WINE 101

Great wine requires a mad man to grow the vine, a wise man to watch over it, a lucid poet to make it, and a lover to drink it. ​~Salvador Dali

​He who knows how to taste,

does not drink wine but savors secrets

~Salvador Dali

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Wine is more notable than liquid in a glass to be imbibed.

      It goes beyond measured pours, how to hold your

stemware, choosing the proper decanter, or high-end

rarified glasses. It's not about the predictability and

consistency of commercial efficiency or a market-driven

storyboard's power of suggestion. It's surely not about the

articulate savoir-faire of an oenophile, the subjective

adroit 20-point sensory analysis of sommeliers, or the

persnickety—splashy wine pairing of gourmands and wine

connoisseurs. 


     Each sip conveys more than flavors and aromas--

behind each bottle is a hidden song that lingers on your

palate, murmuring a songstress's sense of somewhereness.

Compelling you, to take up its wonderous tale of "Le Goût

​Du Terroir" and savor its narrative.  

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A lyrical poem is planted through a meticulous process known as viniculture.

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​Each bottle is a vessel influenced by a subtle

equilibrium rooted in the strand of land, whence it

developed. Balanced by the un-orchestrated climatic

conditions, its sleepless soil to somniate under the sun

and stars, steeped by the unending blue's wayward

weight of well- or ill-timed release of its rounded rivulets,

and the vintner's virtuosic motions of labor, listening to

​the weave of its every element.   

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Wine is imbued with a sense of land that no other beverage can match. The process of brewing and distilling alters its ingredients, ensuring no single ingredient expresses any inherent terroir. Fermentation done right, reflects the patch of ground from out of what vineyard it came from. Casting a sort of climatic memoir of what year it was conceived, and depicts the soul of the man who created it.

The ever-repeated sum of its configuration is captured in 25-ounce time capsules that hold its history in liquid form.

Every wine is a courtship of a delicate biochemical dance...

... between yeast and fructose.

(Mingling in the equanimous murmurs of unstrung melodies,

concerting the enigma of its metabolic rhythm,

oscillated in overture,

wrapped in the recital of its serenade,

imbued in its idiosyncratic notes.

Imprinted in its melodious exchange, it became a poem.)

Thus, converting into alcohol; forming the very soul of the wine through

​a transformative journey called fermentation. 

     Its love language (unique aroma, distinctive taste, and personality) all rest on its behind-the-scenes specificities (type

of yeast, temperature maintained, and duration of fermentation.) As the fledgling wine's language is allowed to mature

(imbibing the exchange of its ingredients and storage of choice,) while shedding its youthful exuberance, its language

​becomes refined. Enabling it to envelop its complexities (texture, flavor, profile.)

Alachua

Muscadine Grapes

Noble

Muscadine Hybrids

Floriana

Carlos

Welder

Scuppernong Grapes

Scuppernong are muscadines but not all muscadines are scuppernong. Scuppernongs are a bronze or greenish variety of muscadine.

Triumph

Magnolia

Scuppernong

Hybrid Bunch Grapes

Blanc Du Bois

Miss Blanc

Blanc Du Soleil

Stover

Conquistador

Suwannee

Wine--a modest four-lettered word. Yet, transcends language and is noted to be "bottled poetry."

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​    Poetry is an expressive form of literary art that doesn't follow the conventional

rules of writing. Its boundaries are limitless and grammar in essence is thrown to

the wind. Poetry's sole purpose is to allow a writer to create without the fear of

being grammatically correct. Permitting us to turn away from the world of sensible

things and to journey through the poetic landscape of nonsensical wordplay. If

written decently, readers will be left trying to analyze its obscurity. Like wine, it's a

guessing game. 

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After all, if once something was not at all; would it ever have been if not for ​the nonsense of man?

A bottle of good wine, like a good act, shines ever in retrospect ~Robert Louis Stevenson

​The Seven S's of Wine Tasting

SEIZE the

​ STEMWARE

Holding a glass by the stemware is about more than etiquette. Aside from looking elegant, keeping your fingers around the stem rather than the bowl will prevent your body temperature from increasing the temperature; keeping the wine cooler longer.

 SEE

What's the color?
Is it intense or dull?
Is the wine...
clear or cloudy?
pale or dense?
thin or viscous?
 Does the wine cling to the sides of your glass when you tip and turn back upright?

SWIRL

By the stem gently swirl the glass in a circular motion. 
​Allow wine to slowly move around glass without splashing or spilling. 
This lets the wine aerate (breathe.) 

SNIFF

What does it smell like?
​Are the aromas pronounced or faint?

SIP

What does it taste like?
​Are the flavors pronounced or faint?
​Does the wine make your mouth dry or salivate?
is it...
sweet or acidic 

SWISH

Slightly move the wine around inside of your mouth.  Roll it on the palate. Draw in a wince of air as it sits on your tongue. 

SAVOR

Sit back and enjoy its nuances. 
Do you like it?
​How would you describe the wine?
What does it remind you of?

Wine is a passport to the world. ~Thom Elkjer

We all live in different perceptual universes.

     Tastes are subjective and our sensory experiences are uniquely our own.  With

nearly a million variations of how hundreds of our receptors are activated, to

determine what flavor we perceive. It is an understatement that taste is different

from one person to the next. 

The stimulation of flavor is a multimodal sense...

        ...wherein the intricate interplay of taste, smell, touch, vision, hearing, mood, and hormones coalesce to create a

unified sensation of flavor. Numerous factors influence our perception of taste, often without our conscious awareness.

