hey, glad to see your reply. It really a lot of help to me.
can you further enlighten me why burning is not so good? Also, if we try different bottle, we will taste different taste, and we might not know what are the better one? Seriously, they all taste so same or different that i really cant tell the "good" or "bad".
ok so u got a couple of questions:
Alcohol burning:
Wine is different of other alcoholic drinks like vodka or tequila etc. it's not supposed to burn. if it burns or when u smell u get a shot of burning alcohol up your nose it means the wine is not balanced. and that means during the wine making process the winemaker didn't balance it with the other aromas and the alcohol is not integrated into the wine.
sometimes this occurs when the bottle is not stored properly also, like in warm places etc. some wines after decanting or airing, the alcoholic notes will blow away and that's fine. some wines don't. in a good wine you should be able to taste the different flavours of the wine like fruits or earthy notes etc.
The key components to wine's description:
- Smell: the aromas of the wine, ie: various fruits, oak, ocean spray, soy sauce, herbs etc...
- Flavour: similar to a wine, the flavour of a good wine is that it's balanced and the flavours change in your mouth and it lingers even after swallowing
- Body: basically the mouthfeel of the wine. depending on the varietal, region and vintage, wines range from light bodied to heavy bodied wines. heavier thicker richer red wines like a young cabernet or a young aussie shiraz tend to be heavy bodied. While a pinot noir from burgundy tend to be more light bodied or medium bodied.
- Acidity: acidity in a wine helps to balance out the flavours. if a wine has no acid, it becomes too rich and too heavy and syrupy. acidity helps keep the wine balanced and light on it's feet.
- Tannins (for reds): tannins are the compounds in a red wine that leaves a drying feeling in your mouth and makes your lips pucker. tannins are naturally found in the grape skins and seeds, they help to prolong the life of the wine. wines that tend to age better have quite a bit of tannins. a lot of people don't like tannins because it's too drying, but that's usually because they don't give the wine time to breathe and decant. When you decant it, the tannins soften and will be less harsh. as wines age longer, the tannins will integrate and soften as well. a young bordeaux (2009) will taste very different from a 10 year old or a 20 or 30 year old one.
You other point was about trying other bottles and may not be able to taste the difference. It all comes down to palate training. The easiest way of training is having several wines lined up and you taste them in succession. When you taste them one after another, the differences between them can get very obvious.
For example the wine session we are organizing end of next week, it's all shiraz/syrah wines. but people will be bringing bottles made from shiraz/syrah grapes from various countries. because of the regions, climate, vintage etc, even if it's the same grape, there will be differences in flavour; and when u taste them side by side, it will be very obvious.
you can do it with a friend or a group of friends. the basic would be to get two wines made from the same grape from 2 different regions and just taste them side by side. or even 2 bordeaux wines from the same year but different producer, they will also taste different when you compare them side by side.
you should try it!
