The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-14
WINE TESTING AS AN ART.
How to Distin guish Different Bou-
Quets and Flavors.
From the New York Times,


understood by the majority of consumers.
1t is, nevertheless, an art that should be
studied and cultivated for without it no
correct appreciation or classification of
wine is possible. Every person can, per
maps tell what he likes himself but il is
only the trained palate that can dis
tinguish between the multifarious davors
and qualities of a wine, or even detect the
approach of disease or unsoundness.
The effects of a wine on the several
senses brought into play in critical
tasting are so complicated and varied
that even when these senses possess the
requisite deliCacy much difficulty is ex-
perienced in describing their sensations
In the correct testing of wine four
senses are brought into play-sight, smell,
taste and touch. Primarily, the sense of
sight is employed. The first Judgment to
be made is whether the wine is clear,
which is the proper condition of wine
that is ready TO be consumed, or whether
it is turbid and in what degree. A per
fectly fermented wine kept in an even and
proper temperature should be clear in
from one to two months after making, but
it will not become quite bright until after
the secondary spring fermentation is COM
pleted. If, toward the time that the
grapes are setting, wine is not quite
clear, there is probably something wrong
with it, either some sugar still remains,
keeping the alcoholic ferments at work,
or Tactic, acetic, or some other noxious
germs have commenced operations. If it
has peculiar. milky or stringy appear
ance, the wine is certainly diseased,
The tint and intensity to be taken as
the standard of excellence vary according
to the nature of the vine. A claret should
not be so deep in color as to appear black
in an ordinary wine glass, but with a
moderate Intensity should possess that
purplish red, without a suspicion of vel
low, which is most agreeable to the eve.
A young wine of one or two months
should have relatively deep color, as at
least half, and generally much more is
lost before the wine is ready to be bottled.
Wines which depend for their value on
the amount of their coloring matter
should be as dark as possible but the
tint should be as far removed as possible
| from the orange shade. A port or other
sweet red wine, from the nature of the
treatment which it undergoes, cannot re-
tain this purplish tint, even though it
possesses it when first made, and, there
fore, the orange or tawny shade is eX-
pected and appropriate with this class of
wines.
With white wines also the tint usually
bears some relation to the general char
| acter of the wine Hooks and kindred
should have a pale greenish tint, while a
stronger and heavier wine, like a Sau-
| terne, for example, tends more to golden;
| and, finally, very heavy-boiled, fortified,
or sweet wines, such as sherry, MARSHA
! and the like, are deep golden, sometimes
even brown in color.
Among other qualities that the eye
notices is oiliness, the appearance pre-
sented by "a fruity, heavy-boiled wine
when H. has attained tho rapuieita aga
and of course the efferyescence which is
the special characteristic Of sparkling
wine.
The bouquet of wine-that is, its
whole effect on the olfactory organs-is a
very complex mixture of odors Part of
| the bouquet and the only part exist
| ing in young wines, comes directly from
| the grapes and gives the wine from a par
ticular grape or locality its distinctive
character, and it is so marked in some
| cases that from the smell alone il is posi-
Bile to tell from what grape a wine has
| been made Notably is this true with such
grapes as the Reisling, Semillion Caber-
net and others with a marked individual
ity. The rest of the bouquet is acquired
only with age, first in the keg, but more
particularly in the bottle, and is due
principally to the formation of various
others.
To properly note the bouquet little Of
the wine should be poured into a wide
mouthed glass or silver faster and gently
agitated to assist the giving off Of the
vapors This process should not last too
long, and as soon as the bouquet has been
remarked on the wine should be slipped
Other aromas which are liberated by the
warmth and mechanical action of the
mouth are perceived first at the moment
of swallowing by their rising through
the interior passages which lead from the
mouth to the nose. Wine, if left too long
exposed to the air, loses its bouquet unless
artificially perfumed and it should there
fore be tasted Immediately on drawing it
from the cask or opening the bottle.
The sense Of taste lies principally in the
tongue and the soft palate. The front
part of the tongue is distinguished for it's
sensibility TO minute differences Of flavor,
while the back part and the soft palate
are more notable for the intensity of
their sensations. Keeping this in mind,
the wine should be held for few moments
in the front part of the mouth and gently
kept in motion By the top Of the tongue.
Here should be noticed more particu-
larly the sweetness, the acidity, the
astringency, and the special havors,
while, after allowing the wine to pass
slowly TO the back of the mouth, the rest
of the tongue and the soft palate tell
more of the alcoholity, the age, the degree
perceive most strongly such havOrs as
nuttiness and the port and sherry havors
and such tastes as the bitter, woody,
Tactic, acetic. etc, If the wine has them.
The alcohol affects the whole mouth
throat, and also the stomach by virtue Of
its burning quality. The alcoholicity of
an ordinary drinking wine should be as
low as is compatible with the wines keep
ing and not tasting watery. In sweet
wines there should be enough alcohol
present to prevent all danger Of the sugar
fermenting, but in terrifying a wine Of
this class the alcohol should not be added
10 such large extent as to cause a dis
agreeable burning sensation when swal-
lowed, but should be in such proportion
as to blend perfectly.
The acidity Of a light table wine should
be firmly pronounced, but should only be
that natural to the grape. II is very
easy, with little practice, 10 distinguish
between the agreeable, fruity acids Of
well-made wine and the harsh, repelling
acetic or Tactic acids in an ill-fermented or
badly-cared-f one
Astringency belongs more especially to
red wines, and is wholesome and agreea-
BILE in moderate proportion, but in excess
il Fuckers the mouth and DISCUSSES other
flavors. A large amount of tannin. how
ever, in a young wine which it is in
tended to keep for a length of time is
very desirable quality, as 10 greatly in
ftn 20, 80 No