There wasn’t an empty seat in the private room of San Francisco restaurant La Connessa when Cossart Gordon CEO Chris Blandy took the floor to present “A Toast to Independence with Cossart Gordon & Miles Madeira.” It was just one of many stops on a weeklong U.S. tour Blandy undertook to celebrate Madeira’s role in the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
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Acquerello’s Gianpaolo Paterlini finding joy one glass at a time.
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Wines made from old vines have a more powerful phenolic structure, greater aromatic complexity, and more intensity with respect to expressing the characteristics of the vineyards they were sourced from.
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Professionals who consider detecting and identifying aromas part of their stock in trade would be far more confident about their abilities if they had a better understanding of how the senses work together to interpret aromas.
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Anywhere from 1% to 4% of the population is affected by aphantasia, meaning their mind’s eye is effectively blind.
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In 2021, The prestigious Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB) wine competition began using artificial intelligence (AI) developed by Winespace, a Bordeaux-based firm founded by Sylvain Thibaud and Julian Laithier in 2015, as part of its judging protocol as a valueadded feedback mechanism for producers.
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Bubbles are the hallmark of all sparkling wines, and they play a significant role in the cachet that surrounds this category. Even the terms “bubbles,” “mousse,” and “Champagne” elicit a pleasurable response in expert and novice consumers alike.
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According to neuroscientist Camilla Arndal Andersen, how consumers describe the taste of food can be misleading largely due to inherent biases. Among the most problematic is the “courtesy bias,” which comes into play when people respond with what they see as a socially acceptable opinion that doesn’t accurately reflect how they feel. There’s also the “bias blind spot,” in which we think we’re less biased than others. In short, we’re biased about our biases.
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Fog over the Pelletti Vineyard in Laguna Hills, Russian River Valley.
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Of the more than 1,000 compounds that make up wine’s aromatic profile, desirable aromas are represented by a combination of 82 different volatile compounds, only some of which are detectable when present above threshold.
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There’s no question the pandemic has amplified the influence of the experience economy, which gives businesses a potentially lucrative channel for success in an unpredictable market while enhancing their level of direct engagement with consumers.
Read moreA group of professional palates recently gathered for dinner at Auro, the one-Michelin-starred restaurant at the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley in Calistoga, California, for a tasting hosted by Clos de los Siete founder Michel Rolland and managing director Ramiro Barrios to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the estate, located in Argentina’s Uco Valley.
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Gigondas joins Languedoc’s oldest white-wine AOP, Clairette du Languedoc, established in 1948, and Clairette de Bellegarde, a tiny Southern Rhône AOP in the Costières de Nîmes, in showcasing
Clairette, which often serves as the base in Southern Rhône and Languedoc blends.
A wine’s scent is one of the best indications of its quality. The hedonic effects of wine are influenced by hundreds of volatile aroma compounds, making it one of the most complex of food and
beverage products.
Interest in lower-acohol wines is growing among consumers putting producers like Jordan back in the limelight. “Our Bordeaux-style Cabernet and Burgundy-style Chardonnay wines . . . range between 12.6% and 13.8% [alcohol], compared to the California average of 14.5%,” says Jordan winemaker Maggie Kruse. “This represents far more than numbers; lower-alcohol wines have a more balanced flavor profile.”
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Elizabeth Spencer’s Sarah Vandendriessche guides the Napa Valley Vintners’ environmental stewardship committee.
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Let’s introduce novice wine consumers to the sweet wines of the world first and bridge them to dry styles made from the same grape varieties.
Read moreWith the creation of a new Tawny Port and White Port categories in March 2022, bottles sporting a 50-year age[…]
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Biodiversity equals stability was the key message at Siclia’s second international SOStain symposium.
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Wine aromas are t work when we pour a glass of grassy Sauvignon Blanc and feel a deep sense of relief.
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Last December, a like-minded group of winemakers and winegrowers gathered to share the fruits of the labor and celebrate being part of the Slow Wine USA community to mark the release of the seventh edition of the Slow Wine Guide USA.
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Sustainability is a catch-all term that’s tossed around casually to refer to just about anything even remotely related to climate action, resource conservation, and land stewardship. But for Martin Reyes, MW, and the panel of winemakers that joined him for the “Napa Valley’s Green Scene” session at SommCon in San Diego in September, achieving sustainability requires taking concrete steps with the intention of ensuring the viability of the planet, the broader community, and the wines that are grown and produced in Napa Valley well into the future.
