Tasting Lesson #1 - February 2012 Tasting Notes - Lesson 1

First Tasting Lesson

This month, we learned about tasting wine.  We tasted what is known as The Big 6 and tasted for dry, crisp, oak, and tannin.

First, we all had to have the same understanding of body.  Wine is often referred to as light, medium, or full bodied, but without a common point of reference, those terms are meaningless.  Thanks to Master Sommelier Andrea Immer Robinson and her book Great Wine Made Simple, our tasting lesson was simple and straight forward.  We followed her tasting in the book letter for letter (or wine for wine, as it were).

Step 1:  Everyone tasted skim milk.  This is representative of "light body."

Step 2:  Everyone tasted whole milk.  This is representative of "medium body."

Step 3:  Everyone tasted heavy cream.  This is representative of "full body."

This is a great step to repeat often to help keep in mind what the wine industry means when they are discussing body.  Light body leaves almost nothing on the palate.  Your mouth is almost unaffected by what you drank.  Medium body coats the tongue and you definitely taste and feel this, but it leaves fairly quickly.  Heavy body coats every tooth and surface in your mouth and down your throat.  You know when you have a full body wine because the taste and feel stay in your mouth long after the wine is gone.

With this foundation, we took on the Big 6, in order.  The Big 6 represent the 6 most common grapes on wine menus and purchased in the country.  3 are white and 3 are red and they cover all the body styles.  

We tasted, in order:

Kendall Jackson Johannesburg Riesling 

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

Lindeman Bin 65 Chardonnay

Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir

Columbia Crest 2 Vines Merlot

Jacob's Creek Shiraz

We then tasted for 4 of the most common terms.  Knowing what you like or don't like with these 4 terms along with the body can help you find a wine at any restaurant.  Our tasting went as follows:

                    Dry                                        VS                 Sweet

Kendall Jackson Johannesburg Riesling                    Dr. Loosen Riesling

       Crisp (high acidity)                              VS                  Not Crisp (low acidity)

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc                                Kunde Estate Sauvignon Blanc

          No Oak                                         VS                           Oaky

Jadot Macon Villages (Chardonnay)                        Lindeman Bin 65 Chardonnay

      Low Tannin                                    VS                               High Tannin

Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir                                 J Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon