Wine Faults and Flaws. Keith Grainger

red wine flavours and the grape varieties or other wine components commonly associated with them.

Animal	Pinot Noir, high level of Brettanomyces
Aniseed	Malbec
Banana	Gamay, carbonic maceration
Blackberry	Grenache, Merlot, Shiraz (Syrah)
Blackcurrant	Cabernet Sauvignon
Bramble	Zinfandel
Cedar	Oak ageing, Cabernet Sauvignon
Cherry – black	Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir (very ripe)
Cherry – red	Pinot Noir (fully ripe), Sangiovese, Tempranillo
Chocolate – dark	Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz
Cinnamon	Cabernet Sauvignon
Clove	Grenache
Coconut	Oak ageing
Game	Pinot Noir
Grass	Unripe grapes
Herb (mixed)	Grenache, Merlot, Sangiovese
Leafy	Pinot Noir
Leather	Shiraz (Syrah), aged wines
Liquorice	Grenache, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon
Meat	Pinotage
Metal	Cabernet Franc
Mint	Cabernet Sauvignon (especially cool climate)
Pencil shavings	Cabernet Sauvignon
Pepper – bell	Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère
Pepper – ground black	Shiraz (Syrah)
Pepper – white	Grenache
Plum – black	Merlot
Plum – red	Merlot, Pinot Noir (overripe)
Redcurrant	Barbera
Raspberry	Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Pinot Noir (ripe)
Roses	Nebbiolo
Smoke	Oak ageing
Soy sauce	Carmenère (very ripe)
Stalky	Wet vintage, unripe grapes, inclusion of stalks
Strawberry	Grenache, Pinot Noir (just ripe), Merlot, Tempranillo
Tar	Nebbiolo, Shiraz
Tea	Merlot
Toffee	Merlot
Toast	Oak ageing
Tobacco	Cabernet Sauvignon
Truffle	Nebbiolo

      2.7.10 Other Observations

      2.7.10.1 Texture

      The texture of a wine should be considered and crucially the balance of the characteristics already discussed. The easiest way to understand texture is by imagining running the tips of your fingers over the skin of various parts of the body of people of different ages and professions: the smooth, soft face of a model, the hands of a cashier, the weathered face of a deep‐sea‐fisherman, the pre‐shave chin of a builder. The texture of a wine might be described as silky, velvety, smooth, or coarse. Several wine faults impact upon texture, including some faults resulting from the actions of lactic acid bacteria – see Chapter 11.

      Bubbles or spritz, if present, give tactile sensations on the tongue. In a poor quality sparkling wine, they are very aggressive, whilst a creamy feeling mousse is indicative of the well‐integrated carbon dioxide in a good quality example. Thus in the case of sparkling wines, the mousse might be described as delicate, creamy, or aggressive.

      2.7.10.2 Balance

Balance is the interrelationship between all the taste and tactile sensations and the components that create them. If anyone or a small number of them dominate, or if there is a deficiency of any of them, the wine is unbalanced. An easy to understand example is that a white wine described as sweet or luscious but with a low acidity will be flabby and cloying. In other words, it is unbalanced. A red wine with a light body, light flavour intensity, low to medium alcohol but high tannin will feel very hard astringent and unbalanced. A balanced wine has all the sensations in proportions that make the wine a harmonious whole. In a well‐balanced wine, the sensations are seamlessly integrated.

      If any component or several components are making the wine unbalanced, these should be noted. However, the state of maturity of a wine is an important consideration. Whilst a very low quality wine may never be in balance at any stage in its life‐cycle, a high‐quality wine, particularly reds, will often only achieve balance when approaching maturity. Tannins and acidity may dominate in youth. The taster needs to evaluate all the components and the structure of the wine to anticipate how these will be interrelated at maturity. Balance is a major consideration when assessing wine quality, and wines that are substantially ‘out‐of‐balance’ may be considered as flawed, as will be briefly discussed in Chapter 14.

      2.7.11 Finish – Length

      Put simply, the length of the finish and aftertaste is the best indicator of wine quality. The terms ‘finish’, ‘aftertaste’, and ‘length’ sometimes give rise to confusion. ‘Finish’ refers to the final taste sensations of the wine as it is swallowed or spat. ‘Aftertaste’ encompasses the sensations that remain and develop as we breathe out, whilst ‘length’ is the measure of time for which finish and aftertaste last. To determine length, after the taster has spat the wine, they should breathe out slowly,