The gustatory examination enables to assess the quality
and the ageing potentiality of a wine.
Method
Take a sip of wine and make it move inside your mouth so
as to analyse each savour and each feeling.
The Balance
Essential for the quality and the ageing of wine, the balance
correspond to the sensed savour harmony. In a well-balanced
wine, neither of these four following feelings are excessive.
ALCOHOL :
unctuousness of the mucous membrane
heat
ACIDITY :
acid savours on each side of the tongue
irritation of the gums
important secretion of fluid saliva
MEELLOWNESS :
thermal feeling
sugary savour on the tip of the tongue
thick saliva and of a small quantity
Astringency (red wine):
drying out of the mouth
tightening of the cheek mucous membrane
The Balance:
For the study of white wine, we mustn’t take into account the inferior part of the graphic.
The following graphics put into relief the exemple of red and white wine, balanced or not.
Regular diamond : a well-balanced red wine
The bigger the diamand is, the more the wine can age.
Irregular quadrilateral :
an unbalanced red wine
Not to be preserved.
Regular
triangle:
well- balanced white wine
The bigger the triangle is , the more the wine can age.
Asymmetrical triangle :
unbalanced white wine
Not to preserve.
Finish in the mouth
The finish often enables to
find out defects in the wine. We will be able to find
a feeling of pungency or some unpleasant aftertastes
in the finish in the mouth. We give you explanations
in the following spreadsheet:
APPRECIATION
INTERPRETATION
Without aftertaste
Quality Wine
Aftertastes of : soap, sulphur, curds, cement, metal...
Breaking of the wine
Tickling on the tongue
Refermentation of the wine
Aftertaste : bitterness
Presence of bad tannins
Length on the palate:
Once you have swallowed the
wine, count the seconds during which you still have
aromas. An aftertaste must not be mixed up with a
lenght on the palate.
