The taste of a wine depends not only on the grape species and varietal blend, but also on the ground and climate (known as terroir) where it is cultivated.
About California Wine Varieties
Like the romantic relationships portrayed in the “Sideways” movie, Pinot Noir can be complex, elusive, and difficult to grow. Yet many a winemaker will make Pinot Noir because the resulting wines can reap a reward as great as the challenge. This noble red wine variety is ancient, described by Romans in 100 A.D. and cultivated in the Burgundy region of France as early as the 4th century. Pinot Noir is prone to genetic variation, and has more clones than any other variety. The University of California, Davis, has some 100 registered Pinot Noir clones. The variety does well in the coolest growing areas for color and flavor development.
Merlot is one of the principal winegrape varieties of the Bordeaux region in France, and was brought to California in the mid- 19th century. Historically, vintners have used Merlot as a blending grape to soften a wine, usually with Cabernet Sauvignon. Merlot tannins are less forceful than Cabernet Sauvignon, so Merlot wine tends to mature earlier. Merlot is now primarily popular as a varietal wine, experiencing a 4.5 percent increase in 2004 food store volume, compared to the previous year. Most of the Merlot vines are planted in Lodi/San Joaquin County, followed by Napa, Sonoma and Monterey counties.
Sauvignon Blanc is a noble grape variety that produces some of the world’s most popular wines. In California, the wineries label their products as Sauvignon Blanc or Fumé Blanc. The wines have a range of distinctive tastes from citrus, green olive and herbaceous characteristics to a range of fruit flavors—green apple, grapefruit, pineapple, fig and melon. The flavor styles come from the Sauvignon Blanc grape itself but are also the expression of the climate, soil, vineyard practices and winemaking techniques. Sauvignon Blanc is often blended with other varietal wines, particularly Semillon, which adds a honeyed note to the wine. Generally, the wines are crisp, light, fresh and dry. A versatile food match, it pairs well with chicken, seafood, mildly spiced ethnic dishes and more.
Syrah is a noble grape variety that can produce some serious, long-lived red wines. The usual aroma and flavor descriptors include blackberry, cassis, black pepper, smoke, as well as dry, dark and tannic. Through DNA testing, Syrah has shown to be a cross of a black variety, Dureza, and a white variety, Mondeuse, both with origins in France’s Rhône region and earlier fabled origins in the Middle East. Today, the most acreage is in San Luis Obispo County with 2,300 acres, followed by Sonoma County, 1,850 acres, and San Joaquin County, 1800 acres. Syrah’s grape crush of 101,249 tons in 2004 accounted for about 3.6 percent of the total state’s winegrape crush.
Chardonnay is California’s most widely planted winegrape, with 96,000 acres reported in 2004. Chardonnay by far and away remains the most popular wine in the U.S. and has continued to be the leading varietal wine for the last decade, with sales increases every year. Chardonnay represented an estimated 26 percent of California’s table wine volume shipped to the U.S. market in 2004. Fans of Chardonnay are familiar with the wine’s usual descriptors: green apple, fig and citrus flavors, a complex aroma, and high acidity for a crisp wine. The wine is often aged in oak to produce toasty, vanilla and buttery overtones.
Zinfandel was introduced to California during the Gold Rush somewhere between 1852 and 1857 and became widely planted because it thrived so well in the state’s climate and soil. A majority of the grapes are used for White Zinfandel—Red Zinfandel accounts for a 2% share of the total 160 million cases of California table wine volume shipped to the U.S. and White Zinfandel holds a 14% share. Popular descriptors for this red wine include blackberry, raspberry, boysenberry, cherry, as well as black pepper, cloves, anise and herbs.
Sparkling wine/champagne ranges in style from very dry (Natural), dry (Brut), and slightly sweet (Extra Dry) to sweet (Sec and Demi-Sec). (Wines with no noticeable sweetness are described as “dry.”) Many sparkling wines/champagnes are also identified as “Blanc de Blancs” (wines made from Chardonnay grapes), “Blanc de Noirs” (wines produced from black grapes), or rosé or pink sparkling wine/champagnes (small amount of red wine added to the blend or wine that is allowed brief skin contact with color-laden grapeskins).
Wine Tasting Tips
The best way to improve wine tasting ability is to taste as much wine as possible, on a regular basis. When tasting, make notes of the following characteristics of the wine:
Colour: what is the colour of the wine? Does its colour give any indication of age or maturity? Young white wines are often pale in colour while older white wines take on a colour of straw or can even be golden. Young red wines can be dark and opaque purple while older red wines can taken on a red brick or even amber hue, particularly at the rim of the glass.
Nose: what distinct aromas does the wine have? How intense are they?
Any wine can have many different aromas and the best will often have a complex collection. As your knowledge of different wine grape varieties increases, so will your ability to identify different aromas and which belong to each grape.
Do not rush the smelling of the wine. The aroma of the wine, which in most wines corresponds to its flavour, is one of the most important aspects of tasting a wine. It tells the taster about most aspects of the wine's quality.
Palate: is the wine acidic? Is it tannic? Are the tannins fine or are they hard and difficult to drink? Is the wine light, medium or full bodied? What does the wine taste like and how intense are those flavours? How alcoholic is it? Is the wine dry or sweet? How long does it persist in the mouth after tasting?
To assess the palate of a wine is to look at its structure: sugar, tannin, acid, alcohol and intensity of flavours. Ideally, these structural attributes should balance each other, except in wines designed to be out of balance (such as Barolo, which is very tannic and acid, and Rutherglen Muscat, which is very sweet with low acid).
