Did I lost my taste ability?

Salut mes amis! Ouais it has been again some time since I wrote and again it has been weeks of writing reports, working on the weekend and short I just simply crashed down into my bed in the evenings. The weekends, well, I stayed home and had skype meetings or home work to do. Not much time and also motivation to get closer to the keyboard. Plus, I was having the feeling over the last couple of weeks that I somehow have lost my taste ability for wine. Every wine that I bought (mostly from Argentina, Chile and France) tasted for me the same - no taste at all!

Try to imagine a French guy that lost its tasting ability.... freaking scary - and that is mildly put -. So it was kinda down feeling for me, while having so much to do and then the only enjoyable relaxation together with a nice dish seemed to be taken from me, until I figured out what seemed to be the problem for me.

 

I remember that last during summer last year, when visiting my dad, we encountered a similar problem. Some of the wines we had purchased seemed to apparently take days until we could taste something from them. The reason for this is that a wine is in general a reductive solution. By means that every compound within it has a reductive ability. If you normally would like to taste something you should give it some time to breath, so that oxygen can enter the wine and react. Reductive agents on the other hand react with oxygen (preferably) and bind it. In this way, the wine's oxygen level remains low which is favorable that mircobes cannot grow and spoil the wine, plus an reductive solution reacts with a lot of different things (e.g. parts of the mircobes, which leads to their death), even the compounds within the wine and leading to a specific development of it over the years.

But coming back to the reason of the reductivity of the wine. Basically, the wine is becoming reductive by its fermentation process. Since the beginning until today, sulfate was added to the wine at the end of fermentation process. Adding sulfate results in a kill of all microorganisms (also stops the fermentation therefore) within the wine and makes it reductive. So whats the problem now? Mhm... just simply that the fermentation process of wine making hasn't changed very much over the last hundreds to thousands years, just that the equipment became better and everything is quite more under control when making wine, which in some way - I am lacking here some background - leads to an higher reductivity of the wine before reaching the end of fermentation.

In short the wine needs even longer periods of time in order to develop its aroma and its unique taste. And apparently there seems to be a contest between different wine makers - my impression - of who can make the wine more reductive. As an example, an open wine from Argentina took more than 3 days at room temperature to lose so much of its reductivity until I was able to taste the flavour.

 

The conclusion for me now is, that in the future I have to figure in advance which wines need more time before I can offer them to friends or even enjoy for myself.

 

Okay, thats it mes amis! Hope to be write a new post in a couple of weeks again!
Take care and enjoy spring! :)

 

 

Glycerol - a taste smoother

Salut les gars!
How was your last week? Mine was pretty busy and I am so happy to have now a weekend of rest and some peace, even though I was planning to spend some time with friends together, but health is sometimes more important so I slept pretty well and late. Now I am refreshed for another post again! The sun is shining outside finally again in Finland and before jumping off and enjoying a nice walk in it (with all the snow around glimmering and shining) I remembered I promised to post something about glycerol! :D

When presenting you last time the wine I found - La Jasse Castel - I mentioned about the glycerol content of the wine. Mais (French word for "but"), what does this actually means, what is it good for and why is it even in the wine??? All of them are good questions.

 

Glycerol is a product that occurs during the wine fermentation. It is basically produced as - let's just say - "side-product" of the yeast. While the yeast is performing the alcoholic fermentation a lot of different metabolic products are consumed by it and also produced. The average content of the glycerol within wine can vary and depends also on the yeast strain or starter cultures they used for the wine fermentation. Concerning the different yeast strains and how much they produce is one of the huge discussion topics if you happen to encounter a wine maker. Some of them say that the different yeast strains don't not significally increase or lessen the glycerol content when added to the wine. The average concentration that a yeast can produced ranges from - oh.....pfffff.... attend les gars je suis en train de me souvenir (what guys.. I am trying to remember it)... - 4.5 to 13 g/L less or more. But with the numbers I am not anymore so pretty sure, but it should have been in this range.

