A Sensory User’s Manual … using chemistry, physiology, physics and psychology to develop a wine palate…

Wine tasting can be an occasional pleasant diversion or a time-and-resource-consuming passion. It can be conducted casually or formally. No matter what level of orientation or dedication is involved, some basic background knowledge and a logical approach can greatly increase individual enjoyment. Most American wine drinkers cheat themselves by not knowing how to taste; many talk the talk but fail to walk the walk, so a lot of ordinary-tasting wines gets sold at extraordinary prices.

Wine tasting is actually a complex proposition involving much more than simply sipping some fermented grape juice. There are many variable factors that affect an individual’s perception of flavor in wine. There are chemical, physical, mechanical, physiological, and psychological variables.

The type and quality of the wine itself is only one aspect of tasting. Others are the size and shape of the wine glass… the individual’s impartial physiological ability to smell and taste, as well as his individual flavor preferences… the temperature of not only the beverage itself, but also the ambient temperature and humidity of the tasting site… mental condition, how hungry, tired, and attentive the taster is can also affect relative judgment, as well as any preconceived notions and other psychological factors.

The FOUR ELEMENTS of FLAVOR
To understand these variables, let’s first look at the phenomenon of taste from a physiological standpoint. Flavor, although it may have slightly differing meanings, depending upon who is using the term, always refers to food. A food chemist may use “flavor” only to refer to aroma, while a chef is likely to include taste, texture, temperature, appearance, and arrangement in his context. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines flavor as:

Complex combination of the olfactory, gustatory and trigeminal sensations perceived during tasting. The flavour may be influenced by tactile, thermal, painful and/or kinaesthesic effects.

While the senses of smell and taste are truly most important, flavor is not an experience limited to these, but a combination of experiences from the senses of smell, taste, touch, and, less obviously, sight.

ONE - SMELL: Acute, Ancient and Fragile
The nose can sometimes even beat the eyes in the race for setting up the tasting expectations. An aroma can carry from one room to another, beyond the line of sight. Of the five senses, smell is the most acute, approximately 1,000 times more sensitive than the sense of taste. As a result, what is termed flavor is influenced by roughly 75% smell (olfaction) and 25% taste (gustation) in healthy individuals. Ever notice how foods seem to taste bland or less distinctive when the nose is blocked by a cold?

Nasal cavity cutaway diagram.Smell and taste are the chemical senses because their receptors are stimulated by chemical molecules, rather than by energy from light, pressure, or sound. As little as one molecule in a million may be detected by the nose, but it takes a minimum of one part per thousand to stimulate the tongue. As sensitive and accurate as this organ is, relatively few people ever realize its potential for sensory enjoyment by learning how it works and the language of smells. Professional food and wine tasters and perfumers use analogies to common experience to describe aromas. Experts are those that practice and use their sense of smell most frequently.

For a substance to be smelled, it must have a certain degree of volatility (be readily evaporating) and some of the molecules it is made of must be hydrophobic (able to dissolve in oil, but not water). Odor molecules are typically larger than those that stimulate taste.

The odor vapor must contact receptors which cover the organs of smell, a pair of olfactory membranes. Located deep in each uppermost nasal cavity, they are brownish-yellow, roughly the size of a postage stamp, about two centimeters thick and covered in a thin layer of mucous, which the molecules must penetrate. There are 200 distinct kinds of nasal receptors. They function using 50 million olfactory neurons, each with cilia that extend into and through the mucous. On the cilia are the receptors that capture the scent molecules, signaling the neurons to send the scent message to the brain for interpretation.

The sense of smell is ancient and primal, one of the earliest senses evolved, for locating food, warning of danger, and regulating sexual behavior. Unique among the senses, the scent message passes directly through the limbic system, the emotional center of the brain, on its way to conscious identification in the cortex. Reaction to certain smells may be instinctive; identification of those smells requires a certain amount of experience and training.

Fatigue and Adaptation
While smell is the most easily stimulated of the human senses, it is also the most fragile. Most of us have experienced detecting the aroma of cooking, maybe even from outside the house. In pursuit, we trace it to the kitchen where it becomes stronger. After standing there for a few minutes, however, the cooking odors may no longer be noticeable. This fatigue of the sense of smell is part of sensory adaptation: the self-adjustment to a constant level of stimulus in an environment, so that the individual retains sensitivity to changes. This adaptation also occurs for the sense of sight in a darkened theater or hearing in a noisy city.

Some adaptation is short-term; recovery and return to the degree of sensitivity prior to exposure may only take a few minutes. Research has also demonstrated that constant environmental odor exposure can cause adaptation that lasts for days or weeks, even after removal of the odor source.

There is a great variation between individuals in the elements to which they are sensitive. A person’s absolute threshold is the smallest amount of stimulus required to produce a sensation. Once that threshold is reached, unless trained, the individual can only recognize and unconsciously catalog the smell as either “familiar” or “new”. Scientists have proven that the nose can detect and distinguish between thousands of different smells, depending upon individual aptitude and training.

Even individuals lacking the ability to smell specific odors (1anosmia) can often be induced to learn them by repeated exposure. Very little research has been conducted to either explain or rectify serious sensory problems of smell or taste, which can arise from congenital defect, illness, or injury, and may effect one of every 150 human beings2.

