It’s what you like that counts, simple as that. But there are some things we can do to help us derive maximum pleasure from the wines we buy and drink. Look for colour, smell, taste and how the wine feels in the mouth.
The last three involve some swirling and there has recently been significant scientific advice on the subject, some of which could well interest anyone who has read thus far.
While researching this topic I encountered advice that “this is the most important part of wine tasting ... The average person can smell more than 2000 different scents, and wine has more than 200 of its own. Now that you've swirled the wine and released the bouquet, you should smell the wine at least three times". And so on.
But there is much more to it, as journals around the wine world have reported in recent weeks.
Paris’s Le Figaro reported that ”while wine lovers automatically swirl the wine in their glass to aerate it and release its aromas, few, if any, do so in conscious awareness that behind this slow rotation lies a complex problem of fluid mechanics that has kept researchers at the Lausanne branch of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology busy for three years.”
Head of the Swiss team Mohammed Farhat says they were looking for a way to mix biological cell cultures, apparently a major challenge in the pharmaceutical industry. He noticed that the flick of the wrist gesture used by wine tasters showed all the qualities needed to mix cultures - and could be adapted to be used on a much bigger scale.
London’s Daily Telegraph provides the most readable report, some of which follows.
Researchers have discovered how the technique really works. And they say the findings could have benefits for drugs research and help inspire new medical treatments.
The mystery of how the process, known in physics as 'orbital shaking', allows connoisseurs to appreciate the wine's aroma, or bouquet, was uncovered by researchers who studied the waves generated around the inner edge of the glass.
Fluid experts have long observed the action churns the liquid as it travels, drawing in oxygen from the air and intensifying the smell.
Dr Farhat (remember him from the Lausanne Institute) said: "The formation of this wave has probably been known since the introduction of glass or any other kind of cylindrical bowl, but what has been lacking is a description of the physics related to the mixing and oxygenation."
To figure out how the mixing occurs, his researchers tracked the motion of travelling waves in clear cylinders with state of the art instruments while measuring the velocity of the liquid.
Dr Farhat said: "As the wave propagates along the glass wall, the liquid is displaced back and forth from bottom to top and from the centre to the periphery.
"This pumping mechanism, induced by the wave, is more pronounced near the free surface and close to the wall, which enhances the mixing."
He added the study, presented at a physics meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, also found "for a given glass shape, the mixing and oxygenation may be optimised with an appropriate choice of shaking diameter and rotation speed."
And Dr Farhat revealed: "The intuitive and efficient motion of wine swirling has inspired engineers in the field of biopharmaceuticals."
This is where cell cultures are placed in large cylindrical containers - or bioreactors - and 'shaken' in a manner similar to the aeration of a glass of wine.
He said the new work demonstrates "such bioreactors offer better mixing and oxygenation over existing stirred tanks, provided that operating parameters are carefully optimised.
"Moreover, the gentle nature of orbital shaking also ensures a better viability and growth rate of the cells at reduced cost."
End of learned argument.
Wine lovers believe in smelling the drink before the first sip. I reckon the smell is very much part of the taste, simple as that. Okay, so you see, swirl, sip and spit like an expert, but how about listening to the wine?
Len Evans did a huge amount to promote the Australian wine industry and had a lot of fun along the way. Once in a while, with the right audience, he would, during a serious tasting, raise various glasses to an ear and seem to be listening carefully. No need for words, but the action would in due course be replicated by a few desperately earnest enthusiasts.
Haven’t seen it for years, more’s the pity.
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And now for something upon which to use these newly remembered skills: Rymill Coonawarra 2010 The Yearling cabernet sauvignon ($15).
Here’s the story. John Riddoch planted the first grapevines in the Coonawarra district in 1890. Six generations on, his great-great grandson John Rymill is managing director of the family company. The yearling is an addition to the core range of mature release cabernets and the company word is that “the wine might cost only $15 but that doesn’t mean anything has been compromised.
Estate-grown fruit has been crafted to capture all that is good about cabernet and Coonawarra.” Early gentle pressing and not a lot of oak lets the fruit shine in a soft, supple and approachable structure. Good right now but will cellar for a while.