Glycerol chemical structure

Anyway, my personally impression is that the glycerol production of the yeast simply depends on the nutrition within the grapes juice. Therefore, it could vary from each year, as each year different weather and soil conditions impact the composition of nutrition within each grape. And yes it is highly possible that some yeast strains (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) might produce more, if I speak from my experience as biologist.

 

However, why is it important to have glycerol in wine? Basically, because glycerol is supposed to support the mouth feeling. I use the word suppose, because there is kinda of fierce battle between the people in the wine community about the importance of glycerol and effect towards the wine tasting and quality. Glycerol is for itself an odorless viscous liquid with a "sweet" taste. Therefore, some people tend to say it is not so important and has no overall contribution towards the wine in its taste and smell, cause this depends a lot on the different aromas and tannins within the wine. Other people again praise the glycerol in wine (some who are talking about Botrytis cinerea - a grapes pathogen, but also used for wines that have high sugar concentration such as dessert wines - more of that in my next post!) and so on.

If you ask me, it's kind of mixed thing. It's like I mentioned it very often: a wine is the sum of its compounds not of each single one! So therefore I see glycerol as a "transmitter/transporter" to be able to have a nice mouth feeling and start to taste the different aromas. (In terms of biology or chemistry I would consider glycerol - cause of its structure and some chemical properties - as a "carrier" for the aromas..... and yes some of the chemistry and biology people might shot me for this blurry and not 100% correct explanation. Just go with it, please. If I start here with an explicit explanation I will sit here and keep writing a book!) 

So could someone not just easily add some more glycerol to a less good vintage? Ouais, that is possible and I could assume some people did before analytic devices were used in the wine making and wine evaluation (to make competition and wine production that what it is: A summary of nature's gift and the talent of the wine maker).

 

Maybe you guys have now some kind of idea what glycerol is and why it is - that is for you to decide - important in wine. At least, next time you meet some into-wine-people you can talk with them about this and proof some info ;)

 

The curtain (left: after swirling, right: 8 secons later)
This wine was having less glycerol content

Just a tip on the way, you can also check the glycerol content of a wine by yourself. How? Pretty easy, but not like saying it has the following concentration of x g/L in it.
You simply swirl your wine glass and see how long the - let's call it - the "curtain" (sorry I don't happen to remember the correct term for it anymore!) stays on the glass (see pictures). The longer it stays on the glass, the higher the glycerol content is.

 

Bon les gars! I am off to enjoy the sun and later some good food and sauna! Have a relaxing and whatever you do nice weekend! :)

À bientôt

La joie de vivre! - Wine from the Montpeyroux region

 

Salut les gars! :)

Today I am happy to introduce you a very special wine I recently found in an Alko shop in Helsinki, which I even don't get so easily in France. As a matter of fact I have never seen or found this wine in a shop in France! One of the reasons I had never heard or seen this wine is, that it is quite a special one and not easily to be purchased, except if you purchase it from the winemaker directly or their website.

So I actually found the wine by accident when I was shopping in Helsinki and was already on my way back to the bus stop and passed a very small (and well hidden) Alko Shop on my route. It must have been at least a year since I happen to walk into this small one, but nevertheless after a minute I already found the treasure (okay it was THE wine, but hey it really was and is a treasure for me to find it! ;D )