Henning’s Smell Prism (illustration).Aroma Theory
To date, scientists have cataloged over 17,000 different smells. About 10,000 can be distinguished by humans, although no one knows just how this ability works. In the early 1900s, a researcher named Henning suggested there are really only six categories of smells, combinations of which account for all the detectable odors and aromas.

Henning arrayed these categories into a three-dimensional prismatic map whereon, his theory suggests, all smells could be plotted to some point on one of the surfaces. For example, it should be possible for something to smell fruity, putrid, resinous, and burned, but impossible to have a smell that is putrid, spicy, and resinous. The combinations are interesting to plot and contemplate.

The chemical make-up of wine includes many trace elements that contribute to the combination of smells. Some of these same elements are also found, frequently in higher concentrations, in other familiar foods, spices, flowers, etc. Consenquently, wine smells may often bring to mind these other familiar things, albeit with more subtlety and much less obvious or instant recognizability. With training, concentration, and practice, nearly anyone can learn to dissect and describe these elements of complexity.

TWO - TASTE: Categorization and Individual Sensitivity
While there may be a vast array of aroma categories, generally only four tastes have historically been considered: bitter, salty, sour, and sweet. There really is no precise definition of “basic taste”; these four only differentiate and describe common taste sensations. Bitter tastes come from alkaloids, such as contained in coffee and quinine (tonic water). Salty tastes, by far the most common in prepared foods, come from sodium chloride (table salt), sodium nitrite (especially in smoked meats or fish), sodium bicarbonate (especially in baked goods, canned foods), and sodium benzoate (especially in soft drinks and packaged beverages, jellies and preserves, margarine and fast-food burgers). Sour tastes come from acids (citric in oranges, grapefruit, etc., malic in apples, pears, lactic in dairy products). Sweet comes from sugars, primarily sucrose in the American diet, although there are many others (fructose, glucose, lactose, etc.).

“Tongue-maps” are wrong.Taste has historically been one of the least understood sensory mechanisms. Misinterpretations of research conducted in the late 1800s, led to “tongue maps” that suggested that the basic tastes are sensed primarily by specific areas, such as the tip or center. Subsequent investigation proved that taste buds on the entire surface of the tongue can sense all of the various tastes.

Tastes are sensed by nerve receptors called buds and there are about 9,000 of them on the average tongue. Combinations of tastes, along with the accompanying combined aromas, account for different flavors. Taste compounds have smaller molecules than those of odors and, unlike odors, must be hydrophyllic, water-soluble.

Sensitivity to specific tastes varies considerably with individuals. It is possible in fact to be taste-blind. The test uses a chemical called phenylthiocarbamide, which tastes extremely bitter to some persons and quite bland to others. Some research has suggested that there is higher alcoholism incidence among the genetically taste-blind.

Eastern Influence
Additional theories of taste perception come into Western consciousness from Eastern thought. Asians generally add “hot” (the capiscum or capsaicin taste of peppers) to the four basic tastes. At the beginning of the 1900s, Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda identified this element as more complex and variable than merely hot. He isolated one element that causes this taste in meat, milk, mushrooms, and seaweed broth as the amino acid glutamate and called the sensation “umami.”

Rather than a specific flavor, umami is best described as a distinctive quality or completeness of flavor. The nearest English equivalent would be “savory” or “delicious.” Oriental food often gets umami, its “complete” flavor, by the addition of monosodium glutamate (MSG).

The scientific journal Nature published an article in the Spring of 2002, that American scientists Charles Zuker and Nick Ryber have identified a taste receptor for amino acids, supporting the idea of Umami. Wine typically contains from one to four grams of amino acids per liter. While still controversial, there are ongoing studies of umami and it is an emerging consideration in food and wine circles.

THREE - FEELING: Texture, Body, Tannin, Alcohol and Temperature
The sense of touch figures in the overall flavor impression by conveying temperature, texture and pressure, the feeling differences that exist between cold iced tea and hot coffee, between plain fruit punch and carbonated soda, between filtered and unfiltered apple juice, between smooth pudding and crunchy cookies, or between the burn of jalapeño or the cool of menthol. These sensations of touch, irritation, or thermal differences are called chemesthesis and may be experienced in the eyes, mouth, nose, or throat. Much of the touch information of flavor is conveyed to the brain through the trigeminal nerve.

The body of a wine is felt as light or heavy, thin or full, rich or crisp. Body is one of the most often misunderstood components of wine. The description “full bodied” is frequently applied to wines that are high in either alcohol or tannin or in both, without the actual texture and weight of the wine being “full” at all. Body should be thought of as the relative “thickness” or viscosity of the wine.

One of the most prominent elements of wine “flavor” is tannin, more a sensation of touch rather than taste. It is also a significant flavor component of tea, chocolate, soy, pecans, walnuts, and the skins and seeds of many fruits, other than grapes, such as blueberries, dates, kiwi, peaches, persimmons, pomegranates, raspberries and figs. Tannin leaves a puckery, astringent feeling on the tongue, gums, and cheeks and can sometimes also taste bitter. Wine tannins come primarily from grape skins and oak barrels (see Red, Red Wine on the “Winemaking” page) and vary in strength and character. In the mouth, tannins can feel fine, round, and smooth or gritty, coarse, and angular. Tannins are one of the few flavor elements in wine that cannot be smelled.

