Tasting 101

Foundation before flair. We talk about structure before flavor.

Acidity, sugar, tannin, and alcohol create the four pillars of structure in a wine. The trick is to find the right balance for you. Maybe you’re someone who enjoys having their palate shredded by tannins. Perhaps you’re an acid junkie who invested heavily in Prilosec and doesn’t mind an ulcer or two, like me.  

Read along and keep in mind these elements of structure the next time you taste a new wine. 

Acidity 

Sharp, tart, puckering, bright, crisp. This is how we talk about acidity. Causes you to salivate which makes you want to take more bites of food. This is why high-acid wines are perfect for fatty or salty foods. You need the edge of Riesling to cut through that savory pork belly. 

As a wine nerd, it’s exciting to drink high acid wines because it’s an indication that they’re going to age well. The prospect of tasting the same wine throughout the years is so fun. Nebbiolo, Riesling, Chenin, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese. These are your high-acid wines.  

Sugar

Stop being afraid of sugar! It baffles us whenever we’re asked to recommend wines “as long as they’re not sweet” only to see the same person grab the ripest Cab on the shelf. Sweetness balances acidity and masks high levels of alcohol. But also, wine is made from fruit, so get over it. More on sugar later when I’ve had time to talk through my feelings. 

Tannin

Woody, sticky, drying, velcro. These are words we use to describe tannin. Are you lips sticking to your gums? Did your wine practically evaporate in your mouth? If the answer is yes, you’re drinking a high-tannin wine. Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Baga. These are your tannic wines. 

Check out our blog all about tannins here.

Alcohol

After you swallow, how far does that sip of wine go? Is that tingling just in your mouth? Did it reach the back of your palate? Or can you feel it moving down your throat? Alcohol is heat. It’s the immediate warming sensation you get after that first taste. Alcohol contributes to the body of a wine. Full-bodied wines come from grapes that were allowed to fully ripen on the vine. The more sugar a grape starts out with, the more food it brings to the table for the yeast that will ferment it later on. 

 If you find that you gravitate towards wines with abv levels around fourteen or fifteen percent, you like warm-weather wines. This is why I think finding your climate is more important that finding your grape. Napa, Stellenbosch, Campania, Provence. This is where your big wine comes from.