Top Tips from the Connoisseur Anniversary
Wines Which would you choose? a) One bottle of 1967 d'Yquem at £300or Buying
an old Vintage wine without tasting
Buying
for other people
Glossary
of wine terms
AMBER: As it ages, a white wine takes on golden tints remindful of amber. This colour change results from oxidation of the colouring matter. AMERTUNE: An illness which causes bottled wine to taste bitter and the colouring matter to solidify. BALANCE: Pleasant harmony between the various elements of a wine, such as alcohol, acidity and fruitiness in a big wine, or acidity, fruitiness and softness in a light wine. CASSE: Protein casse appears in white wines as a light milky creamy trailing suspension meaning a broken filter during bottling. In a very young wine it is harmless and the wine should be in condition. Blue casse occurs in white and rose wines. This changes the appearance of the wine and makes them undrinkable. Brown casse causes the colouring matter to precipitate and causes a film on the wine's surface. CORKED: Expression used for a wine that has a very strong smell of rotten cork making the wine undrinkable. This condition is caused by the development of certain moulds. DECANTING: The process of separating a wine from its sediment in the bottle. The addition of Oxygen makes a young wine more palatable but if the wine is too old, the process is disastrous. DEPOSIT: The sediment of solid particles found in wine. In white wines these are usually fragments of colourless, harmless crystals of tartrate. In red wines these are usually a combination of tannins and pigments. MADEIRISED: An out of condition wine with a dark amber colour reminiscent of Madeira, a smell of caramel and which ropes when poured. ORGANOLEPTIC: Smell, Colour and Taste as perceived by the senses. OXIDATION: When wine comes into contact with air, it takes up the oxygen and this causes change in colour and taste. SECHE: When a wine has been exposed to excessive oxidation during ageing, it takes on a rough, dried and bitter taste. SOME
NOTES TO HELP YOU CHOOSE OUR GRAPE VARIETIES PINOT NOIR; Cotes du Nuits style Burgundy red as opposed to lighter styles. CABERNET SAUVIGNON / MERLOT: Bordeaux red with soft tannins and vinosity. SHIRAZ: Northern Rhone if expensive, but generally rounder and drier than other reds. RIESLING OVER 12% abv : Full bodied in the style of Burgundy, crisp and dry. RIESLING UNDER 12% abv: Honied nose, oily texture remindful of German wines but dry. AUSTRALIAN SAUVIGNON BLANC: Dry white Loire. NEW ZEALAND SAUVIGNON BLANC: More herbaceous with an impression of sweetness if unoaked. CHENIN BLANC: Quite austere with high alcohol content, full bodied, appeals to Chablis drinkers. South African Chenin Blanc is dry and zesty yet easy drinking. SEMILLON: Inexpensive white Burgundy but higher priced wines are more like White Beaune and are huge wines showing great elegance and finesse. High acidity contents in both Chenin & Semillon allows the wine to undergo malo-lactic fermentation and the grower to oak age his wines, adding definition & character. MOUVEDRE: Southern Rhone / Languedoc reds. PETITE SIRAH: Full bodied reds with mouth filling Italian style palates. UNUSUAL BLENDS OF GRAPE VARIETIES PINOT NOIR / SHIRAZ: These wines tend to more concentrated fruit flavours with a drier finish. CHARDONNAY / SEMILLON: drier with higher acidity, higher alcohol contents but well defined. CHARDONNAY / COLOMBARD: lighter and fresher. TERMINOLOGY: CLONAL SELECTION: This is a horticultural operation whereby multiplication of vineyard stock is obtained from one route stock only in identical fashion leading to a vine which may be particularly resistant to disease, frost or particularly suited to the soil in one vineyard. DRY RED No.1. Simply named wine often hides a wine of Classed Growth complexities. THE RED: Simply named wine of extraordinary qualities and complexities. FERMENTED DRY: The wine may have high glycerine content giving an impression of sweetness but the wine is dry to the palate. UNCLONED VINES: Vines which are propagated by taking cuttings from vines which have been observed to produce the best quality fruit thus ensuring gentic diversity and complexity of flavour. UNFILTERED: High quality wine which has been racked of every 3 to 6 months during ageing in oak barriques allowing the wine to be bottled without excessive fining & filtration thus leaving greater texture and extract. PRICE: The more expensive the wine the more likely it has been aged in oak barrique. Specialist wines from Mountadam, Yarra Yering, Cullen and Saintsbury produce rich, profound and deeply concentrated red and white wines with the sort of velvety tannins in the reds that will keep them maturing in bottle for years. Attributes of wines can be ascertained by doubling the price to reach an equivlent price in European terms. OAK AGEING : French Oak gives Vanilla flavours, definition & character. American Oak gives toasty aromas. Portuguese & Russian Oak gives spicy finishes to the wines.
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