Building a new vocab for wine texture terms?

[Robin Garr]

Interesting concept - describing texture IS important - but I think maybe they're overdoing it a little here for journalistic effect.

New wine words send texture messages
The Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:01am BST /07/2008

The initial crunch suggests meringue… then a harmony of marshmallow and olive oil as it slides off the tongue.

This is wine, but in a novel twist on the wine enthusiast's art, described not by taste, but by texture.

The tactile response to wine - or "mouth-feel" - is considered an important but forgotten quality when analysing a vintage.

Now researchers have devised a vocabulary based on familiar liquids, foods and household materials that they feel best describes the wide range of textures experienced when quaffing a chardonnay or a pinot grigio.

Until now there has been no reliable "lexicon" to describe a wine's texture, says Gary Pickering, the professor of wine science at Canada's Brock University, who led the research.

Full story at Telegraph.co.uk

The skim milk, whole milk, half and half, and heavy cream comparison always worked for me.

Salute

[Robin Garr]

The skim milk, whole milk, half and half, and heavy cream comparison always worked for me.

Even if the wine is not lactic?

Seriously, Victor, I'm glad it works for you, but I find it hurts my head to think of wine textures in terms of foodstuffs if the wine does not taste like those foodstuffs.

Use your tongue as a "scale".

Salute

The tactile response to wine - or "mouth-feel" - is considered an important but forgotten quality when analysing a vintage.

Now researchers have devised a vocabulary based on familiar liquids, foods and household materials that they feel best describes the wide range of textures experienced when quaffing a chardonnay or a pinot grigio.

Until now there has been no reliable "lexicon" to describe a wine's texture, says Gary Pickering, the professor of wine science at Canada's Brock University, who led the research.

Mmmm, I think these guys don't know what is hapenning outside their own little square. Just like Ann Noble formutaled the aroma wheel, there is also a wine texture "Mouth Feel" wheel" that has been principally formulated by Richard Gawel in Australia and while it pertains to red wine - it is a start.
See http://www.aromadictionary.com/articles ... ticle.html (right click to open in new window).

A quote from the article states, "Published by the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology in its official journal, the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research (Volume 6, No. 3), the wheel is already being used by winemaking and wine marketing students throughout Australia, and by researchers in the United States, Israel, New Zealand, Canada and Australia. In particular, the Australian Wine Research Institute (http://www.awri.com.au) is investigating the link between the occurrence of specific tannins in red wine and the sensations listed on the wheel."

You can check out a low res version of the wheel (in black and white) at this link. http://www.aromadictionary.com/mouthfeelwheel.gif

Cheers,
Sue

PS I notice the wheel does not have 'crunchy', 'slippery' and 'melt in the mouth' which is what I think of as the textures of meringue, olive oil and marshmallow.
Cheers,
Sue

Mmmm, I think these guys don't know what is hapenning outside their own little square.

Quite. And even if you have never heard of the mouth-feel wheel, mouth-feel is hardly a forgotten quality. Who writes this rubbish? I am sure there are any number of clueful people who could do a better job.

PS I notice the wheel does not have 'crunchy', 'slippery' and 'melt in the mouth' which is what I think of as the textures of meringue, olive oil and marshmallow.
Cheers,
Sue

.. and as a New Zealander, I consider you to be highly qualified in the taste of meringue and especially Marshmallow (/homer simpson mode on) Mmmm! Marshamallow easter eggs (homer simpson mode off)
regards
Ian

PS I notice the wheel does not have 'crunchy', 'slippery' and 'melt in the mouth' which is what I think of as the textures of meringue, olive oil and marshmallow.
Cheers,
Sue

.. and as a New Zealander, I consider you to be highly qualified in the taste of meringue and especially Marshmallow (/homer simpson mode on) Mmmm! Marshamallow easter eggs (homer simpson mode off)
regards
Ian

LOL Exactly. I was think of sticky, too - sticky melt in the mouth - as marshmallow is quite sticky if you get it over your fingers and heaven forbid, in your hair. The best marshamallow easter eggs are covered in chocolate and have orange coloured marshmallow for the yolk.
Then there are always the failed mergingues that haven't quite worked - chewy on the outside and sweet, runny, sticky and sugary on the inside. Still taste yum, though.

For me, texture is the number one criteria for judging the quality of a wine. Of course the flavor is extremely important too, but only when both are married successfully does great wine exist. Texture speaks so many volumes about how wine is grown and produced. You can immediately get a sense of the technology (in terms of machinery or manipulation) used, how much acidity, tannin, extract, botrytis, RIPENESS!, wood influence, chaptalization, fining, filtration, and vintage conditions by the texture of the wine. This is especially important in the case of German Prädikat wines nowadays with the declassification blur that is running rampant. Texture also plays a huge role in the enjoyment of older wines. Often even after the fruit (or at least the youthful primary fruit) starts to lose its voice, the wine remains plush, supple and texturally pleasing for years to come. IMO, Texture is THE deciding factor in whether a wine is past prime or not. Crunchy is certainly an apt description for younger wines. I always think of barrel samples before (and often after) malolactic fermentation as having a snappy, crunch to them -like biting into an apple. The firm or sinewy feel of good white Burgundy is what makes it stand out from the wannabes (Furmint is also a great sometimes sinewy wine.) The chewy crushed rock mineral of wines like D.D. Silex and F.X. Pichler Riesling is what elevates them above their peers. When tasting wine I often imagine what angle or shape or degree of plane the wine feels like. I like to think about the shape of a teardrop and judge the wine I'm drinking against it and how long the tail is.

I have a friend who tastes in 'colors' too, but I suppose that is another thread.


Prost!
Bill