This wine tasting primer is designed to give you a comprehensive understanding of the components of tasting wine. To make it easier, feel free to taste along if you wish. All you need is a quality wine glass of eight or more ounces and a bottle of Sonoma-Cutrer 2012 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay.

There are 3 points of emphasis in any wine tasting- Sight, Smell and Taste.

Sight- Usually a full color will suggest a full wine and a light color will suggest a light wine. Our Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is yellow-gold, clear and bright.

Smell- I use the acronym FEW to help remember this part of the tasting. F stands for fruit and floral, E for earth and W for wood or oak.

Fruit can cover the entire world of fruits, but think about fruits that are in the range of the color of wine. For example, white wine may have flavors of citrus and apples; red wine may have flavors of red cherries and black berries.

Earth can encompass everything from the smell of fresh tilled soil to minerals. Like many other flavors in wine, it is not always present.

Wood or oak is used to age a good deal of wine, but not all. It can give a wine the smell of spices like, cinnamon, vanilla, allspice and more. To better smell your wine, try swirling it in your glass to release the aromas and make it easier to describe its flavors.

Our Sonoma Coast Chardonnay smells of apple, pear and lemon zest with the oak enhanced flavors of toasted nuts, baking spices and a hint of vanilla.

Taste – Our taste buds are equipped to sense four basic flavors: Sweet, Sour, Bitter and Salt.

Sweet is the presence of sugar in wine. Dry is the absence of sugar in wine. Medium-dry falls in somewhere between the two. You usually detect sweetness on the tip of your tongue. To better understand dryness in wine, try this simple demonstration: Place three glasses of water in front of you. Into the first glass of water, pour an entire packet of sugar – this equals sweet. Put a half packet of sugar into the second glass – this is medium-dry. No sugar will be put into the third glass of water which equals dry.

Sour refers to the acidity in wine, and while it carries a negative connotation, it really refers to the zippy-crisp component in wine. It typically can be sensed on the sides of your tongue. Let’s take our three glasses of water again. Into the first glass of water, squeeze an entire lemon this would be very crisp. In the second glass of water, squeeze half of a lemon this represents crisp. Put only a few drops of lemon juice into the third glass this is our low acid or not very crisp.

Bitter refers to the tannins in wine. Like sour, it carries a negative connotation. But, it actually refers to the mouth-puckering quality of wine. It may be sensed all over your palate. A heavily tannic wine can make any part of your mouth contract and dry out. A wine can be described as light, medium or heavy in tannin. Tannin can be sensed in grape skins, long steeped tea and espresso. Tannin is typically found in red wine because of the extended skin contact with the unfermented and fermenting wine during red wine production. So, we won’t really find any in our Sonoma Coast Chardonnay.

When you taste wine, allow the wine to stay on your palate for a minute, letting all parts of your palate touch the wine. This will allow you to more accurately use the various areas where you sense the taste of the wine. Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is dry and crisp.

Also, through your palate, you can establish the body or weight of a wine. The body of a wine is described as light, medium or full bodied; like a glass of water, milk or heavy cream respectively, Sonoma Coast is a medium to full-bodied Chardonnay.

Your olfactory system senses smell in your palate, as well as, through your nose. This helps you to connect the wine’s smell and taste. The aftertaste is the lingering flavor you get after swallowing the wine; an aftertaste is only bad when it tastes bad! A good aftertaste is pleasant and persistent. Our Chardonnay has a very pleasant aftertaste.

Overall, we would characterize the Sonoma Coast Chardonnay as yellow-gold with a nose and palate of apple, pear and lemon zest with the oak enhanced flavors of toasted nuts, baking spices and a hint of vanilla. It is dry, crisp, and medium to full-bodied with a very pleasant aftertaste. And don’t forget the easy descriptors like this deliciously, tasty Chardonnay is superb.

Scott Harper, MS

A Certified Wine Educator, Scott is one of 135 professionals in North America and 214 worldwide who have earned the title Master Sommelier