CALIFORNIA CABERNET CLASS 1 TASTING What's i a Price Poit? GOALS AND MATERIALS Tastig Goals Compare ad cotrast wies at various price poits, payig special attetio to the differeces i quality, icludig extractio, tais, complexity ad age-worthiess. The Four Wies Purchase four Caberets from ay growig regio withi Califoria. They should all be from the same vitage, or withi a year or two of each other. Choose oe wie from each of the followig four price categories: 1. Uder $12 2. $13-25, ideally i the middle of this price rage, or $16-19 3. $26-39, ideally $26-29 4. Over $40 Make sure to write dow the ame of each wie ad how much it cost!! You will eed this iformatio durig the tastig. Supplies Four paper bags. Each should be large eough to completely cover a bottle. Removable stickers, a erasable felt-tip pe or wax pecil to label glasses. Four glasses per taster. Ideally, all the glasses for all the tasters should be idetical. At the very least, each taster's four glasses should be the same. Spit cup Water Plai crackers (save the cheese ad ibbles util you've evaluated the wies) Califoria Caberet Copyright 2003 Wie Spectator, Ic. All Rights Reserved 1
TASTING PROGRESSION The goal of this blid tastig is to discover how closely wie price correlates with wie quality. The sectio below will guide you through the process of settig up a blid tastig. You'll taste the four wies without kowig which wie is which. After you've guessed the price category for each bottle, you'll umask the bottles ad reveal their prices. The you'll place the wies i order by price ad carefully compare them agai. SET-UP Set Each Place 1. Put a tastig mat at each taster's place. 2. Give each taster a spit cup, water ad plai crackers alog with their tastig joural pages ad a pe or pecil. For ow, idetify the wies o the tastig joural pages with the letter codes from below. Disguise ad Pour the Wies 1. Start by markig each of the four paper bags with oe of the followig letters: A, B, C ad D. 2. Tur the bags letter side dow, so you ca't see which bag is which ad the shuffle the bags to mix them up. Now put a bottle ito each bag, disguisig its idetity. 3. Use a stickie label or felt-tip pe to mark each taster's four glasses with the same radom codes that you used for the wies: A, B, C ad D. 4. Pour about 2-3 ouces of wie A ito glass A ad place the glass o its circle o the tastig mat. Repeat for the three remaiig wies. Califoria Caberet Copyright 2003 Wie Spectator, Ic. All Rights Reserved 2
4S: SEE, SNIFF, SIP, SUMMARIZE SEE >> Color & Itesity The first step is to look at each of the four wies. Compare their color ad itesity. COLOR Pick up your first two wies, oe glass i each had. Tilt the glasses at a 45 degree agle ad compare the color ad itesity of the wies. The put dow oe of the glasses ad pick up the third. Fially, examie the fourth wie agaist oe of the first three. What color is each wie? Are they all the same color? Do ay have a purplish tige? Are ay closer to ruby red? Itesity Which wie is the darkest ad desest? Whe you hold the wie i frot of your tastig sheet, is the color so itese ad saturated that you caot read the tastig sheet through the wie? Which wie is the palest ad the easiest to read through? Circle your observatios o your tastig joural page. Based o color ad itesity, which seems to have the most extract? Which do you thik will have the fullest body? Pricig Cues Frequetly, the more itese the color, the more expesive the wie. The lower grape yields associated with more expesive wies make for more itese color. Miimal processig, icludig filtratio, preserves color itesity. The color ca also be itesified by the loger barrel agig ofte associated with more expesive Cabs. Califoria Caberet Copyright 2003 Wie Spectator, Ic. All Rights Reserved 3
4S: SEE, SNIFF, SIP, SUMMARIZE SNIFF >> Aroma Idetificatio ad Itesity Swirl ad siff each of the wies to idetify ad compare their aromas. SWIRL AND SNIFF YOUR WINES Itesity Are the aromas itese? Do they jump out of the glass? Or are they fait? Idetity What aromas ca you idetify i each wie? Ca you fid ay of Caberet Sauvigo's typical aromas ad flavors i this wie? Are all the aromas fruity? Do you pick up ay vailla or toasty oak aromas from oak barrels? Circle your observatios o your tastig checklist. COMPARE THE WINES' AROMAS Itesity Which is the most itesely aromatic wie? Ad the least? Idetity Which wie has the ripest fruit aromas? The most herbal aromas? Which wie's aromas do you like the most? The least? Ad why? Preferece The wie with the most forward fruit aromas may immediately catch your attetio, like a shout, but a more subtle wie ca be more elegat ad itriguig, like a whisper. Based o the aromas, which wie is your favorite? Ad your least favorite? It will be iterestig to see if your rakig remais the same at the ed of the tastig. Mark your observatios o your tastig checklist. Pricig Cues Frequetly, the more complex the aroma, the more expesive the wie. O the other had, more expesive wies ca take loger to ope up. Whe the cork is first pulled, the aromas may be a little shy. Ofte, the more sweet oak aroma, the more expesive the wie. This assumes that the oak is i balace with the fruit, that the oak does't overpower the wie. Califoria Caberet Copyright 2003 Wie Spectator, Ic. All Rights Reserved 4
