of fine Australian wine. The by-product of this process over the years has been an ever increasing thirst for knowledge for all things wine related that has grown into a passion.
Since obtaining his wine credentials at East Sydney College of TAFE and Stedmans Hospitality College, Sydney in the early 1990's, Paul has conveyed his passion and consummate knowledge of Australian wine to all around him. An avid collector and connoisseur, he has since spent years constantly keeping abreast of developments in the wine industry as well as continuously educating himself about wine through tastings (quite a few of them!).
As at 1st March 2005, Paul currently writes regular wine review columns for publications in Sydney, in Southern as well as Northern NSW, in the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane areas of Queensland, in Central Victoria and in the midst of South Australian wine country. He also has previously written for Zest For Life lifestyle magazine in Sydney and Melbourne as well as the Southern Highland News in Bowral, NSW.
Overwhelmed with requests from all around him about "what's a good wine for such and such occasion or under ? dollars? " Paul decided to produce and self publish a monthly wine consumer newsletter, called aptly 'Paul Ippolito Talks Wine' which to date has overwhelmed his most optimistic expectations. Paul's latest publication ventures have been into the wine cyberspace community with new regular wine contributions to one of Australia's largest online women's magazine sites - www.femail.com.au and also to the wine section of the homepage of Australia's original web search engine - www.webwombat.com.au. His own website is also imminent as are shaving ads and various other television endorsements (only joking with the last two).
As you can see, Paul likes to take any stuffiness out of wine but still promote an informative, honest and insightful approach to his wine writing. At the end of the day, it's ultimately what you as a consumer enjoy about wine that matters and Paul sees his role as helping you develop your palate by pointing you in the right direction. Apart from wine, Paul is also a rugby union tragic. This is evidenced by his firmly held and espoused belief that "This year will be the year of the mighty NSW Waratahs!", a term, seemingly repeated, year upon year, with similar passionate conviction.
Paul Ippolito writes about wine for publications across Australia, overseas and the Internet. He speaks on radio and writes a free monthly wine newsletter for consumers. Paul can be contacted by email at Paul_Ippolito@hotmail.com where you can also request to be placed on his mailing list for his newsletter. or visit his website at: www.paulippolito.com.au
Wine Talk - February 2007
Wine Talk - March 2007
Wine Talk - April 2007
Wine Talk - February 06
Wine Talk - March 06
Wine Talk - April 06
Wine Talk - May 06
Wine Talk - June 06
Wine Talk - July 06
Wine Talk - August 06
Wine Talk - September 06
Wine Talk - October 06
Wine Talk - November 06
Wine Talk - December 06
Wine Talk - April 05
Wine Talk - May 05
Wine Talk - June 05
Wine Talk - July 05
Wine Talk - August 05
Wine Talk - September 05
Wine Talk - October 05
Wine Talk - November 05
Wine Talk - December 05
Don't you just love it when you read a wine review that says a wine has "hints of caramel, honey and a touch of oilness" or that its aroma is "fragrant, confectionary and rose petal nose". Indeed, you quite rightly might be excused from thinking, the person writing this was describing perhaps a toffee apple, a flower or a new line of candy bar rather than the wine they were tasting. The process of and language of wine tasting and writing evokes a variety of responses from people ranging from confusion, uncertainty to utter disbelief as to how and why a wine smells and tastes a certain way and even more so the words used to describe these.
I have to confess to being the author of the above linguistic gems in order to describe a Pinot Gris, and Rose` respectively. Hey, don't be too hard on me. Finding the words to describe a wine is quite hard work! Really, it is. The reality is that tasting and describing wine is not as simple a task as it seems and indeed involves challenges to the all of the human senses. What we see, smell and taste is hard to put into words without some basic education and a fair bit of practice. What I want to do in the next few paragraphs is to try and demystify wine tasting for you. Then, hopefully and not before too long, you will be well on the way to better sniffing, tasting and pontificating on wine, complete with a host of new fancy wine words to impress your friends.
First though, some basics about wine tasting!
Now to the nitty gritty of actual tasting. Remember again, it's all about sight, smell and taste.
Finally remember to enjoy and savour the experience of trying a new wine and don't take it all too seriously as it will all fall eventually into place, when you too will be able to wax lyrically about that lovely barrel fermented chardonnay that is "well rounded and balanced, exhibiting strong but tight concentrated fruit characters which are well integrated with its French oak!" Have fun and enjoy wine tasting!
