Characteristcs of Red Wine

Color: From red to purple. The more blue or purple the younger the wine. Orange or bricky color denotes age.

Fruit: From red fruits to dark bramble fruit. Older wines tend to be lacking fruit.

Tannins: When they are young they are rough, an almost tactile sensation in the mouth. The harsh ones are from the seed and stems. The softer tannins are from oak. Harsh tannins can be softened with careful winemaking during the macerations period (skin contact);

Leather flavors in aged red wine are to be expected. Leather tends to be more pronounced once the fruit has fades.

Tobacco - along with cedar and leather are a product of well aged tannins.

Astringency: Different than tannins, this is the drying out of the mouth. It is due to acidity.

Off Flavors and Smells:

• Wet cardboard - Corked wine
• Wet horse blanket - Brett, a common bacterial spoilage, in smaller concentrations is more like dirt than merde.
• Slight sparkle - If it is slight it is dissolved CO2, if it is accompanied by a wet forest floor smell, than it is Malo-Lactic fermentation in the bottle.

Wine Making Flavors:

Malo-Lactic Fermentation - the process of changing the sharp malic acid (in apples) into the softer lactic acid (in milk). The process also leaves the by product DIACETYL, the taste of butter.

Carbonic Maceration (CM) - This is a quck way of making wine that results in fruity wines with no tannin and only slight varietal character. Strawberries, bananas, and raspberries, as well as cotton candy sweetness in the nose are typical.

Oak - If it is complex with cloves and woody spices, it is French oak. If it is forward with vanilla, it is American Oak. If it is musty, it is from old barrels.

Oxidation - Caramel and a dark, plum smell (Port). Light orange hues are another hint.

Blending - While not always obvious, a wine that tastes complex may have been blended wtih several grape varieties.

Climatic Characteristics:

Hot weather - A deep rich flavor lacking in acidity or bright fruit. The hotter the region the more flabby (less acidic) the wines tend to be. Because of the overripe fruit, and the propensity to oxidize hot fruit, the color tends towards brown shades of red.

Cool weather - Long cool growing conditions pronounce the fruit and the acidity. Tannins and color are low.

Temperate weather - If it is not too hot nor too cool, the ideal grape variety are thsoe wtih long growing seasons, but thick skins to protect the fruit. Tannin and color are products of the grape skin.