Recently, I over heard two
elderly folk talking at the bar in our cellar door. The two had a copy of
the tasting notes and one commented to the other, “you know wine used to be
simply just wine! Now look what they add cherries, chocolate, peppers and
spices!!”
I am often asked questions
though which are not too far removed from the above observations and indeed
where do all these flavours and aromas come from or is it just wine poetry?
Wine poetry comes from the
creative and often eccentric nature of winemakers and this has little to do
with the actual wine but is rather an interpretation of the perceived
qualities that a wine is expressing at the time of tasting.
Varietal Character
Each wine variety has what
is referred to its varietal characteristics. That is those distinctive
flavours and aromas that give each grape variety its individual character.
Each grape variety produces
a range of chemicals that are the same or similar to other foods, fruits or
vegetables, eg. Pinot Noir has a varietal descriptor of strawberry and
indeed it produces the same chemical as a strawberry.
Climate, soils, the type of
trellis system and any other practices employed in the vineyard will also
have an affect on the grapes expression of its varietal characteristics.
Chardonnays grown in cool regions will show delicate aromas of peaches and
citrus where as Chardonnays grown in more warm climates will tend to show
more tropical fruit aromas of pineapples and melons.
Other Flavours
Oak or wood:
Oak is used in winemaking in the form of barrels. Oak barrels add cedar
characters; assist with lifting spices such as cinnamon and add, my
favourite, vanillin to the wine. If the barrel has had a medium to heavy
toasting this will deliver the vanillin in the caramel to chocolate
spectrum. Barrels also allow the wine to develop slowly and mature.
I have also used the word
wood and I do this deliberately to mean all other forms of oak usage such as
oak chips, pieces and the like. I do not see a place for these in winemaking
as they can add too many harsh oak tannins and while they are still oak I
prefer to call them just wood.
Malo lactic
Fermentation: This was covered well in the section called Malo Lactic
Fermentation.
Esterification: A
big word but most will have heard of part of this word, ESTER. From a
chemistry point of view esterification is when and acid and an alcohol react
together to form esters, eg. a banana ice cream has no banana in it but it
tastes and smells like a banana and this is due to the addition of an ester
that smells and tastes like banana.
Grapes have several acids
and fermentation produces not only ethanol but many other alcohols. So what
we have is a cocktail for esterification to occur and many new esters are
produced that further add character to the wine through the production of
new flavours and aromas.
Polymerisation:
Sorry about the big words but it is good to learn new things. Poly means
many and the bottle ageing of wines different molecules start to form links
and chains, grape molecules link to oak molecules to esters and so on.
Molecules are the smallest part of a chemical. As these chains of molecules
become larger the wine becomes more integrated and new reaction can take
place forming more new aromas and flavours. I will discuss this further in a
future newsletter under the topic of bottle ageing of wines (cellaring) and
decanting. It is also important to understand what part these chains play in
the development of the wine and how wines can become bruised and this will
be discussed in a future newsletter.
Taste
award winning local wines today at ILNAM Estate
ILNAM Estate is
a unique tourist attraction as we are the only winery on
the Tweed. ILNAM Estate Winery is located just 20 minutes from the Gold Coast
Airport, 40 minutes from Surfers Paradise and only 1 hour 20 minutes from
Brisbane.
ILNAM ESTATE WINERY- 750 Carool Road,
Carool NSW- Ph (07) 5590 7703
