The idea of decanting brings images of blue bloods standing around a cocktail table with dozens of beautiful crystal bottles staring back at them. I used to think that people decanted their wine just to look "fancy". This may be true for some, but the real reason that wine began being decanted is because there was no filtration system in place for wine back in the day. The wine that would be poured from the barrel would contain a considerable amount of sediment and a system needed to be put in place to remove this before drinking. Now most of our wines are filtered to a very clear state and we don't have to decant to remove sediment but do it to enhance flavor prior to drinking.
When to decant wine?
1. Decant if your wine has sediment - Wines deposit sediment as a natural part of aging, some more than others. Decanting the wine can help to separate the clear wine from the sediment. Decanting the wine also introduces air into the wine — letting the wine breathe — releasing the aromas and enhancing flavors, particularly useful for red wines that are a little harsh.
2. If your wine has been aging for a long time - Decanting old wines, just prior to serving, helps to ensure that the wines’ clarity and brilliance are not obscured by any deposit that may have developed over time (pour slowly and avoid decanting the last ounce).
3. If your wine if very young - Decant young wines as much as several hours before they are served to give the wine a chance to breath, simulating a stage of development that might normally be acquired after years of aging (pour quickly, even up-ending the bottle – the idea is to expose the wine to air).
4. Just for fun! - I like to decant just to see if mine wine in the decanter tastes different than the wine I poured right out of the bottle. Why not! Decanters are also pretty so if you are having a party why not show them off. Just don’t keep them sitting out for too long.
How to Decant Wine?
How to Decant Aged Wine
For old wines with sediment one needs to be very careful when pouring the wine into a decanter. First, stand the bottle up for several hours to allow the sediment to settle at the bottom. Fine sediment will take longer to settle to the bottom of the bottle.
Use a lit candle or lamp if you can't see where the sediment is in the bottle. Hold the bottle of wine so that the area just below the neck of the wine bottle can be seen through the light while pouring. Ever so slowly begin pouring the aged wine into the decanter. Be patient. Hold the bottle as much as possible perpendicular to the candle. As the last one-third of the wine is poured, carefully watch for sediment. Stop pouring when any sediment appears in the neck of the bottle.
How to Decant Young Red Wine
For young red wines, splash the wine into the decanter. The more it splashes into the decanter, the more it comes in contact with oxygen. Let the wine settle and rest for a short time.
How Long to decant?
If you are decanting your wine in order to let it breathe you will usually want it to sit in the decanter 1/2 hour to 1 hour before drinking. Your goal is for the wine to be giving off aromas. If it's not releasing flavors into the air, it's going to taste still and blah. There is however a point where you can let your wine decant too long. You would not want your wine to sit out at room temperature for 8 hours or more. At this point the wine will be come oxidized and begin to taste more like vinegar and/or sherry. Remember, back in the old says wine was kept at about 50 degrees so being at 70+ for a substantial amount of time would be bad for the wine.
What Kind of Decanter?
Wine decanter design varies from the purely function to extravagantly decorated, but sometimes unusual design and functionality can go hand-in-hand as in the Orbital Decanter that, when removed from its base, will sit elegantly on your table while a gentle orbital movement increases the breathing of your wine with minimal disturbance. But the basic point of the decanter is to let air into the wine and to remove the sediment so whichever type you prefer is the one you should chose. There really is no right or wrong decanter.
Of course, you can always let your wine breathe by just taking the cork out of the bottle, but very little air touches the surface and it will take much longer to achieve the desired effect. Some experts prefer to let wine breathe in the wineglass but I personally find it hard to wait patiently once it's been poured.
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Showing posts with label vino. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vino. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
If Wine Had Personality - Zinfandel
ZINFANDEL
Personality: Thick and jammy, like blackberries simmering.
Origin: Croatia, though virtually all of the top zinfandels are now grown in northern California.
Aroma, flavor, and texture: Like a big boysenberry pie with vanilla ice cream – full bodied, mouth filling, and flannel soft.
Cost: $12 to $30.
Try it with: Meat loaf, barbecued ribs, burgers, bean and vegetable casseroles, or pot roast. Open a bottle with Chipotle Barbecue Burgers with Slaw.
Personality: Thick and jammy, like blackberries simmering.
Origin: Croatia, though virtually all of the top zinfandels are now grown in northern California.
Aroma, flavor, and texture: Like a big boysenberry pie with vanilla ice cream – full bodied, mouth filling, and flannel soft.
Cost: $12 to $30.
Try it with: Meat loaf, barbecued ribs, burgers, bean and vegetable casseroles, or pot roast. Open a bottle with Chipotle Barbecue Burgers with Slaw.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Wine Tasting 101 - Quick Terms to Enhance Your Tasting Enjoyment
Wine is a wonderful beverage with many different facets. Some people only drink wine on special occasions, but if you are like me you enjoy trying as many new wines as possible as often as you can. In order to increase your enjoyment and wine drinking satisfaction there are a series of terms and techniques you should become familiar with. Wine comes in different taste, color and ingredients. Tasting more and more of wines will make you more aware of your specific taste and preferences and the specific characteristics of the different varietals. Tasting wine is a sequence of event that enhances the enjoyment of imbibing. Wine can be an intimidating subject, but becoming familiar with the following terms in regards to the taste, flavors, and ingredients of wine will break down the "snob factor" associated with wine and start you on the road to becoming a true connoisseur. The following are some basic wine words to become familiar with.
Sweetness
The degree to which a wine tastes sweet. Sweetness is tasted on the tongue. Residual sugar also can change the viscosity of a wine, making it richer. The impression of sweetness comes from either sugars, or alcohol, or both, and can be altered in relationship to the presence of acidity. The sweetness of the wine can be determined by the amount of fermented sugar and fruit added to it.
