DTN Blog Lesson 2

On April 28, 2017, I visited the Kroger by Macado’s to select the wine I was going to taste. The DTN Lesson guide recommended choosing an aromatic white & red, so I chose Shiraz for my red and Viognier for my white. Not having much experience with either one of these wines I am very excited to conduct this lesson!

I decided to have bread as my neutralizer as I didn’t want to have food to pair with the wines. I did not want to have food mainly because I’m doing this soon after breakfast, but I do know that Shiraz goes well with steaks while Viognier goes well with seafood, shellfish and grilled chicken.

First, I chose the cups for this experiment based on the lesson guide. I did not have a fishbowl so I substituted it with a glass bowl with a pretty wide diameter (far right). I also did not have a large flared wine glass so I substituted it with a Thor type beer mug (second from right)

Left to Right: Shot glass, Mason jar (“rocks” glass”), tall skinny water glass, flared smaller wine glass, beer mug, glass bowl

Next, I poured the White Viognier into the shot glass and used that to pour the liquid into every glass. The same process was repeated with the Red Shiraz following the White.

This Step will be a combination of 3, 4, & 5 as it’s just a matter of repeating the same process with the White Viognier & Red Shiraz. I will separate the red & white for the analysis.

White Viognier:

Shot Glass:

Can’t detect a strong aroma but can smell some hints of sweetness & citrus fruits.

Mason jar (“Rocks” Glass):

Can absolutely smell the citrus aroma along with orange blossoms and some notes of honey. Strong scents with this glass than the shot glass.

Wine Glass:

Even stronger & more prominent scent that the mason jar. I was able to pick up more citrus fruits such as tangerine, mango and even pineapple. Can also detect some notes of hay & mint.

Tall Water Glass:

Can’t really pick up many scents besides orange blossoms and a soft, sweet aroma.

Beer Mug:

A little better than the tall water glass when picking up scents. Can detect the mango & tangerine notes. Also I can make out the honey notes & actually picked up an acacia aroma.

Large Bowl:

Picked up absolutely no scents so there is nothing to describe. This is probably because of its wide diameter where all the aromas can just escape into the air.

Red Shiraz:

Shot Glass:

Hints of black pepper & blackberry.

Mason jar (“Rocks Glass”):

I was able to detect more scents within this glass than the shot glass (similar to the white). I could pick up old cherries, plums, and licorice.

Wine Glass:

More prolific scents such as sandalwood or cedar. Tannins were also present in this glass that could not be detected before. All of the flavors seem enhanced in the glass compared to the others.

Tall Water Glass:

Not any aromas detected besides black pepper.

Beer Mug:

Could smell the blackberry, other dark fruits, as well as licorice

Large Bowl:

Even when I put my face directly in the bowl I still can’t pick up any scents or aromas. This container is virtually undetectable.

Viognier:

As stated in the book, the professor and wine drinkers everywhere much of the taste comes from the smells we detect within the wine. Therefore, the shot glass, tall water glass, and large bowl had minimal to almost no taste at all. Even though with the shot glass & tall water glass some sweetness was noticed. The taste of the Viognier was its most pronounced with the wine glass while many of the scents and flavors were still detected in the beer mug and Mason jar. The taste of butter, vanilla, sweet wood, oak, & toast was most distinct with the wine glass.

Shiraz:

To me the Shiraz had flavors of earth, musk, toast, leather, oak, cedar, cigar box, tar. This Shiraz had a similar effect to the Viognier where certain scents and elements were picked up 

6. The vessel that holds the wine plays such an important factor on its reception of smell. Smell & taste are dependent on each other so for the glasses where its hard to detect any smells its also hard to pick up on any flavorful indicators. The glasses that had a minimal or no effect on my sense of smell were the shot glass, tall water glass, and large bowl. This was because of its dimensions and nominal concentration of the liquid. Ideally, the glasses that provided the most flavors were the wine glass, mason jar, and beer mug.