Wine Sensory & Summer Events
By Christian Chandler, co-founder and winemaker
Happy July, friends! We are excited to be in the season of outdoor festivals in Portland. Great weather also means lots of outdoor wine-tasting! Including opportunities to taste our wines (see below)!
Did you know that tasting is just one part of the sensory experience of wine? A passion for coffee was my entry into my passion for wine. With a 25-year career in coffee, I’ve been lucky to develop expertise in what is called “sensory”. When you know more about what sensory is and how it works, you can use those skills to fully experience coffee, wine, or any food or drink you wish to enjoy deeply.
Sensory is the human connection between how something looks, smells, tastes, and feels and how your body and mind react to all of those stimuli. I will share my thoughts about sensory in a series of emails because…well, it’s a lot.
Let’s begin. Wine sensory starts with color.
See:
When you pour your glass of Caelestis Cellars wine, hold the glass toward the light to examine how the wine looks. Is the wine clear or cloudy? Is the wine thin or thick? How does the wine drip along the side of the glass (this is called “legs”)? Is the color representative of the grape varietal?
Visually examining the wine also helps you to assess the clarity of the wine. For example, a rust or orange color in red wine can be an indicator that the wine is an old vintage or there could be a problem with the closure allowing oxygen through the cork into the wine. This you may not want to drink because many of the delicate aromatics become muted or disappear altogether when the wine has oxidized.
You are also looking for an indication of how the wine is filtered. The presence of sediment in wine that isn’t filtered can affect how the wine tastes. Some red wine is purposely not filtered. This is a winemaking style that can be used if your winemaking practices are ensuring the most rigid cleanliness and sanitation in all winemaking steps, something we work to achieve regardless of whether or not we filter our wine. You can taste the difference in our wine due to this dedication.
To learn more about the appearance of wine, watch this Washington State University enology program video.
Now that you have taken a moment to really see the wine, what did you notice? I’d love to hear from you!
Next time we will explore wine aromatics and the sense of smell. Until then, we have some events to share.
Oh, and don’t forget that Every day is a drink-the-good-wine-day!
Cheers,
Christian, co-founder & winemaker
Taste Our Wines!
We have four spaces left for our Summer Wine Release Party.
Please RSVP to Kim right away if you would like to join us.
Caelestis Cellars Summer Release Party
Sunday, July 30th
4-6pm
At the beautiful John Ross Building party room and patio
3601 S River Parkway in Portland's South Waterfront neighborhood
(street parking or take the Trimet!)
We are also going to be a featured winery pouring at Syndicate Wines. Come see us!
Thursday, August 10th
4-7pm
Syndicate Wine Bar
12620 SW 1st St, Beaverton
Reservations recommended