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Due to their reputation as vectors for Brettanomyces and their unwelcome presence when discovered swimming in one’s glass, fruit flies have long been viewed as annoying pests by wine drinkers. But as research subjects, they’re surprisingly beneficial: Their brains are teaching us more about how we humans learn to differentiate aromas.
Read moreResearchers have identified compounds responsible for coconut and dried fruit aromas in red grape must and new wine.
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There’s more to wine grape stems than tannin. The discovery of new stem compounds has prompted researchers at the Laboratoire Excell biochemistry lab in Bordeaux to re-evaluate the benefits of including stems during this crucial stage of production.
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No matter one’s knowledge of wine, there is simply no substitute for tasting. For those of us who keep an eye on the world’s ever-evolving wine regions, that means seizing an opportunity to taste as well as to meet the makers.
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For Lonardi, the drying process known as appassimento that’s used to make Amarone produces wines that are expressive of terroir. Researchers studying
the compounds found in Corvina—the indigenous grape that is the foundation of the wine’s blend—agree. Typical markers for Corvina include balsamic and tobacco notes that increase during appassimento, and the presence of these markers in aged wines points to specific vintage conditions.
The winning wines at this year’s competition are memorable for several reasons: The whites were fresher, the rosés crisper, and the red wines seemingly more elegant than I recall them being in 2015.
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Wine culture in Itata Valley, the northernmost of Chile’s three southern wine regions, exemplifies what is known as “evolution in isolation.” Experiencing no phylloxera and only a modest incursion of international grape varieties, this isolated region has held on to its heritage grapes and ancestral winemaking practices seldom found beyond its borders.
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Of the California wineries celebrating their 50th birth year in 2022, six gathered to mark the occasion with a retrospective tasting at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena. Each dazzled us with three wines while reflecting on five decades of harvests and providing a snapshot of their current vintages.
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In an effort to expand my perception beyond my daily work with beverage alcohol, I tackle the evaluation of chocolate and fragrance a few times each year by judging hundreds of products as part of an unpaid panel.
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By now, most informed wine consumers have accepted the fact that sulfur isn’t the root cause of wine-derived headaches and instead place most of the blame on alcohol. Meanwhile, what has been identified as a source of adverse reactions to no- and low-sulfur red wines, particularly by histamine-sensitive consumers, are biogenic amines. What are they and why can they be a problem?
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As a species, we’ve been eating and drinking to intentionally alter our states of perception ever since. For generations, the indigenous peoples of the Congo, Nigeria, and Ghana have used the fruit (and leaves) of Synsepalum dulcificum, a shrub indigenous to West
and Central Africa, in ethnomedicine. The taste-altering properties of this flavorless, bright-red berry—dubbed “the miracle fruit,” it’s about the size of a coffee bean—make for a fascinating sensory experience.
While perceptual learning plays an important role in evaluating wine, there’s another phenomenon related to perception that arises from the wine itself: perceptual interaction. When our olfactory system
is confronted with complex aromas, we often perceive them as a single aroma due to odor blending in a process known as
configural perception (our perception of the smell of coffee as a single aroma is just one of many examples).
After tasting the Piper-Heidsieck Hors-Série 1971 ($499), a rare, late disgorged Champagne that spent 49 years resting peacefully on its lees, I was inspired to delve deeper into the role yeast autolysis plays in the flavor development of sparkling wine.
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Now the days of comparing a
glass of Northern Rhône Syrah to
a strip of peppered bacon appear
to be coming to an end.
Get US Market Ready host Steve Raye talks with Slow Wine Guide USA National Editor Deborah Parker Wong about her journey and work as an educator, journalist and much more. The 2021 Slow Wine Guide USA is available on Amazon.com.
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Walter Schug departed this world in 2015 but his passion for Pinot Noir lives on at Schug Carneros Estate which is celebrating 41 years of devotion to the variety. Axel and Claudia Schug, third generation winegrowers, were joined by chef Kristine Schug and winemaker Johannes Scheid as they presented a retrospective tasting that spanned the past, present and future of the Carneros estate winery.
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What Argentina’s savvy winemakers have known for many decades—that certain vineyards reliably produce superlative wines despite vintage variations—is now scientific fact.
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An infamous rooster named Maurice and a gaggle of contented geese have helped ensure biodiversity in France. In the face of complaints about the noises and smells typical of the countryside, the French Parliament passed a law on January 21, 2021, protecting what it calls the “sensory heritage” of its rural areas.