Alcohol also is mainly experienced as an irritation of the touch sense. When the proportion is too high for the other flavor elements, alcohol may give a “burning” sensation in the nose as well as a “hot” feeling in the back of the throat or the roof of the mouth.

Wine served cold gives a taste impression that is less sweet and more acid and astringent than the same wine at a warmer temperature. This is one reason to serve fruity wines chilled, while dry, astringent ones are best near or just below “room” temperature.

The phenomenons of fatigue and adaption discussed earlier regarding smell are also considerations with taste. Astringency and bitterness require up to ninety seconds recovery in order not to influence the flavor of the next wine. This can be a very long time between tastes. A good swallow of water or bite of bread helps. Sugar also takes a while to fade from the tongue. Chocolate, which combines astringency, bitterness and sweetness, has an extremely long aftertaste, can foul the palate for wine evaluation, and is not recommended within three hours prior to serious tasting. Cheese also clouds the ability to judge wine; as wise old French wine merchants say, “Achetez avec l’eau, vendez avec le fromage” (Buy with water, sell with cheese.)

Individual Preference and Cultural Bias
Another influence on taste besides individual physiology and ability is individual psychology and preference. Culture and upbringing provide sensory experiences that certainly influence adult taste preferences.

Americans raised in the last half of the 20th Century typically drank milk, or increasingly soft drinks, sweet and sometimes carbonated, as mealtime beverages. The longtime adage of wine marketers has been that “Americans talk dry but drink sweet”. Each culture has a similar taste bias. Coca-Cola employs 200 global research and development staff, two dozen of them specialists in flavor development to pinpoint local taste preferences and adjust their product formula to local conformity. They have found that Germans like spicy, Mexicans like citric and Italians want a little bitterness. These cultural flavor preferences may also dictate wine choices to some degree.

FOUR - SEEING: Clues Only; Don’t be Fooled
This idea of sight affecting flavor is not hard to grasp if one thinks of some food which looks unappetizing, but then tastes very good. The reverse is also true. How often is an item selected from a cafeteria line that appears very tasty but turns out to be bland or worse? This expectation based on appearance often psychologically sets up our taste buds. In wine, this sight prejudice leads us to expect that transparent and bright wines will be good-tasting, and wines that are cloudy or dull in color will not. Although this does not necessarily hold, still our sense of sight sets us up psychologically for gustatory enjoyment or disappointment.

Color can be an indicator of what the nose and the mouth might expect. Clues as to the grape varietal identity and the age of wine can be revealed by its hue and transparency or opacity. White varietal wines may appear from very pale greenish and brightly clear (suspect youth and bone dryness) to deep golden brownish and approaching translucence (probably well-aged, possibly nectar-like). Red varietals run from brickish red and nearly transparent (may be older, mellow) to deep opaque bluish-purple (expect young, brash, tannic). Bright pink rosé or blush wines are often youthful, while orangey-bricky ones are usually past their point of prime drinkability.

Although they may appear to be in a range of either red-purples or green-yellows, wine grapes are referred to as black (noir ) or white (blanc ), depending on the color of their skins at ripeness. Pinot Noir, Grenache and Mourvedre tend towards a garnet or brickish tone. Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Barbera can make wines so inky-purple they could refill fountain pens. The hues of the black grapes are consistent but they become nearly transparent when made into rosé or blush-style wines. Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc tend to be green. Semillon and Viognier are generally more yellow. Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris (Grigio ) can have a light tannish-grey cast if allowed to fully ripen before made into wine. Most unnamed varietals fall in between these color ranges.

Sight may set up initial expectations in the other senses, or serve as confirmation after smelling, tasting, and feeling a wine’s properties. When aromas of tomatoes, bouquet of earth, light tannins, a texture of velvet, and flavor of dried cherries all lead to suspicions of Pinot Noir, the garnet edge may confirm it.

METHODOLOGY: Putting it all together
Evaluating the physiological factors and chemical properties helps devise methodology to get the most from tasting wine. The taster can control serving parameters to intensify the experience and consider and maintain an awareness of elements which are beyond control but nonetheless affect the tasting occasion.

First, to make sure enough vapor is present to get a strong sense of the wine’s smell, use a glass shape that can concentrate the molecules, filled only one-third full or less to allow space for the vapors to be contained. Tilting the glass over an opaque white surface and observing the liquid’s edge is the best way to judge hue and clarity. Next, swirl the wine to toss some of those molecules into the air and to increase the size of the liquid surface area from which the molecules can escape.

Then take a big, deep sniff of the wine to reach the deep-seated nasal receptors and cross the threshold of sensitivity. That first impression of a wine is really important. Close the eyes and concentrate to form an initial judgment before fatigue and adaptation set in.

Put enough wine, one-half to a full ounce, in the mouth and slosh it around to make sure as large an area of the tongue as possible has a chance to judge the wine’s elements. Feel the viscosity and tannins. Allow the wine to settle in the lower jaw, letting it warm slightly while pursing the lips to breathe in a small amount of air. Continue sucking in air, making a slurping sound as the wine and air mix. This volatilizes the wine and sends it to the back of the nasal cavity, intensifying the smell and flavor experience. After swallowing, notice which flavors and feelings are left and how well they linger.

