Drink This Now Lesson 2:
For this experiment, my girlfriend and I got a viognier and a zinfandel from California
White Wine Sinff-a-rama:
Shot Glass: I don't get many notes from the wine in the shot glass. I can smell a faint fruity/vegetal note, but I can't put my finger on it. There is maybe a slight grapey character, but it's really hard to tell.
Rocks Glass: Right off the bat, I can smell more of the wine from this glass. I can now smell gravel or stone-like aromas coming from the wine with some vegetal notes backing it up. There isn't as much fruit from this glass as I was expecting.
Water Glass: The fruit notes have now been turned up while the stoney notes have been turned down slightly. I think I can smell some ripe tropical fruits mixed with some green apples, but they are faint. Overall the wine is much less pungent in this glass.
Flared Smaller Wine Glass: Now the aromas of the wine are striking a balance between the stone-like characteristics and the fruity characteristics I was finding before. The grapey smell from the shot glass is also brought back into the fold but is now supplemented with what seems like ripe pineapples. The stone is still toned down from the level it was at in the rocks glass, but it is still noticeably present.
Flared Larger Wine Glass: With this glass, the pineapple notes now take center stage and the stone notes are right there to follow. With this new glass, since I can get more of the wine coating the sides of the glass, I can even pick up on how much acidity it seems like the wine has just from smelling it.
White Wine Drinking Time:
Shot Glass: Upon giving this wine another sniff, I find myself having a hard time picking out any aromas from the wine after having sniffed the wine from the other glasses. Upon tasting it out of this glass, the wine itself tasted just like lemon juice mixed with water. I was able to pick up on the acidity of the wine, but not any of the other notes I was able to pick up on from sniffing the other glasses.
Flared Smaller Wine Glass: On the nose the second time around, I am able to pick up on the pineapple notes I picked up the first time as well as the stone notes. Just like the shot glass, smelling this wine after the flared large wine glass seems to have slightly muted the nose from the first time I smelled from this glass. Upon tasting the wine, I am able to pick up on the acidity that I found in the shot glass instantly, but there is now more flavor mixed in with the lemon I was picking up on before. I'm able to pick out notes of green apples and stones. There may be some other vegetal notes present, but they are a little hard to pick out.
Flared Larger Wine Glass: On the nose this time around, the stone aromas have taken center stage and are backed up by some vegetal notes that are somewhat musty. The ripe pineapple still comes out, but it has receded slightly. Upon tasting the wine, the acidity is still present but at levels that are much lower than any of the other glasses so far. In this glass, the wine has become much more savory The same lemon flavors from the previous glasses are still present, but you have to go searching to find them. After tasting it a couple times, the pineapple shows up again on the palate.
Red Wine Siff-a-rama:
Shot Glass: When sniffing from the shot glass, much like for the white wine, there aren't many notes that I can easily pick out. I am able to smell some notes that smell vaguely of baking spices but there isn't much else I can pick up on.
Rocks Glass: Upon sniffing the wine from this glass, I can narrow down the general baking spices I found in the shot glass to something along the lines of cinnamon. I can also pick up on some slight jammy notes that remind me of either blackberries or raspberries.
Water Glass: Right off the bat when smelling this wine it is noticeably sweeter smelling than the rocks glass. From this glass, the wine smells like either a blackberry jelly or glaze. The cinnamon and baking spices are still slightly present, but the major smell I'm getting is the jammy fruit.
Flared Smaller Wine Glass: When smelling the wine out of this glass, the fruit notes come out in full force again, but they are much less jammy this time. The sweetness is turned down but there are still some jammy notes present. The baking spices are back and more upfront than the water glass.
Flared Larger Wine Glass: Out of this glass, the sweet and jammy characteristics are back more so than the raw blackberry smell. The cinnamon and baking spices are still present in this glass, but I think they've again taken a step back compared to the jammy smells.
Red Wine Drinking Time:
Shot Glass: When smelling the wine from this again, there isn't anything new present on the nose. Upon tasting it from this glass, the wine is extremely tannic with some slight acidity. I am able to pick up on some fruit flavors, but it's hard to discern what kind of fruit I'm tasting.
Flared Smaller Wine Glass: The nose of the wine from this glass is pretty much the same as before. There might be a hint of more acidity from the wine on the nose, but that could be a result of this wine following the shot glass in the tasting order. Upon tasting this wine, I am hit with a wave of tannins and some slight acidity. The fruity and jammy notes I found earlier in the nose don't seem to be as present on the palate.
Flared Larger Wine Glass: On the nose, like before, sweet and jammy aromas are present. There may be a new hint of tannic aromas to the wine, but they are very slight. Upon tasting this wine from the large glass, the illusion of the sweet flavors disappears and I'm met with a tannic taste cushioned by some slight fruit flavors. Some slight acid follows all of these flavors out the door as they leave the palate.
Warmed Red Experiment: Upon smelling the wine from the smaller flared glass it smells pretty much the same as it did before. I smell the slight jammy notes along with the overwhelming smell of fresh blackberries and baking spices. The newly warmed large wine glass still has some of the sweet notes that set it apart from the other glass, but it has a new focus on the baking spices with a slightly musty note that has come along. Upon giving it another smell, the wine has some more jammy notes present than before, but there is still a slight must note. When tasting the wine from the smaller flared glass, the notes remain identical. there is a wave of tannin followed by slight acid. There are slight fruit notes present, but they are not easily discernable. When tasting from the warmed-up large glass, the tannins are almost nonexistent. The lack of tannins allows the wine to open up and show off the fruit flavors that I was able to pick up on from the nose but not taste in the other glasses. There is still some acid present, but the wine's blackberry notes are able to shine.
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| A picture of me warming my wine while deep in thought |