For example, stimuli such as dim lighting can decrease the intensity of flavors, while higher-pitched music enhances

sweet and sour compounds, and lower-pitched sounds enhance bitter ones. Stress can reduce the ability to detect sweet

sensations and increase the intensity of bitterness. Depending on how many taste receptor cells (gustatory cells) you have

​on your tongue, amount of saliva, or type of bacteria in your mouth can reduce or enhance how desirable something is.    ​​

Taste exists merely in the mind which contemplates them.

     Individual taste is like a private realm, with its own dialect. Where our

idiosyncrasies freely flourish. Many a wine snob will look down their nose,

projecting their snobbery snobbisms of indifference. Shaming you for enjoying what

you like or dislike. Thusly, setting that distinct language of your personal perception

adrift. Till your taste no longer knows which language they are thinking. Lost in

punctiliousness, you pretend wine is something else. Bear in mind, that snobbery is

inversely proportional to the limited capacity to truly appreciate something

divergently different.  No one should undermine the interpretation of your personal

taste's dialogue.  It thwarts impulse and prospects of stumbling upon stimulating

organoleptic epiphanies. It suppresses curiosity and the serendipity of finding the

hidden song only you can hear. Wine tasting should be what it ought to be. To

engage in the ever-ongoing exploration of your palate. To immerse all of your

senses. Evaluating each and every bottle's felicitous characteristics and comparing

​their unique qualities; all with the intent of finding something you'll love. 

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Fermentologists' utmost desire is to express a wine's identity, embodying the essence of the vine and differentiate it from others... all in hopes an imbiber finds it irresistibly palatable.

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SERVING TEMPERATURE

Temperature affects (for better or worse) the aromas and flavors of a wine.

Cold temperatures diminish notes, emphasizing the wine’s acidic and tannic structure.   As the wine warms up, it can

​come across as more aromatic, its acidity is masked and promotes the wine’s alcohol, sweet, bitter, and sour notes. 

Sparkling Wines


​Well chilled to 43-45°F (6-7°C) lower temperature slows the release of bubbles and encourages the fruit

aromas to linger.

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Sweet Wines


Well-chilled 43°F to 45°F (°6 to 7°C) lower temperatures mask the sweetness, mutes the aromatics, and

​promote the acidity (sharper acidity will feel) making the wine's body seem less full.

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White and Rosé Wines (light - medium-bodied.)  


​Chilled 45°F to 50°F (7° to 10°C) When wine is too cold, its aromas and flavors are harder to enjoy. ​

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White (medium - full-bodied)  oaked


​Lightly-Chilled 50°F to 55°F (10° to 15°C) ​

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Red Wines (light-bodied)
 

​55°F (13°C). Reveal their richness when served at cooler room temperatures. ​

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Red Wines (medium - full-bodied) 
 

​55° to 60 °F (13° to 16°C). Room temperatures higher than this are a little too warm.

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Types of Wine Glasses

Red Wine Glasses

White Wine Glasses

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Dessert / Fortified Wine Glasses

Sparkling Wine Glasses

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Misc. Wine Glasses

Rosé Wine Glasses

“Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words.” – Plautus

Drinking Expressions:

Blow-Off: When a newly opened bottle releases odd smells like sulfur, and other gaseous odors it is or needs to ‘blow-off’. This can also mean that the wine seems high in alcohol.

Bottle Shock: After a bottle of wine travels a long distance or is bottled, then quickly reopened, it can go a period without giving off aroma or flavor.

Butter Bomb: Over-oaked Chardonnay

Come of Age: A specific wine region that suddenly comes on-trend. For use as a sarcastic retort: It was no good until (re)discovered by critics and hipsters.

Cult Wine: A wine with a following. Enthusiasts flock to buy a certain wine, raising the prices and making it harder to find.

Entry Level: A winemaker's ‘tease’. A winemaker will make an affordable bottle, getting a customer hooked and hoping they’ll move up a tier level.

Flying Winemaker: A winemaker who travels to other regions, making wine and doing consultations.

International Variety: Grapes are picked from every continent where grapes are grown.

Late Harvest: Extra-ripe grapes are used, they are typically picked later in the season. This usually produces a sweeter wine.

Lay it Down: means to let the wine age.

Let it Breathe: Let it decant, the fruit flavors will soften and it will open up.

Pop and Pour: The wine doesn't need to be decanted, it's ready to pour straight from the bottle.

Wine is Hot: High in alcohol- so much so that you can smell the alcoholic fumes.

Tastings:

Horizontal Tasting: Tasting different bottles of the same variety of wine, vintage, and region.

Vertical Tasting: Tasting bottles from different years, but made by the same winery.

“Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection" ~Ernest Hemingway

Vintage: Vint stands for winemaking and Age for the year it was made. "Wine grapes" growth cycle takes an entire year to produce rip fruit. The year listed on the label is when the grapes were picked and made into wine.

Non-Vintage (NV): Occasionally, you’ll find a wine without a year listed on the label. Typically, this is a blend of several vintages together; and in the case of Champagne, it will be labeled with “NV.”

“Wine is the most delicious, stimulating, varied and infuriatingly complicated drink in the world.” ~Jancis Robinson (wine critic)

Harvest Season:

The Northern Hemisphere (Europe, US) is from August–September

The Southern Hemisphere (Argentina, Australia) is from February–April