Why do wines taste the way they do?
Many factors affect how a wine tastes! The grape variety itself as well as when and where it is grown are some key factors. In the wine world, the word vintage is used to refer to the year the wine was harvested. I think of it as the wine’s birthday. A particular vintage’s weather affects how the grapes grow which affect the quality and quantity of that year’s yield; both affecting how the resulting wine tastes.
A wine also changes with time in the bottle. Whether this evolution is positive or negative, depends on the wine. Not all wines are meant to age, in fact most are not. A very good quality Cabernet Sauvignon can improve with time. The fruit flavors will start to slowly move toward more dried or cooked fruit. New flavors will also develop such as tobacco, leather, and mushrooms increasing the complexity of the wine.
A particular wine region’s climate affects wine characteristics, for example Sonoma Valley vs. Napa Valley climates. Even though they are adjacent valleys from Northern California, wines from the same vintage can taste vastly different. A big influence is the Pacific Ocean which has a bigger cooling influence on Sonoma than Napa, as Napa is more inland.
Source: Vivino
An example is this 2019 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon from Lake Sonoma Winery. Sonoma is cooler than Napa so its wine will be a little less overtly fruity than a Napa Cab. It is a full-bodied red with high flavor intensity – red currant, black fruit, well integrated oak notes of charred wood and smoke, and notes of tobacco. Please note the vintage (year) – I tasted a 2019 - now you know why that matters!
For further conversation on these factors is a short Wine Folly video hosted by Christine Marsiglio MW (Master of wine) who is a Canadian living in London. There are currently approximately 415 MWs worldwide, roughly 12 being Canadian. For comparison, the program I took, the WSET diploma certification (or Wine Spirit and Education Trust’s Level 4) has fewer than 13,000 graduates worldwide. I hope you enjoy the video!
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