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As beverage companies experiment with new ways to improve water’s hydrating ability while incorporating additional health benefits, they’ve embraced the use of CBD derived from hemp. Its biphasic properties are similar to those of alcohol in that small doses are uplifting, while larger doses suppress mood and energy.
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The sequence of 400 or so genes that control human olfaction is considered
by geneticists to be unusually diverse among animal species. Until recently,
researchers thought that any deviations resulting from that diversity led to a reduction in perception, but the results of a new sensory study have revealed otherwise.
Deborahparkerwong.com contributor Rex Ting-chia has translated The Multitasking Tongue for our Chinese language readers. You can find the pdf here[…]
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Studying wine without the experience of tasting it in real-world settings such as trade events and seminars is frustrating at best. One elegant solution,
developed by author and educator Evan Goldstein, MS, and his business partner, Full Circle Wine Solutions CEO Limeng Stroh, has quickly become the gold standard of study tools for professionals and consumer enthusiasts.
Chinese translation by Rex Ting-chia Ting, DipWSET Rex Ting-chia Ting, DipWSET has translated Bobal: Past, Present and Future for those[…]
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What can we expect as winegrowers in Australia, Chile, France, and the United
States are increasingly forced to adapt their winemaking practices and styles to account for devastating fire seasons?
Vodcasting is where podcasting is headed. Superb vodcasting relies on the format you use and the quality and reliability of your recording software and internet connection.
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In the search for alternative ways to control grape vine diseases while reducing the use of synthetic herbicides and pesticides, a cadre of modern hybrids—second- and third-generation interspecific varieties— are demonstrating considerable promise in both the vineyard and the glass.
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It’s Sauvignon Blanc—not Grüner Veltliner—that’s the star of the show in Austria’s Südsteiermark DAC, a historic winegrowing region in the country’s southern state of Styria that has evolved rapidly over the last thirty years. The variety is grown at high elevation in all five of Südsteiermark’s sub regions and on steep slopes that rival those of the Mosel.
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Inspired by its striking maritime climate—attributable to the juxtaposition of the San Rafael Mountain and Transverse Ranges to the Pacific coast as well as to its chalky, sandy loam soils—the Miller Family named the site Bien Nacido, which means “well born” in Spanish, and planted it in 1973.
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In keeping with Gago’s practice of tasting verticals of older Penfolds vintages alongside panels of expert tasters, I’ve amended my tasting notes to include the historical perspective documented in Penfolds: The Rewards of Patience. This consummate guide to all things Penfolds provides invaluable hindsight through the lens of the world’s most highly-regarded palates.
Read moreIron Age wineries tamed the ancestor of the indigenous Bobal vines of Utiel-Requena.
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There is no better time to gauge the quality and stylistic range of Sauvignon Blanc than during the only international wine competition devoted solely to the variety: the 2020 Concours Mondial du Sauvignon, which unfolded in Touraine, France, in early March.
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In early February an unprecedented gathering of approximately 200 producers of Barolo and Barbaresco arrived in New York City to present their 2016 and 2017 vintages to the trade. They gathered at Center415 in midtown Manhattan for a walk around-tasting that ran for five hours; a boon for tasters who for once had time on our side.
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When Sonoma’s La Crema Winery turned 40 last year, it celebrated the milestone with a unique exercise: Led by Dr. Henry “Hoby” Wedler, it was easily one of my top sensory experiences of 2019.
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As grape varieties go, it’s fair to say that Alicante Bouschet (Ahlee-KANT Boo-SHAY) is flashy in the vineyard. It’s one of the few—along with Chile’s Carménère and Campania’s Piedirosso— whose leaves turn a deep, brilliant shade as the growing cycle winds down.
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The term petrichor was derived from the Greek words petra (stone) and ichor (the blood of the gods) by researchers Isabel Joy Bear and Richard Thomas in their 1964 paper “Nature of Argillaceous Odour” to describe the scent of rain.
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Although we understand the physiology of the olfactory epithelium, the organ where volatile aroma compounds are converted in to the electrochemical signals that we perceive as aromas, smell or olfaction is still largely a mystery. For example, we have 400 types of olfactory receptors but we don’t know which volatile aroma compounds activate the majority of them.
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Ask Jack Daniel’s enthusiasts what they like most about their preferred whiskey and the term “consistency” comes up time and[…]
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The recuperation of New Mexico’s wine industry began in earnest when Italian, German, and French viticulturists brought their expertise to the state in the 1980s. Winegrowing in New Mexico continues to be influenced by these modern-day founding fathers, their families and a host of young winegrowers who are quickly elevating the quality and style of the region’s wines.