Eh ben, you might wonder what is so special about this wine, well for this a small back draft in time.... I don't remember if I mentioned it in one of my blogs before, but once in Autumn 2010, somewhere in the mountains of Pont-en-Royans at a renovated house that used to be an old farm house (but still possessing its special charm), I was introduced into a new wine I had never heard of before. It was already dark and kind chilly outside, sitting on an uneven earthen terace with some candles put onto old wine bottles to illuminate it a little bit. The chairs we were sitting on were kinda old - but fortunate, mine was still stable - and used to make noises one and then when someone of us needed to replace the bottom a bit since these were not the most comfortable chairs to sit in. Still, it is and was what makes things in France so special for me. Everything doesn't matter as long as you have good company, something to drink and some appetizers to share with and enjoy the conversations without thinking about anything else than just to enjoy the moment (maybe thats one of the reasons why I love Finland so much, cause it is so similar, but I should stick to the story). So, while sitting in these chairs and enjoying the time, a friend of my father, Marco, brought some wine up from the cellar. It was a wine called: "La Jasse Castel". He opened the bottle and leaned himself over the table to pour the wine into all the glasses that were standing on the table. Also, this table was quite old and shaked occassionally on the uneven ground when you accidentially pushed it a bit too much. Luckily, we always catched our glasses before the wine intended to swap over the glasses - yeah French people are very skilled in this particular one! - What I experienced next, I will definitely never forget! I took a sip and after a few seconds I was mind-blasted away! What an extraordinairy wine! What an excellent bouquet and a nose.....ufff..... have you ever had a wine, that had a taste of roasted meat (smell and taste) while still being smooth and not to overwhelming with this taste so that other taste notes (e.g. berries) still were present. I never had this kind of alike one before! At that time I really just enjoyed it. Also, Marco was absolutely enchanted by this wine and told that he still hadn't figured out what kind of "meat" it could be that gives the wine this special taste. Actually, I told him that it tasted like kangaroo meat, which I had in that summer in Australia tasted. Awesome, awesome, awesome or bref: "Je crois au Dieu" (Phrase for something extraordinaire great: I believe in good).

 

So maybe now you understand why I was so happy to find this wine here in Finland! :D

When checking  later the winemakers website, I just realized that I actually hadn't purchased the same wine I had in 2010. From "La Jasse Castel" four different wines happen to exist. The one I had in 2010 was called "La Jasse Castel - La Jasse". The one I found was called "La Jasse Castel - LA PIMPANELA". Nevertheless, this one is also very special and great so I did not at all regretted to purchase the whole stock from Alko (don't get me wrong, they had ONLY three bottles left of this one and told me that they haven't had reordered it or might likely do it. Well, take a wild guess, if this wine is so special and not easy to get, who would wonder about!)

Anyway so now to the feedback of the wine.

 

Name: "La Jasse Castel - LA PIMPANELA"
Origin: Coteaux Du Languedoc - Montpeyroux
Vintage: 2010
Grape(s): Grenach & Syrah (please check the winemakers website to find more about these special grapes!)
Alcohol: 14,5 %
Price: 17,90 €
Shop: Alko
Personal rank: 8.4 of 10 points (10 points = best!)

Website: http://www.jasse-castel.com/

 

Color: Dark rubin one, close to dark and deep purple

Smell: Smokey, cranberries, dark cherries. Even tho 14.5% alcohol, the smell was not covered by it! 

 

Taste: Smokey, cark cherries, very nice aftertaste

 

Development:

~ 15 mins (after opening the bottle): The taste intensity of the berries becomes stronger

~ 35 min: the wine starts to open up more. More different aromas are appearing (had trouble to define them) 

~24h : Wine has become very smooth and all the aromas are quite balanced. The tannins cover of the aromas has lessened.

Tannin(s): A lot.

Food: Lamb steak, dark meat, potatoes, cheese. I would not suggest any white meat (e.g. chicken) as the taste of the chicken would not be competitive enough for the wine. Some berries as side-dish would be a nice complementation. 

 

Résumé:

An excellent wine. I am actually lacking words here. It is definitely a wine that can be stored a couple of years. Recommend to enjoy the wine with some good company. The high alcohol content is not disturbing or a hindrance for the taste and smell. Excellenter Glycerol content (will take about Glycerol and what it is and why it is important in the next upcoming post!) Suggestion to open up this kind of special wine - if possible - 24h before consuming and in decanter. Price absolutely acceptable for Finland.
I strongly recommend to taste this wine if you can find it! :)

Aeration of the wine

Salut!
A new post about a topic that I wrote once before: Aeration of the wine. Aeration is especially important for red wines as they need more oxygen to develop the aroma. In general white wine need also some aeration, but much less than red wine. Both are quite reduced (in terms of chemistry you can say reductive) solutions. However, the red wine needs more time to take up oxygen due to its tannins and aromas development, while the white wine's taste is based upon the different compositions of "fruity acids". Ouais (french commonly used word for "yes"), some of the white wine lovers would not agree with me on this 100% or even kick my ... oh well you know what... but hei, I have never considered myself a white wine expert! Bref, lets put it down with saying the longer the white wine remains oxygenized the faster the "fruity acids" and taste will get less intensive.
Okay, after a short recapitulation about a previous post, let's continue....ou j'avais la tête....öhhh... ah ouais! 

