Food and Wine Pairing : A Sensory Experience

214 Chapter 10 Flavor Intensity and Flavor Persistency

Table 10.1 Examples of Wines Likely to Have Particular Flavors

Wine

Flavor Whites Reds

Fruity Gewu ̈rztraminer

Muscat

Pinot Grigio

Pinot Gris

Riesling

Soave

Barbera

Beaujolais

Dolcetto

Lemberger

Merlot (some young from California, Oregon, Washington)

Pinot Noir (young)

Valpolicella

Nutty Fino Sherry

Amontillado Sherry

Smoky Aged Burgundy

Oaky Chardonnay (New World, Australia, California

and Chile in particular)

Aged Barolo and Barbaresco

Some aged Cabernet Sauvignon (Australian, Chilean)

Aged Rioja

Herbal Fume ́ Blanc (California, Washington)

Pouilly-Fume ́

Sancerre

Sauvignon Blanc (New World, New Zealand in

particular)

Bordeaux (young)

Cabernet Franc (Ontario)

Some Meritage reds

Cabernet Sauvignon (young from California, Washington, Okanagan)

Buttery Many oaky New World Chardonnay (California,

Australia, Washington)

Perceptible in some reds that have undergone malolactic fermentation

Some Spanish Tempranillo and Rioja

Floral Moscato d’Asti

Muscat

Some Gewu ̈rztraminer

Earthy French whites in general

Aged Burgundy (France)

Some aged Chardonnay

Aged Bordeaux

Aged Burgundy

Some Pinot Noir (Oregon in particular)

Coˆte Roˆtie

Some Syrah (Washington, Coˆtes du Rhoˆne, some South Africa)

ASSESSING FLAVOR INTENSITY

As defined in Chapter 9, flavor intensity is the level of concentration, power, or force

of the prominent flavors: spicy, herbal, earthy, or fruity. These levels can be described ver-

bally on a scale ranging from no flavor to weak flavor, moderately strong flavor, strong flavor,

and powerful flavor.

When evaluating flavor intensity, there are a number of issues to consider. First, you

must consider the order in which a series of wines and a series of food dishes are tasted.

You should also make note of which is tasted first, the wine or the food, since this tasting

sequence can have some impact on perceived intensity levels of flavor in both the food and

wine. Research indicates that when items with a moderate concentration of flavor intensity

are preceded by items with lower concentration levels, the moderate-concentration item

always rates higher in intensity than when it is preceded by an item of higher concentration.^9

A solution to this issue is to do a reversed-pair test within the tasting group or for evaluators

to taste the items both before and after lower or higher concentrations before determining

their final assessment of intensity.

When identifying flavors and intensity, context matters. To avoid many problems, you

should follow the suggestions in the ‘‘Setting up a Tasting Session’’ section of Chapter 2, or