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Wines, Tasting Of

On this important subject we quote Mr. P. Dagouret, who is an acknowledged authority on the judging and tasting of wines:--In the judging of wines three senses are employed--sight, smell, and taste. (1) Sight.--To the eye wine ought to be always perfectly clear; thick wine is not good, it is not in good order, or soon will be bad, or the bottle has been shaken; therefore the deposit which has cleared the wine becomes mixed and thickens the wine and takes away its taste. White wines ought always to have an amber colour, but always quite clear. Red wines vary in colour from brick red or "pelure d'oignon" to bright red or dark red, but the colour ought always to be good and perfectly transparent. To try the transparency of wine, incline the glass, but do not use a silver cup, as some do. (2) Smell.--In all temperatures wines exhale subtle gases, which take effect on the membranes of the nose. These aromas emanate from the alcohols and principally from the ethers. New wines generally only emit a fruity odour, which is attenuated by age, gets finer, and is transformed into the "bouquet." The aromas are different according to the vintage; it depends on their purity or intensity for tasters or experts to be able to tell their origin, their quality, and their age. (3) Taste.--The whole of the mouth is employed in this faculty, but the tongue is the principal function used, as it has innumerable cavities, at the end of which are quantities of nervous ramifications named "papillae." Many of them only have one sense, others can take in several senses, as contact, temperature, and taste. The "papillae" are divided into three categories, the large ones at the base of the tongue, in two oblique lines in the form of a V, the rounded middle ones placed on the back of the tongue, and the numberless conical small ones placed in series also on the back of the tongue. The nerves that terminate in these "papillae" are at the base, the "glosso pharyngien," the nerve par excellence of taste, at the end the lingual, the nerve most susceptible of touch, the susceptibility of this organ taking in heat. Astringency is therefore particularly felt by the tip of the tongue, while the taste of softness of bitter, and of sweet are more easily tasted at the base of the tongue. As you may see, the base of the tongue is the seat of all, but other parts of the mouth help the taste. Firstly, the gums, the lips, and, above all, the palate, which has "papillae" which are very sensitive, as also the "amygdales," which form a sort of ring in the bottom of the mouth. A mouthful of liquid firstly comes in contact with the point of the tongue, and then is forced into, or, rather, through, the other parts of the tongue and all the inside of the mouth, and then coming in contact with the tasting ring, or "anneau gustatif," at the entrance of the gullet. The liquid now, having no obstacle, penetrates the gullet, from which, when the liquid is wine, an odour emanates, which, passing through all the other parts of the mouth, will then allow you to judge more fully of the quality of the wine. All these impressions made on the senses--heat, acidity, astringency, taken in by the point of the tongue; softness and body, taken in by the base of the tongue and the palate and the bottom of the mouth--result in an impression of harmony in the mixture of all the flavours without the preponderance of any one of them. Then you will be able to judge of the qualities necessary for the wine to be perfect.

It is extremely difficult to be a good taster of wines; so difficult that the faculty of judging and appreciating wine in all its forms and sorts has never been found in one person. Each wine having a special taste, it is impossible for one person to unite all the qualifications necessary to appreciate the exact value of different wines of different countries. To discover the actual faults of a wine or its qualities to come, you must know its age, also the sort of grape from which it is extracted, also the care that it has received or will receive, and the different changes (particularised in every vintage) which wines will go through before arriving at perfection or of complete degeneration. Wines that one person likes another does not; a wine that we do not prize to-day will seem to us delicious in a few years, when it has reached its maturity, and all its qualities (which have not been relished up to the present time) have developed themselves by successive changes; in the same way a wine which we think much of now may be totally deceptive at the finish. You must remember the state of your health, and also what you have eaten and drunk before; coming after fruit, sweets, or savoury things, wine always tastes rough and hard, but after spiced food, strong cheese, or nuts, wine always seems more soft and mellow to the taste than it is in reality. The organs of taste and smell, as also the whole of man, have so many innate influences and natural repulsions that a "gourmet" himself ought to be on his guard, as he will often prefer a wine which tickles his palate and disdain another which is more delicate and better than the one chosen. Experts and tasters, when they have studied these essential principles, become specialists, and never ply their trade except on some few vintages.

Always take a fine crystal glass to taste the best wines, and pour wine therein at a medium temperature. After having warmed the bottom of your glass in the palm of the hand, so that the aroma may rise more easily, turn the wine lightly round the glass so that the "bouquet" may be more easily inhaled; next take a long inhalation of the contents, then take a mouthful and wash the mouth thoroughly with it, swallow gently and gradually. If you have several wines to taste do not swallow it, but spit it out when you have well washed your mouth with it, and also it is much better to rinse your mouth after each trial. The properties of alcohol, tartar, tannin, and other acids give to wine what is called body. A wine is warm and genial when the quantity of alcohol gives it a great deal of body; in the contrary case it is called light when all the constituent parts of the wine are harmoniously mixed and well assimilated, and you may say it is a rich or racy wine. You call "finesse," or delicate taste, the sensation which leaves in the mouth the taste and savour of a good light wine or a good old wine, as also the subtle aromatic smell given by the "bouquet" to the nostrils. Wines that possess these three qualities in a high degree, body, delicate taste, and fineness, are perfect.