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Young winemakers in New Mexico are leveraging the wisdom of the region’s winegrowing founding fathers and creating some buzz for[…]
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Among our many activities, wine professionals devote a considerable amount of time to perception, the state of being where we become aware of something through the senses.
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When winemaker Andrea Lonardi took the stage at September’s Full Circle Beverage Conference in San Francisco to present a tasting[…]
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It was an oxygen epiphany. Could oxygen be the key to making wines that shimmer with life? I, for one, have now added it to the long list of factors that may determine whether a wine seems dead or alive.
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In a rare tête-a-tête, The SOMM Journal joined Didier Depond, President of the Champagne houses Salon and Delamotte, for an[…]
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When wine professionals encounter a sensory deviation in wine and the offending molecule isn’t obvious, cork often takes the blame by default.
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Cobbles reminiscent of the kind you find in the Southern Rhône aren’t the first thing you typically encounter in a Napa Valley vineyard. At Game Farm vineyard, owned and managed by Alex Vyborny and son Ben, it’s what differentiates their site from many others in Oakville. That cobbled terroir drew Goosecross Cellars winemaker Bill Nancarrow who sources fruit for the independent C. Elizabeth brand to the site like a bee to honey.
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While the level of residual sugar plays a role in the finished style of a wine, the color of all[…]
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Seventy eight lots of barrel-selected 2016 Pinot Noir and three collaborative lots of Chardonnay were auctioned by the Willamette Valley[…]
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Considering the benefits of spending more on wine. Luxury wine brands rank among a handful of product categories that are[…]
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From grapes desiccated by noble rot in the Tokaj wine region of Hungary burst forth a plethora of traditional and[…]
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When it comes to wine storage, old habits are hard to break. But Dr. Paulo Lopes, Research and Development Manager[…]
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With millions of unknown species existing in a ton of soil, biologist Edward Osborne Wilson has called bacteria “the dark[…]
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While researching the current popularity of blended wines in preparation for a talk at the 2017 International Bulk Wine and Spirits[…]
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Sicily’s native grapes and the dawn of Italian wine culture.
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Primary wine flavors (the combination of aromas and tastes) come from the grape variety itself and are almost always fruity except when they’re not. Secondary aromas are those associated with post-fermentation winemaking and include yeast, lees, yogurt, cream, butter or cheese and a full spectrum of flavors derived from oak. Tertiary flavors are defined as deliberate oxidation, fruit development, bottle age or any combination thereof.
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If you’re keeping tabs on wine quality in Southern Italy with its myriad indigenous grape varieties and oftentimes limited access to distribution, this update on the Sannio DOC should prove to be useful. Through a combination of research trips to Campania and the opportunity to judge the Radici del Sud “Roots of the South” wine competition which has been held in different venues in the town of Bari, Puglia since 2006, it provides a look at the key factors for the region and a snapshot of wine quality.
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In more ways than one, Champagne has begun infiltrating wineries in Sonoma and Napa counties. With several unprecedented examples that include Napa cult wine producer Sinegal launching its brand in conjunction with a prestige Champagne house, Sonoma’s Buena Vista Winery–branded Champagne and the unique partnership between Jordan Winery and the grower Champagne house of AR Lenoble, there’s a trend in the making.
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Pyrazines—too much of a good thing and they’re a fault; absent in varieties like Sauvignon Blanc and they leave something[…]
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Many who consider the sensory evaluation of wine to be a purely subjective exercise cite our differences in perception as[…]
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Minerality — Without question the most controversial and elusive of wine descriptors. This comes as no surprise given that the[…]
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There’s no question that glassware can alter our perceptions of wine. It’s a phenomenon experienced by every resourceful consumer who[…]
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Humans are particularly sensitive to bitterness. Thanks to a small but novel family of 30 genes, we can perceive thousands[…]
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Wine is, for the most part, water and ethanol which in turn become vehicles for the minor components that are[…]
Read moreThe dust has settled after a flurry of restaurant openings in San Francisco last fall. Taking stock at the[…]
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When applied to wine grapes and to beef, the artisanal process of drying to concentrate and increase the complexity of[…]
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Both the French and the Brits are drinking less Champagne, but America’s obsession with bubbles is growing. Sales of Champagne in[…]
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Brand creator David Ravandi, founder of 123 Organic Tequila, found success by staying one step ahead of the premiumization curve.[…]
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