Tasting several wines on the same occasion can somewhat alter the tasting procedure. Different contexts call for different techniques. When faced, for example, in a “blind” tasting, there are a couple of possible approaches. Whichever is comfortable and works best for the taster is proper.

One method is to sample and evaluate each wine completely and separately, before moving to the next one. For some people, this gives them a complete and memorable picture of the individual wine. A large “cocktail party” tasting event, where one glass, carried from table to table, is used to sample many wines, dictates this manner of tasting.

A different technique may be used at “sit-down” wine tastings with “flights” of two or more wines. In this situation, it’s possible to smell and evaluate all of the wines, before tasting any of them. Proceed through once, smelling each in order, then return to those that left the weakest impression for a second chance to coax more from them. Classify the wines, based on aromas, from “weak” to “strong” to “defective” to set the order of tasting. It requires discipline to delay tasting the strongest or most appealing wine, but it provides a chance to form a more definite impression of the lightest-smelling wines, without being overwhelmed by the “bigger” wines. Wines that have suspected defects, such as hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg), or TCA (corkiness), are postponed until last, to avoid “polluting” the senses.

TERMINOLOGY for Communication and Memory
Ann Noble’s Aroma Wheel.Describing specific smells and flavors of wine is not important to the average consumer; most decide that a wine simply tastes good or not. Critics and judges, however, need to learn and apply standards of terminology. Consumers can enhance their tasting experience by learning these terms in order to communicate better with their fellow tasters, their wine merchant, and, perhaps most importantly, to develop a memory of their likes and dislikes.

Many of the smells and flavors in wine are described in terms of other fruits. Gas chromatography enables separation and identification of elements in a compound, according to the constituent’s volatility. This technique has enabled chemists to establish that there are, in fact, several odoriferous molecules that are shared by wine and apples, pears, currants, raspberries, oranges, or bananas. These include acetic and butyric acids, the alcohols propanol, terpinol and hexanol, the carbonyls ethanal, acetone and diacetyl, and the esters isoamyle acetate, ethyl caproate, and ethyl butyrate. Different combinations and amounts of these and other compounds give fruits their distinct aromas and flavors and provide great variety in wine.

Until her retirement in 2003, from the University of California at Davis, Dr. Ann Noble led wine research on smells and flavors. She began to develop her theories on aromas specifically recognizable in wine in the 1980s and her colleagues continue this research today. Dr. Noble headed a project to develop an inexpensive and easy tool to aid in learning wine flavor terminology. The Aroma Wheel is a kind of pie-chart that lists, categorizes and groups hundreds of smells and odors that may be present specifically in wines. Each of these specific aromas is grouped into one of nine major general categories: floral, fruity, vegetative, nutty, woody, caramelized, earthy, spicy, or chemical. Dr. Noble’s Aroma Wheel website explains how to get one and use it train your “nose and brain to connect and quickly link terms with odors…using materials available from the grocery store.”

SUMMARY: Cheers!
A wine palate is part ability and part experience. The individual’s preferences for and sensitivity to smell and taste elements, along with the memory of their taste history, combine to form the palate. In developing this personal wine palate, remember to consider the temperature, the texture, and the feel, as well as the flavors. Besides judging the wine, learn to recognize which flavor elements help you arrive at that judgment and use accepted terms to describe them. Use the swirl, sniff, and slurp method to enhance your tasting ability. When you find yourself absent-mindedly swirling, sniffing, and slurping your milk glass, coffee cup, or soda can, you have reached the first level of expertise and commitment to appreciating fine wine.

Wine is made and marketed all over the world nowadays. It used to be that only ‘Old World’ regions such as the wine-making areas of France were perceived to be the best producers here but, nowadays, ‘New World’ regions such as America are producing great quality wines as well. Some of the most famous wine regions include:

* Alsace - the French region of Alsace borders with Germany and is the home to many famous and highly regarded wines.

* Andalucia - this region of Spain is famous for its sherry and its selection of wines.

* Bordeaux - this French region is primarily known for its classic red wines.

* Burgundy - France’s Burgundy region produces some of the best known wines in the world.

* California/Napa Valley - California is held to be one of the brightest stars in the ‘New World’ firmament.

* Cape Winelands - based near Cape Town in South Africa this is now held to be the 7th top ranked wine production region in the world in terms of quantity.

* Champagne - Champagne is the home to the French classic sparkling wine of the same name.

* Hunter Valley - Australia’s Hunter Valley produces all kinds of wines and some highly regarded vintages.

* Loire Valley - this French region is one of the most famous wine-making regions in the world. It is perhaps best known for the white wines it produces but also produces high quality red wines as well.

* Mendoza - based in Argentina, Mendoza has a range of vineyards located by the Andes.

* Oregon - Oregon in the USA has a range of vineyards that produce over 40 different types of highly regarded wines.

* Piedmont - Italy’s Piedmont region produces various highly regarded wines including Barolos and Barbarescos.

* Porto - this Portuguese region is best known for its production of port.

* Rheinhessen - this is the largest wine producing region of Germany. It was once known simply as the home of Liebfraumilch but now produces a variety of highly regarded wines.