Winery Watch
Hahndorf Hill Winery - Situated in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia, Larry Jacobs and Marc Dobson have set out to do what had been achieved in South Africa with Mulderbosch vineyards which were known as one of South Africa's most exciting boutique wineries with its Sauvignon Blanc, earning it international acclaim. Emigrating to Australia in 1996, the pair eventually discovered Hahndorf Hill winery which became their new home which they are rejuvenating. A cellar door has been opened with wine being made at neighbouring wineries under the guidance of much respected winemaker Geoff Weaver. Visit www.hahndorfhillwinery.com.au
Rockbare - Tim Burvill, winemaker at Rockbare is a passionate man who five years ago set out on a mission to make the best varietal expressions possible of Chardonnay and Shiraz. He used McLaren Vale as his base to fulfill this ambition. A proponent of fruit driven Chardonnay, he has over time crafted out a newer style which is in his own words is "a leaner, stylish fruit bomb unhindered by oak. A Sauvignon Blanc with balls, as I like to say". Tim has been less experimental with his Shiraz. Instead he found the oldest vines, cropped them low, nurtured them and then placed the wine into good quality French oak for a year or so. His goal being to craft a big, ripe, rich, inky, berry flavoured wine that is influenced but not dominated by vanillan oak. Watch this producer! More information at www.rockbare.com.au
Parri Estate - Family owned premium wine producer Parri Estate with significant export sales under its belt is now progressing its push into the domestic market by recently opening a cellar door tasting and sales facility in the McLaren Vale wine region in South Australia. Its General Manager, John Phillips is excited at the opportunities which the cellar door and the adjoining vineyards will bring to showcase the brand which was originally established in 1998, augmenting the original vineyard source on the Southern Fleurieu Peninsula. Parri Estate produces a range of premium varieties such as Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier - Chardonnay, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir with all wines being made from estate grown fruit. Visit the website www.parriestate.com.au
Join Paul's wine's newsletter list by emailing: Paul_Ippolito@hotmail.com
About Paul Ippolito
Paul Ippolito is a Sydney wine writer (and lawyer) who has always loved the sound of his own voice. Occasionally, and in order to stem this flow of words, his long-suffering wife, family, colleagues and friends have been known to succeed by giving him a glass or two of fine Australian wine. The by-product of this process over the years has been an ever increasing thirst for knowledge for all things wine related that has grown into a passion.
Since obtaining his wine credentials at East Sydney College of TAFE and Stedmans Hospitality College, Sydney in the early 1990's, Paul has conveyed his passion and consummate knowledge of Australian wine to all around him. An avid collector and connoisseur, he has since spent years constantly keeping abreast of developments in the wine industry as well as continuously educating himself about wine through tastings (quite a few of them!).
As at 1st March 2005, Paul currently writes regular wine review columns for publications in Sydney, in Southern as well as Northern NSW, in the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane areas of Queensland, in Central Victoria and in the midst of South Australian wine country. He also has previously written for Zest For Life lifestyle magazine in Sydney and Melbourne as well as the Southern Highland News in Bowral, NSW.
Overwhelmed with requests from all around him about "what's a good wine for such and such occasion or under ? dollars? " Paul decided to produce and self publish a monthly wine consumer newsletter, called aptly 'Paul Ippolito Talks Wine' which to date has overwhelmed his most optimistic expectations. Paul's latest publication ventures have been into the wine cyberspace community with new regular wine contributions to one of Australia's largest online women's magazine sites - www.femail.com.au and also to the wine section of the homepage of Australia's original web search engine - www.webwombat.com.au. His own website is also imminent as are shaving ads and various other television endorsements (only joking with the last two).
As you can see, Paul likes to take any stuffiness out of wine but still promote an informative, honest and insightful approach to his wine writing. At the end of the day, it's ultimately what you as a consumer enjoy about wine that matters and Paul sees his role as helping you develop your palate by pointing you in the right direction. Apart from wine, Paul is also a rugby union tragic. This is evidenced by his firmly held and espoused belief that "This year will be the year of the mighty NSW Waratahs!", a term, seemingly repeated, year upon year, with similar passionate conviction.
Paul Ippolito writes about wine for publications across Australia, overseas and the Internet. He speaks on radio and writes a free monthly wine newsletter for consumers. Paul can be contacted by email at Paul_Ippolito@hotmail.com where you can also request to be placed on his mailing list for his newsletter. or visit his website at: www.paulippolito.com.au
2007 Reviews
Wine Talk - January 2007Wine Talk - February 2007
Wine Talk - March 2007
Wine Talk - April 2007
2006 Reviews
Wine Talk - January 06Wine Talk - February 06
Wine Talk - March 06
Wine Talk - April 06
Wine Talk - May 06
Wine Talk - June 06
Wine Talk - July 06
Wine Talk - August 06
Wine Talk - September 06
Wine Talk - October 06
Wine Talk - November 06
Wine Talk - December 06
2005 Reviews
Wine Talk - March 05Wine Talk - April 05
Wine Talk - May 05
Wine Talk - June 05
Wine Talk - July 05
Wine Talk - August 05
Wine Talk - September 05
Wine Talk - October 05
Wine Talk - November 05
Wine Talk - December 05
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