Wine Sensory Part Three - Taste (Finally!)
By Christian Chandler, co-founder and winemaker
Hello, friends!
We have been talking about engaging all of your senses to make drinking wine (and eating food!) fun and exciting. As a reminder, 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.
You have already learned about visually examining the wine, taking a deep smell of the wine, and now the best part…let’s talk about tasting wine.
Taste:
We have finally made it to the sense of taste. Whew!
Your tastebuds are going to pick up different flavors that are undetectable to the nose. This is one reason why you may have experienced smelling a wine and not being able to smell much but tasting the wine gives you a range of flavors. After you sip, what do you taste? There is a whole wheel of flavors, but what you taste is unique to your own palate.
You will also notice the mouthfeel of the wine, the physical sensation of the wine in your mouth. Try this! After examining the way a glass of Caelestis Cellars wine looks and smells, take a sip. As you take the sip inhale air through your mouth at the same time. Yes, it may make a funny sound, and that’s ok. Oh! Don’t swallow the wine yet!
Swirl the wine around your entire mouth then let the wine sit on your tongue to ensure that the wine interacts with all five taste receptors on the tongue. Does the wine come across as tart or sour or even bitter? Perhaps it is sweet or acidic?
Strictly speaking, there are 5 main components to wine: alcohol, sugar, acid, tannin, and water. Many of you have heard the wine described as “well balanced”. In a simple way, this means that all 5 of these components come together in harmony.
Now notice how the wine feels in your mouth. Is it smooth and glossy, full and thick, or something else? This is the mouthfeel. For example, if you take a sip of Caelestis Cellars Pinot Gris, you may get a smooth and glossy mouthfeel with a taste of minerals and lemon, perfect with Thai food. Compare that to a sip of Caelestis Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that feels thicker and fuller in the mouth with flavors of blackberries and white pepper, perfect with heavier foods like pasta or steak. Both red grapes (YES!) give a totally different sensory experience.
Finally, swallow the wine - this is called the finish. The finish will tell you how lasting that sensory experience is. You may have tried some wines that once you swallowed, the taste is lost or fleeting. That is considered a “poor finish” (not a value, just the word). A wine that lingers in your senses is considered a “strong finish”. While neither is good or bad related to the quality of the wine, people often prefer wines with a long finish.
To learn more about the flavor, taste, and mouthfeel of wine, watch this video.
I’m curious to know what you discover after tasting a wine. Drop me a line and let me know what you find.
Next time, we will put it all together for a full wine sensory experience.
Every day is a drink-the-good-wine-day!
Cheers,
Christian, co-founder & winemaker
Taste Our Wines!
We are the featured winery pouring at Syndicate Wines.
Come see us!
Thursday, August 10th
4-7pm
Syndicate Wine Bar
12620 SW 1st St, Beaverton
Reservations recommended
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Our Founder’s Clubs are filling up! Woohoo! Available only in 2023, the Caelestis Cellars Founder’s Clubs are for wine lovers excited to discover Portland’s newest boutique winery. These clubs are very limited. As an active Founder’s Club member, you will enjoy the best benefits Caelestis Cellars has to offer. Learn more at this link. Always feel free to reach out if you have questions or need help setting up your membership.
