Great Wine Made Simple - Andrea Immer [25]
If you are curious about diacetyl, pick up a bottle of butter flavoring in the spice-and-baking section of your supermarket. It is made of diacetyl, and smelling the flavoring will give you a great frame of reference for the “buttery” scent in wines. Then you can bake a cake, because this is the flavoring to use in your frosting.
Although you could taste just one wine with buttery character, I think it is helpful to have, for this tasting, a contrasting wine with which to compare it. So the first wine tasted will be a Chardonnay without buttery character, compared to a buttery Chardonnay.
Review the steps to set up a tasting.
WINE TASTING
Tasting for Grassiness
The descriptions grassy and herbaceous throw people off at first. “Why on earth would I want to drink a wine that tastes grassy?” But for fans of the Sauvignon Blanc grape especially, this can be a very exciting and delicious attribute—a distinctive signature in the same way that single-malt Scotch lovers adore the “peaty” style of their favorite whisky. I have found that with most wine drinkers, it is a matter of getting familiar with the grassy character, just as you have come to understand an oaky taste, which on paper doesn’t sound particularly appetizing, either.
In any case, grassy and herbaceous (or herbal) are terms used to describe wines, especially Sauvignon Blancs, that are marked with scents similar to that of fresh-cut grass, fresh herbs, or raw or cooked vegetables. Take a moment at the wine shop to scan the back labels of a few Sauvignon Blancs, and I bet you will spot this description. You can try one of your finds, or taste any of the following wines to get a sense for what grassy/herbaceous means. As you are tasting, pay particular attention to the scent, which is where the grassy/herbaceous character makes its strongest statement.
SAILING ALONG ON CLOUDY BAY
I consider New Zealand’s Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc to be not only a benchmark example of a grassy wine, but also a benchmark wine, period. It is so individual that it’s worth the search to find it. Your best bet may be to look for it in better restaurants. Although its price has crept up, it is not unreasonable. Since it’s in high demand, the importer reserves much of the stock for restaurant wine lists.
WINE TASTING
Tasting for Spice
Pop music aside, I was the original Spice Girl. I am crazy for spicy wines, both white and red, because I find their exoticism, complexity, and unpredictability to be incredibly exciting. If your palate is easily bored, these wines are guaranteed to keep your interest. “Spicy” on a wine label can refer to scents of both sweet spices and savory ones. Some of the common ones that professional tasters refer to in wine include:
Savory: Black pepper, white pepper, cumin, coriander, mustard powder
Sweet: Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, anise, licorice, nutmeg, allspice
The wines with the most obvious spicy style are usually made from Syrah grapes, or the Big Six, although you may have looked at the back labels of some oak-aged Cabernets or Merlots and seen them described as spicy, too. Without a doubt, the oak aging that is so common with Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah lends a spiciness that tasters often pick up on. But usually the result is a subtler stamp of spice than you will find in the inherently spicy grapes and wine styles we are discussing here. I want you to taste wines that are especially known for their spicy character. I think you will love them, and you’ll definitely notice their distinctive taste and compatibility with food.
Spicing Up Your Cellar
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