* Tuscany - Italy’s Tuscany is probably best known for its Chianti.

Wine Tasting

You can take wine tasting as seriously as you like. Some people, for example, go on specific wine tasting courses and/or holidays to learn all that they can about the process. Others will simply go to the occasional wine tasting evening or session when they see one advertised locally. And, of course, some people simply prefer to use their wine tasting skills before they enjoy a glass of wine.

There are various important factors when wine tasting which are all connected to some of your senses. These include:

• Appearance - the first thing to look at is the appearance of the wine. To do this simply put a little wine in a clean glass and hold the glass at an angle to see how it looks. Key factors here include the clearness of the wine and the colour. For example, a pale white wine will generally be younger than a darker one and red wines darken from almost purplish hues to brown shades as time passes.
• Smell - the smell of a wine is known as the nose. To smell a wine you need to gently swirl your glass around to release the bouquet and then take a deep sniff inside the glass. As you get experienced here you will start to recognise the distinctive smells of wines - i.e. you will be able to identify individual fruits and other common wine smells such as grass and smoke.
• Taste - the taste of a wine is known as the palate. To taste a wine you need to take a drink and move it all around your mouth to give it maximum exposure. Tasting a wine can help you identify all kinds of issues such as body, acidity, and alcohol and tannin content.

Remember you don’t have to spit the wine out now if you don’t want to and would prefer to drink it! But, if you will be tasting a few wines then you may prefer to spit it out before moving on to the next one.

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A Guide to Winemaking

Although the basic winemaking process is the same for most wines there are variations in it depending on the type of wine that is being made. Let’s firstly take a look at the basic steps of winemaking in general:

1. The first thing you need for standard wine production is the grape! So, the first stage of the winemaking process is to crush your grapes to release the juices and to allow them to ferment. The crushing can still be done by foot although many larger wine producers will now use machinery that will crush the grapes and remove the stems at the same time. In some cases the grapes will also be pressed to make sure that all of the juice is extracted. This fermentation process can take a couple of weeks - here yeast will start to change the grape juice sugar into alcohol.

2. Once this first fermentation process is done most wines will undergo another fermentation (usually after a filtration process) - usually in casks or other containers. This process allows the sugars that are left to change into alcohol more slowly and the wine will also change from cloudy to clear.

3. In some cases the wine will now be bottled and ready for drinking (early aged wines are often known as ‘green’ wines) and in others it will be left to age in barrels to help the flavour develop over a period of months. Some winemakers will mix wines at this stage to make a specific ‘taste’ or to improve on deficiencies in the taste of a wine.

Although this winemaking process applies in general terms for most wines there are variations during the process to make specific types of wine. For example:

• Red wines are made from red/black grapes and their skins.
• White wines are made from white grapes or from red grapes (although here the skins are removed early to avoid colouration).
• Rose wines are made from red grapes and are given just enough contact with the grape skins for the wine to turn a rose colour.
• Sparking wines such as champagnes are made by giving the wine another fermentation process when the wine is bottled. This extra process traps carbon dioxide in the wine which gives it the fizz!

Located on approximately the same latitude (46ºN) as some of the great French wine regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy, Washington State wine “Touring” country includes 9 federally recognized American Viticultural Areas (AVA’s), commonly known as appellations; three of them share territory with Oregon State. Climates of individual Washington wine regions differ dramatically, being cross cut north to south by the Cascade Mountains.

A variety of climates and soils combine with the long summer sunlight hours of northern latitudes to create prime growing regions, predominantly in the valleys and on the hillsides of areas east of the Cascade Mountain range. Washington wineries benefit from grapes ripening in these areas which experience about two more hours of summer sunlight each day than in California wine regions. Gradually cooling autumn temperatures in Washington also help wine grapes reach full maturity, while maintaining desirable acid levels.

Vineyards on the east side of the Cascades grow 99% of Washington’s wine grapes. Seven of the state’s eight official AVA/appellations are located here — the macro appellation of the Columbia Valley encompasses the smaller Yakima Valley AVA, Red Mountain AVA, Walla Walla Valley AVA, Horse Heaven Hills, Wahluke Slope and Rattlesnake Hills (Washington State’s newest appellation). The Columbia Gorge AVA begins at the western edge of the Columbia Valley AVA and continues west and south to areas along the Columbia River in both Oregon and Washington. Two other emerging regions benefit from the huge rain shadow created by the Cascade Mountains, the North-Central Washington region (often referred to as the Columbia Cascade region) and the Lake Chelan area (AVA application in process).

All totaled, Washington wine regions produce more wine grapes than any other state in the U.S., except California. Wine grapes are now the fourth most important fruit crop in Washington State behind apples, cherries and pears. The following wines are in limited distribution. Look for them when in Washington state.

Spring Barrel tasting is your chance to get a jump on tasting and purchasing some of the best wines in wine country. A visit to the Valley on this weekend will allow you to sample yet-unfinished wines from the barrel.

Barrel tasting allows tasters a sneak preview of upcoming vintages from their favorite wineries. This special weekend in the Yakima Valley features winemakers and cellar staff who are on hand to share insights and answer questions on the winemaking process. Many of the 50 participating wineries make special efforts to enhance the wine tasting experience by adding delicious cheeses, sauces, salsas, and even desserts to the mix along with special tastings and education.