Aeration experiment

I was actually wondering how you guys could actually try the red wine development without having any of these fancy and often hellish expensive "decanters". Well, I tried something very easy and the results was quite satisfying: All what you need is 3-4 red wine glasses and a bottle of red wine -naturellement (french: of course)-. That’s it! The first glass will be filled, let’s say ~ 30% with red wine, then all the other glass will be filled 45-50% (depends where the surface of the wine will have the maximum capacity of obtaining oxygen). Then you swirl all of the glasses for a short bit (2-3-5 seconds) and start with the first glass that only 30% contains. Smell it, taste it. Put your hand around it and wait a while to warm it up and taste, smell and swirl it occasionally and see if it changes it taste.
While you taste glass no.1 the other glasses will have some time to development their aroma. Preferably you should start with the 2nd glass 15-20 min after opening up the bottle. When you start with the 2nd, again first smelling, swirling, smelling, tasting (actually the order of what you do: smell, taste or swirling can be up to you! Try and test it out!). The 3rd glass you can taste after you finished your 2nd (or if you are a little bit faster in enjoying the 2nd glass) like after 30-45 after you open the bottle.
Believe me, you will smell and taste the difference! :D And btw would be nice if you could give me your feedback about this by a comment below! ;)

And for the new post, which I already have in mind, I have a new wine to present. I was so super happy to find this one....why? Well, be ready for my next post ;)

À bientôt mes amis!

 

Awaking of the hibernation - reviving my blog

Me at the inner wall of Osaka castle

Salut à tous! (Hey everybody). My blog is back! So what the hell happened since the last post 9 months ago? Well, well, well, actually quite a lot. Too much to tell everything in detail, but it took me a while to figure a lot of things our personally and also I had just simply too much work to do and then most of the time was feeling too much crush than to be motivated and in the mood for writing a new post. I was afraid that the quality of my post would suffer, so therefore I took a short break... and yeah it became a longer one. Now I am feeling strong, encourage, motivate ...bla bla bla (long French sentences with loads of adjectives later).... I feel like a wine that had time to rest and mature. Period.

Kiyomizu-dera temple, Kyoto

Anyway now I am back! So what happened to me?

 

The short version:

 

1) Working quite much

 

2) Visiting Japan for a conference and for holidays (a dream that came true finally after 10 years of waiting! also meet a maiko and a geiko! awesome!) :D

 

Okonominyaki - food, awesome delicious

3) Read loads of books and had loads of wine's checked out for you! (Don't worry, I used the break wisley ;) I made pics and notes, just need to put them here!)

 

4) Working voluntary (became the new President of the new founded Leo Club Helsinki/UNLIMITED and at the same time Accommodation Manager for LEF 2013) (for more info about Leos and Lions Club International, please check the internet)

 

A temple in the royal place garden, Kyoto

5) Being the bride's Best man (okay yeah still its the Maid of Honor) of my two best friends. Yeah, that was quite work as well, but something that I didn't see as work, but it took quite much time for the wedding speech (ohlàlàlà, that was so emotional to write that thing and still tried to make it funny)! :D

 

6) Started to cook more intensivly fancy food and bref too many other details!

 

So after this short update about the events from last year that have influenced me quite much back to the writing.

For you guys important to know concerning updates: I won't be able to guarantee you every week an update. If you are lucky and I have time you will get one, but I try to aim at least every two weeks to give you a new post. The posts will also become shorter, while trying to keep the quality of it high!

 

So thats it for today mes amis! À bienôt! :) ahhhh ca fait du bien d'être retourné (ah it feels good to be back!)