We began the session by tasting sugar granules to determine where we taste sweetness on our tongues.
This is a diagram of the tongue, similar to what we looked at to help us understand where the basic tastes of sweet, salty, bitter and sour are located.
Generally speaking, we taste sweetness around the tip of the tongue. However, there can be differences of where one tastes sweetness, as we experienced among our group of tasters.
What makes a wine sweet?
The total amount of sugars left in a wine after it's made, is called its residual sugar. Residual sugar in a wine can vary greatly, and is often used to help balance out a highly acidic wine, or help to mask rough edges. (We will learn more about this balance in Session 3.)
Is it sweet, or is it fruity?
One of the misunderstandings that I have observed when pouring wine in a tasting room, is that people will often confuse fruity wines for being sweet. Fruity wines have distinct aromas and flavors of fruit that many people perceive as sweetness. This seems very sad to me, because people will often pass up trying a beautifully dry, but fruity wine simply because they think that "sweet" wines are of lesser value than "dry" wines. In my personal opinion, every wine on the sweet to dry spectrum has its rightful place!
How can you tell if the wine is actually sweet?
On its own, the nose cannot determine if a wine is sweet or not. One must use the impact on the tongue, to sense the sweetness. However, this is difficult when smelling the wine at the same time as you taste it. Even in your mouth, you are smelling the fruit as you taste the wine. (Recall the retronasal passage lesson from session one)
Try this at home: As you taste a wine you think is sweet rather than fruity, plug your nose while you taste. If the wine is indeed sweet, you’ll be able to actually taste the sweetness on the tip of your tongue without confusing it with what you smell.
We asked our tasters to taste through four selections and rate the level of sweetness they experienced on a spectrum of bone dry - dry - medium dry - medium sweet - sweet - very sweet. While they felt a little apprehensive about doing this "cold", we wanted them to have the opportunity to blind taste without having a preconceived idea of how sweet they thought the wine would be based on the varietal.
Wine #1: Louis Buoillot Perle de Vin "Grand Reserve" Brut
This was a sparkling wine we considered to be our "dry" choice.
Wine #2: 2007 Anglim Viognier, Paso Robles
Viognier is a light, fruity wine often confused with being sweet. This particular viognier was hard to recognize. It had some fruity qualities to it, but it was not as easily recognizable as a viognier. Had I not known I what I was pouring, I would have been thoroughly confused!
We ultimately decided it was in the dry to medium dry category.
Wine #3: Michele Chiarlo Barbera d'Asti 2008
Barbara is an acidic grape that can be quite fruity, but can also be quite tart depending on the style and quality of grapes. This one ended up being very subtle in fruit, and a couple of people experienced tartness.
Wine #4: 2009 Rombauer Vineyards Zinfandel, Napa, CA
This wine was suggested to me by the guys over at The Wine Club in San Jose. (Super knowledgeable guys...I highly recommend this place!!) The residual sugar in this zinfandel was not high enough to consider it a Late Harvest Zin, but it was high enough to taste. There was no mistaking that this wine had been chosen to highlight a sweet red.
Point to Ponder... As you continue to sip wine, consider what you have learned in this session. Experiment with the difference between sweetness and fruitiness. Ask yourself how you would rate the level of sweetness and dryness in the wine. Are you surprised by certain varietals? Don’t be afraid to stretch outside your wine comfort zone ~ try something new!