As the oldest wine region, or appellation, in Washington State, Yakima Valley has many small wine towns whose residents enjoy sharing a rural lifestyle with visitors. The region produces a wide array of wine varietals grown in vineyards that range from the Yakima Valley to hillside plantings. The three-day barrel tasting allows visitors and locals to leisurely visit the numerous wineries that have made the Yakima Valley region one of the most interesting and prestigious viticultural regions in the country

This is the only Wine Buying Tip you ever need to know!!!

1. Know your store

Every wine shop is different. Different focus, different selections, different pricing structures. Choose the one that works best for you. If you are new to the wine game and every bottle on the shelf is over $50 then you are probably in the wrong place. Look for stores that have either organized wine tastings or have wine available by the glass. What better way to know if you like a wine before buying than to taste it?

2. Have a plan

Have in mind what the wine is for before you are bogged down by numerous regions, prices, etc. Are you looking for a simple wine to serve with dinner or planning a party for twenty? Knowing what you are looking for before you are in the store will help you to make better selections than just walking in and browsing until something strikes your fancy.

3. Don’t be afraid to bring resources

There is a myriad of different sources of information on wine out there and bringing some with you to the store can only help in making an informed decision. Books, magazines, brochures and even, ahem, websites provide valuable information on producers and vintages that it is impossible to keep track of. The difference between a good vintage and a so-so vintage can be the difference in a wonderful wine and a so-so one. Resources such as The Wine Spectator and The Wine Advocate and even yours truly at winegeeks.com offer ratings of individual wines that can be extremely useful when selecting a wine, but remember: just because a wine isn’t rated or has a mediocre score doesn’t mean it is a bad wine. These are guidelines and someone else’s opinion.

4. Survey the land

Don’t get caught in one section of the wine store. While some locales are very well organized, many are not, and the best bargain of the day may be just around the aisle. A quick trip around the shop to gain your bearings might be a good way to make sure that nothing is missed.

5. Develop a relationship with the owner/salesperson

Never be afraid to ask for help or a recommendation. Running into the pushy salesperson may be inevitable, but usually anyone working in the store will share your enthusiasm for the grape and asking what they like may get you a great bottle of wine. Also any salesperson worth their salt can get a feel for what you enjoy after a few trips to the store or even after answering just a few well-placed questions. Return trips and evaluations of what you tried last week can help the salesperson to judge your tastes.

6. Price does not equal quality

While a monstrous price tag may be well deserved for that bottle of 20-year-old Bordeaux, wines today are increasingly priced according to start-up costs for the winery or even the level of investment from outside sources instead of quality or reputation. In fact, wines from the traditional wine growing regions are sure to be higher in price than something from a less known vineyard area regardless of how good the wine is. Use your resources!

7. Look for value regions and 2nd labels

Many wine regions are known for their ability to produce very nice wines at still reasonable prices. Spain, Australia, Argentina and Chile are just a few countries to try. Another option is to try wine from areas just outside of more well known wine growing regions. Instead of the pricey Pomerol in Bordeaux, try Lalande-de-Pomerol. Same grape (Merlot) from just down the road at a much lower price. Also, look for the 2nd labels of more established wineries. These are wines sold under a different label from a quality winery sold at a lower price, a practice quite common in Bordeaux and gaining steam in California.

8. Be willing to experiment

Trying something new can be a great way to learn about new wines and new countries. Try a recommendation from someone at the shop, sample a new region, or even go with the advice of the shelf talking card pinned next to a wine. It may be the best wine that you have ever had!

9. Buy discounted wine

Most shops offer a 10% discount on wine sold by the case, mixed or not. Look for any close-out specials or wines on sale. Because it is half-off doesn’t mean it is terrible. Wines are often sold at what the state dictates, and it may be more than what the market will bear. These may be marked down significantly before the next vintage arrives, and can offer significant savings to the consumer.

10. Buy wine online

My Wines Direct - Holiday Gift Baskets
There are numerous sites that offer online sales of wine. These sites can offer wines at considerably less than your local store or have hard to find rarities. Be forewarned: Many states do not allow point-to-point sales of wine or alcohol. Most sites will list which states they can ship to. This is a contentious issue soon to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, but until then make sure you read the fine print.

Well, there you have it. This is by no means all you need to know when buying wine but it will certainly help you along your way. Use these ten points and the trepidation of wine buying should fade to the bottom of your stomach like the tannins of an old port. It should be loved and looked forward to like shopping for any thing of beauty, like going to the car parts store for your ‘67 Chevy or to the jewelry store on Valentine’s Day. The best part is how much do they have at the jewelry store for less than ten dollars?

Many people think that if they’re going to store wine at home then they need a cellar. But the word “cellar” conjures up images of dark, cavernous chambers cut out of bedrock, or slick, temperature and humidity-controlled rooms lined with mahogany wine racks. All very nice, but not at all necessary. We recommend you interpret “cellar” somewhat loosely.

There are four main things to consider when storing wine: temperature, light, vibration and keeping the cork wet.

Temperature: Both red and white wine likes to be kept cool. 55°F is ideal, but more important than this magic number is that the temperature doesn’t fluctuate. Better a constant 65°F than 40° one day and 80° the next.