4S: SEE, SNIFF, SIP, SUMMARIZE TANNINS White wies have three mai compoets: fruit, acidity ad alcohol. Red wies have four: tai is the additioal igrediet. Tai cotributes a distict mouthfeel, fuller body ad the ability to age. Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel associated with tai ca be compared to the textures of differet materials: Lower levels of tai feel smooth, like silk. Medium levels of tai feel slightly more textured, like velvet or soft suede. Higher levels of tai feel rough, like fur rubbed the wrog way, heavy cotto or tweed. Body: Red wies are geerally more full-bodied ad heavier tha whites because they iclude tais ad pigmets. But like white wies, reds rage from light- to medium- to full-bodied. Ability to age: Tai acts as a preservative, helpig top reds age gracefully for decades. SIP >> Body, Flavor, Taste, Mouthfeel ad Fiish Complete the etire "sip" evaluatio for the first wie before movig o to the ext wie. Body Take a sip of wie -- just eough to coat the isides of your mouth. Is the Cab thick or heavy i your mouth? Or is it fairly light? Circle your observatios o your tastig checklist. Flavor Swish the wie aroud i your mouth. The flavors i the mouth are ofte the same as the aromas o the ose. Are the flavors the same as the aromas? Do you detect ay additioal flavors? Do you get ay vailla or toasty oak flavors from barrels? Uderlie the flavors o your tastig checklist. Califoria Caberet Copyright 2003 Wie Spectator, Ic. All Rights Reserved 5
Taste Your togue picks up the taste while the wie is i your mouth. Is the Caberet Sauvigo sweet due to residual sugar or because it has ripe fruit flavors? Do you detect ay bitteress from the tais? Circle your observatios o your tastig checklist. Mouthfeel The mouthfeel related to taste ofte becomes more apparet after you spit or swallow. Acidity Does the wie's acidity make your mouth pucker? Tai How does your mouth feel after spittig or swallowig the wie? Is there a slight dryig sesatio from the tai? Did the wie seem silky or smooth? This idicates lower levels of tai. O r, does your mouth feel completely dried out, like taed leather? Did the wie seem rough, like wool? These are the sigals that the wie has higher levels of tai. Texture Does the texture draw attetio to itself? Is it velvety or silky? Or is it as rough as wool? Circle your observatios o your tastig checklist. Califoria Caberet Copyright 2003 Wie Spectator, Ic. All Rights Reserved 6
Fiish After spittig or swallowig... Do the flavors liger i your mouth? Or do they disappear immediately? Circle your observatios o your tastig checklist. COMPARE THE WINES Which wie has the... Fullest body? Ad the lightest? Most complex flavors? Ad the simplest? Biggest tais? Ad the lightest? Smoothest tais? Logest fiish? Ad the shortest? Most otable textural quality? Pricig Cues Geerally, more expesive wies have... More complex flavors Bigger tais, but they must be balaced by sufficiet fruit Notable --ad pleasig-- textures Loger fiishes Califoria Caberet Copyright 2003 Wie Spectator, Ic. All Rights Reserved 7
4S: SEE, SNIFF, SIP, SUMMARIZE SUMMARIZE >> Quality ad Persoal Preferece Rak the four wies i terms of quality ad persoal preferece. Quality Is the wie straightforward? Or complex, with lots of aromas ad flavors? Would it hold your iterest for a secod glass? Are the aromas ad flavors appealig? Are the compoets--fruit, sweetess ad acidity--i balace? Or does oe of them jump out at you? Is the fiish short or log? Circle your coclusios o your tastig checklist. Persoal Preferece Do you like the wie? Are the aromas ad flavors appealig to you? Would you drik a secod glass? Would you recommed this wie to a fried? Circle your reactios o your tastig checklist. GUESS THE PRICE CATEGORY Now it's time to guess which wie is i which price category. Fill i the "your guess" colum o the tastig mat by writig i a wie code ext to each price category. Oce you've all made your guesses, you may wat to compare otes ad discuss your fidigs before the uveilig. Uveil the bottles ad write the correct aswers o your tastig mat i the spaces provided. Did you guess some of the prices correctly? Do't be too hard o yourself for ay icorrect guesses as oe of the wies might be a outstadig value. Califoria Caberet Copyright 2003 Wie Spectator, Ic. All Rights Reserved 8
REEVALUATE THE FOUR WINES Now that you kow which wie is which, you ca lear more about them by carefully repeatig the Four S tastig process. REVIEW 1. Lie up the four wies i order by price, with the least expesive o the left ad the most expesive o the right. 2. First, evaluate the wies from left to right, or least expesive to most expesive. 3. The evaluate the wies from right to left, or most expesive to least expesive. Could you idetify the price cues i each wie? Which oes were most obvious? Does oe of the wies represet a value, competig with a more expesive wie? Which wie would you serve at a cocktail party? O a week ight? O a weeked? OPTIONAL: TEST YOUR SENSES Now that you've carefully examied all four wies, it's time to see if you ca idetify them blid. (The glasses should still be marked A, B, C ad D, though you may wat to cover the markig or move each stickie to the uderside of the base so you do't "remember" which wie is which.) 1. Shuffle your glasses so you do't kow which oe is which. 2. Lie up the wies accordig to price, placig the least expesive wie to the left ad the most expesive to the right. Hit: It might be helpful to first compare two wies, order them, ad the order i the third wie, ad the fially the fourth. You may also wat to cosult your tastig joural pages for clues. Oce you've made your iitial order, cofirm your decisio by tastig through the wies oe last time, startig with the least expesive all the way to the most expesive. 3. Compare the codes o your glasses with the "correct aswer colum" o your tastig mat. The orders should match. Cogratulatios o completig this tastig! Califoria Caberet Copyright 2003 Wie Spectator, Ic. All Rights Reserved 9