Wine 101, Part III- Tasting Wine

Tasting wine without knowing what it is ahead of time.

Tasting wine while wearing a blindfold, to ensure that visual factors don't cloud your intital impression.

Identifying a wine only by listening to it.

A method of ordering where the waiter gives you something that may (or may not) be wine.

Vertical tastings showcase two or more consecutive vintages of the same wine; horizontal tastings showcase two or more wines from the same vintage.

Vertical tastings showcase two or more wines from the same vintage; Horizontal tastings showcase two or more consecutive vintagesof the same wine.

Vertical and horizontal refer to the position of the glass when tasting the wines.

'Vertical' and 'horizontal' merely indicate how the bottles used in a blind tasting have been cellared [side note: 'horiztonal' is always the better tasting to go to.]

A succession of wine pours, designed and put into an particular order to showcase their quatities to the consumer in a comparative tasting format.

Any flight you take where they offer complementary blush wine to all passengers.

An industry term for the moment of intense thoughtfulness that usually occurs right after tasting the wine for the first time.

Two or more wines blended into one glass to create a 'wine-cocktail.' [note: no other ingredients, including grape based spirits, are allowed in the mixture.]

The wine smells 'muted,' 'moldy,' or 'musty.'

The wine has tiny bits of cork dust floating in it.

The wine is ready to be served, but not yet opened.

'corked' is a made up term used to make the speaker sound like they know something.

Different sized glassware allows the proper amount of surface area to be exposed for each variety, and is also shaped to better capture the aroma and palate experience of different wine-styles.

Because different glassware companies are headquartered in different countries, cultural aesthetics mandate different end-designs.

Some wines, due to their higher alcohol-by-volume content, are actually too heavy for certain styles of glassware; as a result, larger glasses with thick stems were designed to support them.

The premise of this question is flawed: all glassware is the same.

To volatize the aromatic compounds, making it easier to smell what the wine has to offer.

To mix up the sediment and evenly distribute it in the glass, so that we percieve the optimal textural sensation as well as aromatic.

Simply to look sophisticated.

Though it has no actual effect on the perception of the wine, the 'swirl' is based heavily in Napoleonic tradition, and has become a common custom as a result.

The wine will have a pronounced loss of it's typical color, flavor and aroma, as well as a slightly nutty smell.

The wine has started to bubble and behave as if carbonated.

The rim of the wine appears to be bright magenta, when held over a white backdrop.

The wine has more sediement than usual at the base of the bottle.

An astringent, bitter, organic compound found in wine that causes a 'dry' sensation in your mouth.

The flavor of blackcurrant and tobacco combined.

An added coloring compound that gives orange wines their 'orange/copper' hue.

The unit of measure winemakers use to rate/quantify the total acidity of a wine.

It causes you to salivate.

It causes your mouth to feel dried-out.

It causes a bitter sensation.

It causes you to swallow faster.

An archetypal wine style and flavor profile that a consumer can expect from a particular wine region or varietal.

The font-type used to comunicate the style of the wine on the label.

Typicity means the exact same thing as the French word "terroir."

The seasonal swings in wine sales; all wines are grouped into 4 'seasonal typicities.'

Milk. Light bodied wines could be thought of as 1% milk, medium bodied wines as 2% milk, and full bodied wines as whole milk.

Different Boxing classes; light bodied wines are featherweights, medium bodied wines are welterweights, and full bodied wines are heavyweights.

Sandpaper; light bodied wines can be thought of as 80 grit sandpaper, medium bodied wines are more like 150 grit, and full bodied wines are equivalent to 240 grit.

Pork Products: light bodied wines have the equivalent fat content of a pork loin, medium bodied wines have the fat content of a ham hock, and full bodied wines have the fatty richness of porkbelly/thick cut bacon.

The combination of soil, microclimate, aspect, water retention, native-yeasts, and traditional viticultural practices that give a wine a sense of 'place.'

The 'barn-like' aroma that people don't care for.

The sense of dread a consumer has when they realize the wine they ordered has been completely consumed.

Terroir is a marketing gimmick coined in mid-50's France to revitalize their flagging Bordeaux sales.