WINE EVALUAITON-Quality

COMPLEXITY– Assortment of Aromas, Flavors and Nuances and How They Interact.

  • *Generally– Simple Wines Will Have a Couple of Aromas and Flavors by a Complex Wine Will Offer Up Multiple Aromas and Flavors That Will Unfold as the Wine Develops On Your Palate.
  • Some of My Favorite Complexities to Wine Aren’t Aroma and Flavors but Other Wine Enhancers Such as Acidity, Tannin, Minerality, Bubbles, Body, Texture.
  • –Complexity Scale– Low   |   Medi-   |   Medium   |   Medi+   |   High
  • –Complexity Descriptors– Structure   |   Fade   |   Concentrated   |   Layered

BALANCE– Relationship Between a Wine’s Flavors, Sweetness, Tannins, Alcohol and Acids That Make Up a Wine.

  • Integration Implies That Everything In the Wine Works Together and In Harmony.
  • –Balance Scale– Low   |   Medi-   |   Medium   |   Medi+   |    High
  • –Balance Descriptors–

FINISH– Quality of Wine’s Flavors or Textural Sensation That Stays On Your Palate After the Wine Has Been Swallowed and is More of a Descriptive Term. The Finish Can Be Short or Crisp or it Can Leave an  Impression On Your Patate For 30 Seconds to Over a Minute.

  • –Finish Scale– Low   |   Medi-   |   Medium   |   Medi+   |   High
  • –Finish Descriptors– Closed,   Fresh,   Tight,   Bold,   Intense,   Clean,   Rounded,   Bitter,   Hot,   Harsh,   Rich

LENGTH– Amount of Time a Wines Flavors and Elements Stay On Your Palate.

  • *Generally– The Better Finish and Longer Length of a Wine Are Signs of a Superior Quality Wine.
  • –Length Scale– Short   |   Medi-   |   Medium   |   Medi+   |   Long
  • –Length Descriptors– Long   |   Short   |   Disappear
  • –First Impression/ Attack– Flavors When Wine Hits Your Palate
  • –Mid-Palate– Flavors That Develop On Palate
  • –Final Length– Flavors That Linger On Palate

“You Are Responsible For Your Own Palate. Being an Adventurous Taster and Making Sure You’re Trying New Grapes and Regions. Over Time, You’ll Develop, Understand and Learn to Trust Your Palate.”

WINE EXPRESSION BAR– On the Back of Some German Bottles Are a Thin Strip With Sweetness, Aging, Abv, Information.

  • **Refer to “WINE EVALUATION/ Technical Data Sheet” For Detailed Information.

WINE TECHNICAL DATA SHEETS– Sheet Used to Present Data Regarding That Bottle’s Vitification and Vinification Processes

  • Wine Technical Data Sheets Are Useful For Comparing Different Vintages or Varietals From Different Regions, They Don’t Assure Quality But Help With the Evaluation of Wine. Data Sheets Don’t Define the Quality of a Wine, But it Can Help You Understand a Particular Wine, Especially When Comparing to a Different Vintage of Region.
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “How is Wine Quality Assessed?”
    • “A High Quality Wine is Complexed and Balanced With Good Length and a Long Finish,  All While Showing Terroir or a Sense of the Place.  Generally Everything is Pronounsed, and On a Grander Scale, Exhibiting and Enhanced Spectrum of Flavors, and Increased Aromatic Levels.  Quality Wine Show True Varietal Characteristics and Usually Are Produced by Reputable Winemakers Produced From Grapes Grown In Regions With a Pedigree For Making Great Wine.”

“Conclude All of Your Theories From Your Evaluation and Start to Put Together the “Wine Puzzle” and Figure Out What the Grape is, Where It’s From and the Quality it Possesses.”

WINE & PRICE

  • WHY SOME WINE BOTTLES ARE SO EXPENSIVE
    • Quality of Vineyard Sight/ Appellation Pedigree
    • Cost of the Land/ Price of Real Estate
    • Rarity of Grape Variety
    • Scarcity of Grapes/ Bottles
    • Low Yields
    • Difficulty to Harvest
    • Barrel Cost
    • Aging Time In Celler
    • Expensive But Has No Effect On Quality
      • Limited Production
      • Branding
      • Reputation

PRICE Vs. QUALITY

  • Price Does Correspond With Quality But Only Up to a Certain Point.  Wine Bottles Over $250 It’s Not About the Vine and the Wine Anymore.  I Guaranty I Can Find You a Bottle For Under a $100 and You Can’t Tell the Difference, and In Many  Cases the Cheaper Bottle Will Be Better.

**Refer to “BIBLIOGRAPHY/ Sources” For Details On Scholarly Works Referenced.