“Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine,
So that I may wet my mind and say something clever.” – Aristophanes
A beaker, huh? I haven’t drunk from a beaker, but I have measured wine in a beaker in a blending study to see if a small percentage of a white might improve the aroma of a red wine. It does if the red is consumed young and the personal enjoying it enjoys floral aromas.
Each person has different sensitivities towards different aromas and flavors. Each person has tastebuds that are uniquely their own that create a person’s individual thumb print so to speak. But it’s not just tastebuds that effect a person’s sensitivity. Environment and personal experiences play a role as well. I love using Chardonnay as an example. Let’s say, your favorite memory is making Baked Apple Pie with your Grand-mama at the holidays. Your kitchen is filled with vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. You spent a hour peeling the Granny Smith apples and making the pastry and coating it with melted butter. Some warm climate Chardonnays smell just like that, when aged in American and Hungarian oaks with malolactic fermentation, making the wine taste buttery. Anytime you smell those smells, you’ll pick out those aromas in Chardonnay quickly and proclaim, “This is the best wine ever!” Likewise, if you entered a 4th of July Apple Pie eating contest, anytime you smell those same aromas, it will make you want to hurl, proclaiming, “This is the worst wine ever.” It’s the same wine, but two different scenarios will beget two totally different responses, albeit both will be because of the beholder’s sensitivity to those aromas and flavors. When tasting and smelling a wine, if the taster isn’t sensitive to the aromas, the aromas might be elusive to the individual. Even when the wine is from a warm climate region producing more alcohol and stronger aromas, it’s a training process to develop one’s nose and palate. Next time you go to the grocery store, smell the fruit. Focus on a different section each week. One week, focus on smelling different citrus fruits, discerning their subtle differences. Then buy a few cool climate white wines and see if you can smell those same aromas in the wine. The following week, focus on smelling a variety of berries and then buy a few warm climate light red wines (ie. Grenache or Sangiovese) and see if you can smell those same berry aromas. Training yourself to smell unique aromas is just like riding a bike, except with your nose.
But there are ways to help the nose along. When serving a white wine, serve 50-60 degrees in a narrow-rimmed glass. A colder wine will release the aromas slower. Whites are meant to be consumed young. When they are produced, whites and roses’ are fermented without the skins and seeds. Without the tannins to bind the phenolic compounds together, the aromas dissipate with oxygen. With a narrow bowl and rim, the aromas stay in the glass longer. With whites, it’s especially important to hold the glass by the stem and serve with the foot of the glass as touching the bowl of the glass itself could change the temperature of the wine.
Reds are served at room temperature, but Dracula’s room at about 60-65 degrees, not a SoCal patio or hot kitchen. It’s okay to put a red wine in the fridge and take it out about 30 minutes before serving. Reds tend to be higher in alcohol as the red grapes need longer hanging time. With a wider rim, the alcohol escapes with the aromas into the air. You don’t need to stick your nose into the wine to smell it. It permeates the air. The glass itself has a much larger bowl.
Sparkling wines should be served in flutes. It’s said that Marie Antoinette had the coupe glass molded from a certain body part. At the time, the bubbles were thought to be vulgar and a wide rim would allow the bubbles to dissipate quickly. But now, the finesse of the bubbles (smaller bubbles) are retained best with a flute shaped glass. A tulip glass may be used for a sparkling rosé or aged sparkling wine as these are more aromatic. Again, these should be served closer to 50 degrees. As much as a love a champagne fountain or champagne tower, it causes the bubbles to dissipate way too quickly. But a nice glass of sparkling at the entrance of any special event is so bougie. When adding a piece of fruit, the oxygen from the fruit is released and increases the bubbles.
As the wine stays insulated longer in a thicker wine bottle, it’s best to have smaller pours as opposed to filling up the glass, so as to present the wine as the winemaker intended. When people swirl the glass, it’s a lot easier to swirl in a larger glass than a narrow glass. It’s also easier on your carpets as well.
