Food and Wine Pairing : A Sensory Experience

Exercise 7.1 161

SUMMARY

Wine texture is driven by a number of factors. The
most clearly identifiable ones are tannin, alcohol, and a
sensation of body. Oak provides not only texture but also
aroma, color, and flavor. These elements are important
considerations when selecting wines based on personal

preferences, the mood of the event, and foods with which

the wine will be paired. The end-of-chapter exercises will

allow you to reinforce your understanding of these ele-

ments and the tactile sensations they create.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What are the key texture elements in wine?


2. How would you describe the astringent sensation of

tannin?

3. Is tannin an element in white and red wines?


4. What are the key factors driving alcohol levels in

wine?

5. Can you think of additional wine characteristics that
   provide a sense of texture?


6. Is an assessment of overall body related to tannin,
   alcohol, and oak levels in wine? Or are they separate
   characteristics?

EXERCISE 7.1

WINE TEXTURE ELEMENTS: TANNIN, ALCOHOL, OAK, AND OVERALL BODY

The purpose of this exercise is to focus
on differences in the level of the primary
elements in wine that make up tactile per-
ceptions of texture. For this exercise, you
may utilize many of the same varietals as
the Basics of Wine Evaluation exercise in
Chapter 2 (Exercise 2.2). These varietals
provide a good spectrum of variation for
all of the texture elements. Other varie-
tals can be used to increase your knowl-
edge if desired; some examples are
provided in Table 7.2 in this chapter.
Using the Wine Sensory Anchor
sheet (Figure B.2) and Tables 7.2 and 7.3,
you will have basic reference points and
descriptions for ascending levels of tan-
nin, alcohol, and overall body. When se-

lecting the wines for this exercise, be

sure to consider the potential impact of

Old or New World selections, climate

zones, oak aging, and wine maturity.

OBJECTIVES

This exercise has four objectives. The

first is to establish a baseline and sensory

memory of the ascending mouthfeel

characteristics of tannin in wine. The sec-

ond objective is to reinforce your under-

standing of the impact of alcohol level on

the perception of ‘‘bigness,’’ hot after ef-

fects, and overall weight of a wine. The

third is to be able to clearly identify the

flavor, aroma, and texture impacts of oak.

The fourth objective is to instill a deeper

knowledge of the typical textural ele-

ments of major wine varietals.

Mise en Place: Things to Do Be-

fore the ExerciseReview the sections

of this chapter describing the wine tex-

ture evaluation.

MATERIALSNEEDED

Select one wine sample for each overall

wine body description shown in Table

7.2. You will wind up with five different

varietals.

STEPS

1.Buy the wines.

2.Set up the glasses using the placemats (Figure 7.1) in the following order: