How We Judge Wines

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How We Judge Wines

by Bennet and Sheila Bodenstein

Syndicated Wine Columnists (www.onwine.cc)

Being wine columnists has its drawbacks as well as its perks. We are like the spectators at the ancient Roman Coliseum; thumbs up and the wine receives a good review, thumbs down and we could ruin or at the minimum, hurt a winery. It is an awesome responsibility. To get around the negative side, we have made it our policy to report only on the good wines and to leave the others to sink or swim on their own. The wine drinking public is an intelligent public who have their own opinions and preferences. Our object is to direct your choice and not to dictate it. What we may hate, others may love, so we approach the subject of condemning a wine with considerable trepidation, unless the wine is so incredibly bad that no one could like it. We thought that we should give our readers a brief view of how we review wines, so that they can compare it to their process of review.

The look of the bottle or the label has little or no interest to us; it is eyewash, a selling device, and has nothing to do with the wine in the bottle.

When the bottle is opened, we avoid the well touted "cork routine." Let us assure you, in most every case it is idiotic and serves no purpose except to impress your guests. Let's start with the squeezing of the cork. A cork can crumble because of age or can be stiff and unyielding when pressed, both may indicating bad storage and the wine in the bottle should be suspect. Sniffing the cork is another fallacy. The only thing that can be detected by sniffing the cork is mold. A cork smelling of mold does not necessarily indicate that the wine is bad but it is only an indication that something might be amiss. Neither of these are viable tests.

When the cork is pulled, there should not be any "off odors" coming from the bottle. If it is a red wine, let it stand for a few minutes to as long as a half hour before pouring. This allows the sulfites, used as a preservative in the wine, to dissipate. A white wine can be poured almost immediately but it should be allowed to sit in the glass for a short time for the same reason.

Ok, now for the nitty gritty, the aroma and taste test. Pour a small amount of wine into the glass. Swirl it to release the aromas. Put your nose into the glass and take a deep sniff. What you smell should be pleasant and inviting. It should say, "drink me." There should be nothing negative about the aroma but rather the pleasant scents of fruit, flowers, oak, vanilla and/or spice. We do look at the color of the wine but take very little notice of it unless it is exceptional. In these days of advanced chemistry and modern processing, the color and clarity of a wine can be easily adjusted.

We then taste. The wine should be pleasant and interesting with nothing negative about it. We attempt to pick out the individual flavors and the feel of the wine in the mouth. While in he mouth, there should be no sensation of alcohol. We know it is there but it should not be readily detectable. While in the mouth, all facets of the wine should be in harmony, not too much of one element or another.

After the wine is swallowed, there is the finish or aftertaste to consider. This should be clean and pleasant, reflecting some of the characteristics of the wine. The length of time that the flavor lingers in the mouth is a good indication of the quality of the wine, the longer, the better. There should be no off flavors or annoying sensations.
These are our methods of taste testing a wine: they work well for us. And you can do the same. If you like the wine, it is, to you, the finest in the world, and after all that is what counts in the end. As we like to say, the best wine in the world is the wine YOU like best.

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