Today’s question was sent in from Tom from Tottenville (Staten Island, NY) who asks “Where does the dryness in wine comes from?”.
Part 1: Dryness in Red wines
Part 2: Dryness in White wines
Video sum up: Where does the dryness in wine comes from?
In red wines the dryness is the result of tannins.
“The tannins in wine are from two sources: firstly from the grape seeds, skins and stems, and secondly from the oak barrels (typically Quercus petraea or “French oak”) in which wine is made.” (Wikipedia)
Over time the tannins allow the wine to mature.
In white wines essentially it is the absence of sugar.
Wine like Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay are dry because they don’t have a lot of sugar.
Today’s question was sent in by Mindie from lower Manhattan who asks “Why should you use a decanter and how do you choose a decanter?”.
Video sum up: Why should you use a decanter and how do you choose a decanter?
Basically, a decanter is a device in which you pour wine.
Why / When should you use a decanter?
It is a lot of a ceremony, it looks nice and it is a special container for special wines
If a wine is old it is going to have sediments in it. When you decant a wine try to leave the sedminents in the bottle
If a wine is young it needs aeration and decanting is a good way to provide this aeration
How to choose a decanter?
When you choose your decanter make sure your decanter:
is stable,
is easy to hold
has a wide mouth in order to easily pour the wine in it
When you have a decanter which respect these three practical criteria, your choice will be based on aesthetic and how much you would like to spend. Decanter could cost from a couple of bucks to hundreds of dollars.
You could find a selection of decanter here for example.
Today’s question is from Boo in Edinburgh (Scotland) who asks “Is Dom Perignon REALLY better than mid range Champagne such as Veuve Clicquot?”.
Video sum up: Is Dom Perignon REALLY better than mid range Champagne such as Veuve Clicquot?
Althought Dom Perignon is considered as one of the best Champagne in the world it is NOT better than any other Champagne because in the end it all comes down to your personal taste.
Dom Perignon is exquisite, it can age and it’s prestigious. But every Champagne is different.
Every Champagne is mainly made of a combination of three grapes:
Pinot Noir,
Pinot Meunier
Chardonnay
So every Champagne will taste different and will appeal to different individuals.
The big difference between Dom Perignon and other Champagne is that all Dom Perignon Champagne are always vintage dated. Vintage dating happened when a vintage, an harvest is considered of a certain quality. Dom perignon only bottles when there is an harvest of this quality.
Dom Perignon if you can get it, drink it. But also try Champagne from small winemakers which are sometimes less expensive but still very good.
Today’s question is from Patrick in New Rochelle who asks “How many aromas and flavors can we really distinguish through our nose and palate?”.
Video sum up: How many aromas and flavors can we really distinguish through our nose and palate?
Basically there are four flavors that we can taste:
bitterness
saltiness
sourness
sweetness
Everything else is about your nose and your ability to memorize specific odors or aromas
If you read wine description you will see everything from fruits (pineapple, blackberry, cherry,…) to peppers or even to more man made smells like asphalt, milk chocolate ice cream…
Jeremy recommands you to spend time smelling wine and smelling the things around you like wood, your car or a baby diaper (!). Also use tasting notes to discover the nomenclature of terms used to describe wine.
Finally you can smell hundreds of things in wine, it is really up to you and your experience.