Light: Bright light and sunlight can damage wine as it ages in bottle, so the darker the room, the better. Total darkness is easily achieved by simply closing the lid of the case or the closet door.

Vibration: Areas subject to heavy foot traffic (or vacuum cleaners) should be avoided as wine, unlike martinis, should be neither shaken nor stirred.

Keep the cork wet: Laying your bottles down on their sides keeps the wine in contact with the cork, which in turn prevents the cork from drying out. Dry corks contract, allowing air to pass into the wine and wine to leak out. If air gets in, it renders the wine dull and lifeless and it will taste more like old sherry than wine.

If you keep these basic requirements in mind, you’ll find it remarkably easy to find a place to store your wine, and you won’t need a cellar at all. A corner of the basement, a closet in a spare bedroom, your shipping box or the cupboard under the stairs will all do nicely. And remember, the longer you plan to store your wine, the more important these factors become. If a newly-purchased wine is to be drunk in a day or two, it really doesn’t matter too much where you keep it, but if the wine is to be kept for weeks or months then find it a nice cool, dark spot.

Now, some wines require not months but many years, even decades, of bottle aging before they’re ready to drink. This is a small percentage of all the wines made, but nonetheless, it is an important one. Where you store these high quality (and often expensive) wines designed for long aging takes on a special importance if your investment is to be protected. In this case you may want to consider one of the commercially available wine storage units, which come in a variety of sizes and finishes. Another alternative is off-site storage, where you rent a locker in a temperature and humidity-controlled wine storage facility. This option is great for wines that you don’t plan to drink for some years and has the added advantage of being out of reach; a real bonus during those weak moments.

As your collection of wine grows you’ll need to keep track of it. An old-fashioned cellar book where you record each new wine that goes into your cellar and cross them off as you take them out, works just fine. These days, however, there are also numerous cellar software programs that make it easy and fun to manage your wine collection.

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California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world’s finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, it is California where the great majority (up to 90% by some estimates) is produced. California would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world if it were an independent nation.
The early years of California wine

In 1769, Franciscan missionary Father Junípero Serra planted the first California vineyard at Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Father Serra continued to establish eight more missions and vineyards until his death in 1784 and has been called the “Father of California Wine”. The variety he planted, presumably descended from earlier Mexican plantings, became known as the Mission grape and dominated California wine production until about 1880.

California’s first documented imported European wine vines were planted in Los Angeles in 1833 by Jean-Louis Vignes. In the 1850s and 1860s, Agoston Haraszthy, a Hungarian soldier, merchant and promoter, made several trips to import cuttings from 165 of the greatest European vineyards to California. Some of this endeavor was at his personal expense and some through grants from the state. Considered the one of the founders of the California wine industry, Haraszthy contributed his enthusiasm and optimism for the future of wine, along with considerable personal effort and risk. He founded Buena Vista Winery and promoted vine planting over much of Northern California. He dug extensive caves for cellaring, promoted hillside planting, fostered the idea of non-irrigated vineyards and suggested Redwood for casks when oak supplies ran low.

In 1861 Charles Krug established Napa Valley’s first commercial winery in St. Helena.

In 1863, species of native American grapes were taken to Botanical Gardens in England. These cuttings carried a species of root louse called phylloxera which attacks and feeds on the vine roots and leaves. Phylloxera is indigenous to North America and native vine varieties had developed resistance. European vines had no such evolutionary protection. By 1865, phylloxera had spread to vines in Provence. Over the next 20 years, it inhabited and decimated nearly all the vineyards of Europe. Many methods were attempted to eradicate phylloxera but all proved temporary and none economical.

Finally Thomas Munson, a horticulturist in Texas, suggested grafting the European vinifera vines onto American riparia rootsocks. So, there began a long, laborious process of grafting every wine vine in Europe over to American rootstocks. It was only in this manner that the European wine industry could be retrieved from extinction.

In 1879 Captain Gustave Niebaum established Inglenook Winery in Rutherford, California a small village (in Napa County, California). It was the first Bordeaux style winery in the USA. Captain Niebaum’s wines became world renowned. His Inglenook wines won gold medals at the World’s Fair of Paris in 1889.

During the period when the Europeans were contending with phylloxera, the American wine industry was ironically flourishing. By 1900, America had a fully developed and proud commercial wine producing business. Many California wines received medals in European competitions. Barrels of California wine were being regularly exported to Australia, Canada, Central America, England, Germany, Mexico and the Orient.
Prohibition

The destruction of the American wine industry would come not from phylloxeria but from Prohibition in the United States. Thirty-three states had gone dry at the outbreak of World War I. Wartime Prohibition was enacted in 1919, followed by the Volstead National Prohibition Act and the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, forbidding the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors.”

Through a loophole allowing each home to “make 200 gallons of non-intoxicating cider and fruit juice per year,” thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens became home winemakers and bootleggers. Prices for fresh grapes shot up, because of the increased demand and a railroad shortage of refrigerated freight cars in which to ship them.

Growers began replanting fine wine variety vineyards to juice grape varieties that shipped well. The massive plantings produced a constant surplus of low-quality grapes that persisted until 1971.

