|
 Have
you ever wondered why people who like drinking pure lemon juice
are rare?
Because
human beings do not like tastes which are too excessives like
a very acid pure lemon juice. We like balance, this is how our
taste has been "designed".
And we
are also looking for balance in any wine: The balance
of a wine can be felt on the palate and is the way the different
structural components (alcohol,
acidity
and tannins
in the case of reds) weight against each other. When we take
a sip of a wine, we are able to “taste” the different
elements taking part in the structure of that wine away from
the aromas.
Balance
in dry white wines:
- the 2 main structural elements are acidity
and alcohol:
Lack of acidity in dry white wines will make it flabby. On the
other hand over powering acidity will be sharp and unpleasant.
 Balance
in dry red wine:
- There are 3 components: Acidity, alcohol and tannins.
Acidity combined with tannins tends to be fierce and so in most
red wines acidity will be reduced so that the structure of the
wine is less aggressive. Tannins provide structure in red wines
and so if a wine lacks of it then it will feel flat or even
hollow.
Finally balance
is very much correlated with quality: the more balanced
and “integrated” the structure of a wine is, the
higher the quality level and vice-versa! Also bear in mind than
wines with potential to age
could feel harsh or unpleasant when young and before
getting to the stage of maturity. So they will need to cellar
for 5, 10 or more years before getting to a completely mature
and integrated product. The finest Bordeaux or Rhônes
wines will have quite harsh tannins and acidity after release
and will reveal their real potential after 10 or more years!
Get
more free wine knowledge here
|
Yves
Cuilleron is one of the leading winemakers
of the Northern Rhône Valley. But what’s
striking about this man is that prior to taking over
his uncle domain in 1987, he had absolutely no
farming experience nor any professional wine background
apart from his strong passion for wines.
