Dial into YOUR perfect red wine frequency
-red & black fruit flavours, wine body, old-world & new-world styles
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Wine curation for red wine drinkers… And how important it is for wine drinkers to understand their preferred wine style.
Cuz if you can’t explain what you like, you won’t get what you like!
Big picture, in wine style language, we discuss the body of the wine…
A wine’s body is the ‘presence’ the wine commands in your mouth. Think sense of touch rather than taste. A good comparison is milk where lower fat milk is lighter and waterier. This is analogous to a light bodied wine. At the other end of the spectrum is heavy cream, which coats the walls of your mouth giving a ‘fuller’ sensation similar to a full body wine. In the middle of the range is the medium body wine.
… and old-world style vs new-world style wines…
Generally, people think that these styles refer to European wines (old-world) vs. non-European wines (new-world). And while this can be true, these are generalizations as the old-world now makes new-world style wines and vice versa, but it helps understand different wine styles.
Hence why you qualify with the word style.
Indeed.
Generally speaking, old-world style wines are not overtly fruity but have integrated flavours of fruit, minerality, and perhaps oak.
For new-world style wines, the opposite is true: they tend to be fruity or fruit forward, and when oaked they can have prominent American oak characteristics (vanilla and coconut). It’s important to note – the term “fruity” in wine speak does not mean sweet. It means that the wines’ dominant flavours are those of fruit.
But.
I have found another key nuance in understanding people’s palate preferences.
Firstly, red wine fruit flavours are broken down into red and black fruit. If the wine is a blend of different grapes, it may have both red and black fruit flavours present in the wine. Otherwise, wines are generally dominated by one or the other.
Definition please! At least some examples please!
Red fruit flavours range from redcurrant, cranberry, raspberry, and strawberry to red cherry and plum notes. Examples of black fruit flavours are blackcurrant (cassis), blackberry, blueberry, and black cherry and plum.
Generally red fruit wines have a brighter, lifted profile, what I have coined as higher frequency flavours. When I use the term bright as a descriptor, something resonates with people.
Pun intended!
Okay that is helpful as frankly I don’t really know what type of fruit flavours I like in my wine. What about black fruit?
Black fruit flavour dominant wines tend to have a deeper, darker character tending towards broodiness at the extreme end.
So black fruit flavours are lower frequency. Got it!
Again, when I throw around these concepts with people, they get it.
They tune right in? haha!
Gosh.
Are there specific grape varieties that are associated with red versus black fruit flavours?
Yes and no.
It depends on many factors - mainly where they are grown, the weather for the given vintage, and how long the grapes are allowed to ripen.
For example, a Merlot can be red fruit flavour dominant when grown in Canada’s cool climate wine regions. In Bordeaux, France however, Merlot can be black fruit flavour dominant and can even be hard to distinguish from a Cabernet Sauvignon that I generally consider black fruit dominant.
And yet, a specific wine example the high quality 2016 Bordeaux featured in my article linked below. It is a 50% Cab Sauv/ 50% Merlot blend that has both red and black fruit flavours. So it breaks “the rule” that these grapes tend to be black fruit dominant in Bordeaux.
To fine-tune your understanding of the concept here are some wine articles that feature wines that are:
Red fruit flavour dominant wines
Black fruit flavour dominant wines
That was super helpful - I am starting to get it!
I hope this will help you drink better and dial into YOUR perfect red wine frequency!
Cuz if you can’t explain what you like, you won’t get what you like!
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SOURCES
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