WINE TASTING

Tasting Experience of a Bordeaux wine

The wine I chose for my wine tasting experience is a 2013 Bordeaux wine. This is an example of a classic red wine with French origins. Having not engaged in professional wine tasting often before, this was another unique experience for me as it gave me another chance to take a shot at aptly describing wine by really tasting it rather than the casual drinking I, just as many other people, am used to.

Just like any other formal wine tasting encounter, the initial step is to have a look at the wine and make inferences on its color and smell. A small pour of the wine in the glass and tilting the glass at an angle allowed me observe the wine against a stark white background. The Bordeaux showed a significant deep, almost black color. This clearly attests to the fact that the Bordeaux is a red wine. Also, on closer observation of the legs of the wine, there was no great clinging effect as I had hoped for the wine. This gave me the idea that the wine had not great, but significant alcoholic content.

Swirling the contents of the wine glass I learnt was meant to accentuate the aroma of the wine’s contents. On bringing the glass closer to my nose, I inferred a profound fruity smell. I could make out aromas resembling blackcurrant, red cherry and somewhat a mix of raspberry smell. But also that fruity grapes smell of this quite aged wine suggests that its aroma is a bouquet. The next step was taking a mouthful of the wine and sloshing it around the insides of my mouth, then as I learnt, spitting the wine so as to make good judgements.

According to Zraly’s 60 seconds technique, the first quarter of the minute after having a sip of the wine is spent on discerning the sweetness. The Bordeaux wine in my possession had a stark fruit sensation in my mouth, probably because of the grapes and other mix of aromas I had anticipated. But it also left quite a strong acidic taste suggesting the high acidity of typical red wines.

By the 30th second, I could feel the fruity sensation had increased. It also had a pleasant sweet taste thanks to its above average alcoholic content, and that was coupled with the high acidity and mild bitterness of the tannins. By this time, I could make strong suggestions that this wine had great semblance of a full-bodied red wine.

By the 45th second, I definitely liked the wine. This is especially because by this time, its contents had all started to balance out; the alcohol, the acidity, the sweetness and the tannins. In the mouth, it is heavy in a good way further enhanced by the complexity of its aromas.

By the 60th second, I could still feel the sweetness of the mouth still linger in my mouth though remotely. It definitely had a great finish as it its fruity sensation lasted that long.

In general, this was a great quite aged red wine and I would definitely recommend it to somebody else looking for something great and heavy to blow the evening away. In particular, I would recommend pairing bold this red Bordeaux with many sea food dishes such as a serving of squids, Taco or Paella. Also this wine would do great when paired with red meat or even some great lamb with strong cheese (Food and Wine Pairing, 2017).

References

Food and Wine Pairing. ( 2017). Pair Wine to Food. Food and Wine Pairing. Retrieved from http://www.foodandwinepairing.org/food_pairing_board.html.