Table 2.7 Some red wine flavours and the grape varieties or other wine components commonly associated with them.
| Animal | Pinot Noir, high level of Brettanomyces |
|---|---|
| Aniseed | Malbec |
| Banana | Gamay, carbonic maceration |
| Blackberry | Grenache, Merlot, Shiraz (Syrah) |
| Blackcurrant | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Bramble | Zinfandel |
| Cedar | Oak ageing, Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Cherry – black | Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir (very ripe) |
| Cherry – red | Pinot Noir (fully ripe), Sangiovese, Tempranillo |
| Chocolate – dark | Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz |
| Cinnamon | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Clove | Grenache |
| Coconut | Oak ageing |
| Game | Pinot Noir |
| Grass | Unripe grapes |
| Herb (mixed) | Grenache, Merlot, Sangiovese |
| Leafy | Pinot Noir |
| Leather | Shiraz (Syrah), aged wines |
| Liquorice | Grenache, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Meat | Pinotage |
| Metal | Cabernet Franc |
| Mint | Cabernet Sauvignon (especially cool climate) |
| Pencil shavings | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Pepper – bell | Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère |
| Pepper – ground black | Shiraz (Syrah) |
| Pepper – white | Grenache |
| Plum – black | Merlot |
| Plum – red | Merlot, Pinot Noir (overripe) |
| Redcurrant | Barbera |
| Raspberry | Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Pinot Noir (ripe) |
| Roses | Nebbiolo |
| Smoke | Oak ageing |
| Soy sauce | Carmenère (very ripe) |
| Stalky | Wet vintage, unripe grapes, inclusion of stalks |
| Strawberry | Grenache, Pinot Noir (just ripe), Merlot, Tempranillo |
| Tar | Nebbiolo, Shiraz |
| Tea | Merlot |
| Toffee | Merlot |
| Toast | Oak ageing |
| Tobacco | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Truffle | Nebbiolo |
2.7.10 Other Observations
2.7.10.1 Texture
The texture of a wine should be considered and crucially the balance of the characteristics already discussed. The easiest way to understand texture is by imagining running the tips of your fingers over the skin of various parts of the body of people of different ages and professions: the smooth, soft face of a model, the hands of a cashier, the weathered face of a deep‐sea‐fisherman, the pre‐shave chin of a builder. The texture of a wine might be described as silky, velvety, smooth, or coarse. Several wine faults impact upon texture, including some faults resulting from the actions of lactic acid bacteria – see Chapter 11.
Bubbles or spritz, if present, give tactile sensations on the tongue. In a poor quality sparkling wine, they are very aggressive, whilst a creamy feeling mousse is indicative of the well‐integrated carbon dioxide in a good quality example. Thus in the case of sparkling wines, the mousse might be described as delicate, creamy, or aggressive.
2.7.10.2 Balance
Balance is the interrelationship between all the taste and tactile sensations and the components that create them. If anyone or a small number of them dominate, or if there is a deficiency of any of them, the wine is unbalanced. An easy to understand example is that a white wine described as sweet or luscious but with a low acidity will be flabby and cloying. In other words, it is unbalanced. A red wine with a light body, light flavour intensity, low to medium alcohol but high tannin will feel very hard astringent and unbalanced. A balanced wine has all the sensations in proportions that make the wine a harmonious whole. In a well‐balanced wine, the sensations are seamlessly integrated.
If any component or several components are making the wine unbalanced, these should be noted. However, the state of maturity of a wine is an important consideration. Whilst a very low quality wine may never be in balance at any stage in its life‐cycle, a high‐quality wine, particularly reds, will often only achieve balance when approaching maturity. Tannins and acidity may dominate in youth. The taster needs to evaluate all the components and the structure of the wine to anticipate how these will be interrelated at maturity. Balance is a major consideration when assessing wine quality, and wines that are substantially ‘out‐of‐balance’