By the time of National Repeal, effective December 5, 1933, the industry was in ruins. Although some wineries managed to survive by obtaining permits to make wines used for medicinal, sacramental and non-beverage additive purposes, production dropped 94% from 1919 to 1925.
Repeal

Even after Repeal of Prohibition, several states stayed dry: Kansas until 1948, Oklahoma until 1957, and Mississippi until 1966. Seventeen states chose to establish monopoly liquor stores with limited selections. Today 10% of the US area and 6% of the population remain dry.

Anticipating Repeal, speculators and others soon flooded the legal market with quickly and poorly made wine. Dilettantes published books and articles warning Americans about rigid rules that must be followed to serve the proper wine with the proper food from the proper glass at the proper temperature. Faced with low quality products with which to risk committing social blunders and while remaining uncertain about the social acceptance of any alcohol, most Americans stayed away.

The only group of wines that sold well were the fortified dessert wines. Taxed at the lower rate of wine as opposed to distilled spirits, but with 20% alcohol, this group made the cheapest intoxicant available. Before 1920, table wines accounted for 3 of every 4 gallons shipped. After 1933, fortified wines were 3 of every 4 gallons shipped. It wasn’t until 1968 that table wines sales finally overtook fortified wines, regaining the status of most popular wine category.

Before 1920, there were more than 2,500 commercial wineries in the United States. Less than 100 survived as winemaking operations to 1933. By 1960, that number had grown to only 271. California had 713 bonded wineries before Prohibition; it took more than half a century, until 1986, before that many were again operating.

Prohibition left a legacy of distorting the role of alcohol in American life and ruining a fledgling world-class wine industry, which took decades of work to overcome. Research at the University of California at Davis and Fresno State University greatly assisted the new breed of vintners who arrived in California in the 1960s and who were committed to producing wine of the highest international standards.
Wine Revolution

André Tchelistcheff is generally credited with ushering in the modern era of winemaking in California. Beaulieu Vineyards (BV) founder and owner Georges de Latour hired Tchelisticheff in 1938. He introduced several new techniques and procedures, such as aging wine in small French Oak barrels, cold fermentation, vineyard frost prevention, and malolactic fermentation.

Brother Timothy; a member of Congregation of Christian Brothers was also very instrumental in the creation of the modern wine industry. After an earlier career as a teacher, he transferred to the order’s Mont La Salle located on Mount Veeder in the Mayacamas Mountains west of Napa in 1935 to become the wine chemist for the order’s expanding wine operations. The Christian Brothers had grown grapes and made sacramental wine in Benicia, California during Prohibition, but decided to branch out into commercial production of wine and brandy following the repeal of Prohibition. The science teacher was a fast learner and soon established Christian Brothers as one of the leading brands in the state’s budding wine industry; Brother Timothy’s smiling face in advertisements and promotional materials became one of the most familiar images for wine consumers across the country.

In 1965, Napa Valley icon Robert Mondavi broke away from his family’s Charles Krug estate to found his own in Oakville, California. It was the first new large-scale winery to be established in the valley since before prohibition. Following the establishment of the Mondavi estate, the number of wineries in the valley continued to grow, as did the region’s reputation.

Some California wine makers began to produce quality wines but still had difficulty marketing them. Frank Schoonmaker, a prominent journalist and wine writer of the 1950s and 1960s introduced the idea of labeling wines using varietal (Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling) rather than generic names borrowed from famous European regions (Burgundy, Chablis, Rhine, etc.). Robert Mondavi was one of the first to label the majority of his wines by varietal names and was tireless in promoting the practice.

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the quality of some vintners’ wines was outstanding but few took notice. On May 24, 1976, a blind tasting was held in Paris with a panel made up exclusively of French wine experts. After comparing six California Chardonnays with four French Chardonnays, three of the top four were Californian. All nine judges ranked Chateau Montelena the highest; Chalone Vineyard came in third and Spring Mountain Vineyard fourth. When reds were evaluated, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was ranked number one. This competition focused a great deal of attention on wines from the Napa Valley.

The red wines evaluated in 1976 were retasted in two separate blind tastings (the French Culinary Institute Wine Tasting of 1986 and the Wine Spectator Wine Tasting of 1986) and also in the The Wine Rematch of the Century. In all retastings, a California red was chosen first, while the French wines lost positions in the rankings.

In Oz Clarke’s New encyclopedia of Wine, Mr. Clarke writes that California “was the catalyst and then the locomotive for change that finally prised open the ancient European wineland’s rigid grip on the hierarchy of quality wine and led the way in proving that there are hundreds if not thousands of places around the world where good to great wine can be made.” He observes that “until the exploits of California’s modern pioneers of the 1960’s and ’70’s, no-one had ever before challenged the right of Europe’s, and in particular, France’s vineyards, to be regarded as the only source of great wine in the world.”

Fred Franzia and his Bronco Wine Company has caused recent waves in the business of California wine marketing. The company’s low priced Charles Shaw wine which is sold exclusively by Trader Joe’s markets along with the company’s other labels have attracted new entry level wine consumers to the fold but also has alienated many of the smaller vintners in the state by placing some downward pressure on pricing.

Backed by continuing research, California vintners continue to innovate in attempts to further enhance the quality and competitiveness of their products. The story of California wine continues to evolve.