Acidity
The next flavor tasted in wine is the feel of acidity. The acid taste can be felt to create taste and freshness in the flavor established. The taste of acidity creates freshness, crispy and zest in a balanced manner. Most of the drinkers prefer acidity taste of wine to come up with the purpose of having the wine. It helps the people to enjoy the taste and make it meaningful. The characteristic of wine differs in each kind of taste and flavor mixed. The degree to which a wine has sourness, or tartness, a taste perceived on the tongue. Derived from natural grape acids, primarily tartaric and malic, but may also include lactic and acetic from microbial action, whether intentional or otherwise. A compound present in all grapes and an essential component of wine that preserves it, enlivens and shapes its flavors and helps prolong its aftertaste. There are four major kinds of acids--tartaric, malic, lactic and citric--found in wine. Acid is identifiable by the crisp, sharp character it imparts to a wine.
Alcohol
Essential component of wine which gives a sense of sweetness, especially in dry wine, and contributes to body and length of finish. Can be noticed as warmth in the back of the throat. Big is a term used often to describe a wine high in alcohol, usually also heavy in body. Too much alcohol in a wine makes it hot. Its affects run from the obvious to the not so obvious. Alcohol doesn't just provide the kick it gives texture ("body"), flavor (roundness and sweetness) and vinosity (makes it smell and taste like wine) as well as providing balance and a certain chemical and physical stability to wines. The primary alcohol is known as ethyl alcohol or ethanol, but there are dozens of other so-called "higher" alcohols which though in minute quantites provide hundreds of flavors.
Fruitiness
The fruitiness can be tasted more in wine, because it is product which extracted from rich grapey fruits. It comes in crispy, freshly and tasty flavors. Tasting term for wine which has retained the fresh flavor of the grapes used in its fermentation. Not to be confused with sweetness. A wine can be fruity and not sweet.
Structure
Related to balance; all of the in mouth basic impressions of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, along with alcohol, body, etc., but in absence of the more complex, organoleptic impressions detectable by the olfactory bulb. In other words, everything but the aroma.
Body
The impression of weight or fullness on the palate; usually the result of a combination of glycerin, alcohol and sugar. Commonly expressed as full-bodied, medium-bodied or medium-weight, or light-bodied.
Understanding these basics will help you to figure out the style of wine that suits you best and will help you to be a much more educated consumer. Soon you will be able to taste a wine and by using these wine basics you should be able to narrow down the type of wine you are drinking without even looking at the label. Your friends will be impressed and your wine confidence will be sky high. CHEERS!
______________________________
Learn more about World Wine Regions
Sweetness
The degree to which a wine tastes sweet. Sweetness is tasted on the tongue. Residual sugar also can change the viscosity of a wine, making it richer. The impression of sweetness comes from either sugars, or alcohol, or both, and can be altered in relationship to the presence of acidity. The sweetness of the wine can be determined by the amount of fermented sugar and fruit added to it.
Acidity
The next flavor tasted in wine is the feel of acidity. The acid taste can be felt to create taste and freshness in the flavor established. The taste of acidity creates freshness, crispy and zest in a balanced manner. Most of the drinkers prefer acidity taste of wine to come up with the purpose of having the wine. It helps the people to enjoy the taste and make it meaningful. The characteristic of wine differs in each kind of taste and flavor mixed. The degree to which a wine has sourness, or tartness, a taste perceived on the tongue. Derived from natural grape acids, primarily tartaric and malic, but may also include lactic and acetic from microbial action, whether intentional or otherwise. A compound present in all grapes and an essential component of wine that preserves it, enlivens and shapes its flavors and helps prolong its aftertaste. There are four major kinds of acids--tartaric, malic, lactic and citric--found in wine. Acid is identifiable by the crisp, sharp character it imparts to a wine.
Alcohol
Essential component of wine which gives a sense of sweetness, especially in dry wine, and contributes to body and length of finish. Can be noticed as warmth in the back of the throat. Big is a term used often to describe a wine high in alcohol, usually also heavy in body. Too much alcohol in a wine makes it hot. Its affects run from the obvious to the not so obvious. Alcohol doesn't just provide the kick it gives texture ("body"), flavor (roundness and sweetness) and vinosity (makes it smell and taste like wine) as well as providing balance and a certain chemical and physical stability to wines. The primary alcohol is known as ethyl alcohol or ethanol, but there are dozens of other so-called "higher" alcohols which though in minute quantites provide hundreds of flavors.
Fruitiness
The fruitiness can be tasted more in wine, because it is product which extracted from rich grapey fruits. It comes in crispy, freshly and tasty flavors. Tasting term for wine which has retained the fresh flavor of the grapes used in its fermentation. Not to be confused with sweetness. A wine can be fruity and not sweet.
Structure
Related to balance; all of the in mouth basic impressions of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, along with alcohol, body, etc., but in absence of the more complex, organoleptic impressions detectable by the olfactory bulb. In other words, everything but the aroma.
Body
The impression of weight or fullness on the palate; usually the result of a combination of glycerin, alcohol and sugar. Commonly expressed as full-bodied, medium-bodied or medium-weight, or light-bodied.
Understanding these basics will help you to figure out the style of wine that suits you best and will help you to be a much more educated consumer. Soon you will be able to taste a wine and by using these wine basics you should be able to narrow down the type of wine you are drinking without even looking at the label. Your friends will be impressed and your wine confidence will be sky high. CHEERS!
______________________________
Learn more about World Wine Regions
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