The Basics |
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Achieving Balance in Wine |
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Think about those times when your career is prospering, your family is happy, you're perfectly
healthy and your golf game is better than ever... when life is in balance and
everything is good, it really doesn't get a whole lot better than that, right? We like this analogy because it draws an excellent parallel with wine. In order for a wine to be of the highest quality, all of its major components must also be in balance and performing at the top of their ability. If one element is significantly upstaging the others, the balance is broken and the wine is definitely flawed. Sometimes, aging the wine can ultimately bring the wine into balance. In other cases, some wines will never achieve balance. So, when we're talking about balance in wine, what specific components are we concerned with? That depends on the color of the wine. For whites, there's the fruit, the flavor, the alcohol and the acidity are the elements that need to be in balance. Naturally, you want the wine to taste good and have some fruit characteristics, but without the alcohol and acidity you'll basically have nasty white grape juice. The acidity offers up the tang and the alcohol provides the heat and bite to achieve that balance. For reds, there's the fruit, the flavor, the alcohol, the acidity and the added factor of the tannin. Again, with the fruits and essences of the wine, the alcohol provides oomph while some acidity helps with zest. Finally, the tannin offers up the structure and backbone of the reds. Without the right amount of tannin, the wine will taste dull. Remember, even if the acidity, tannin and alcohol aren't all that important to you and you really just want a tasty wine, all of those elements and how they interact with each other will ultimately determine its level of quality and will impact your enjoyment. |
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