Drink this Now Lesson 2

Lesson 2

Our set up including shot glasses, rocks cups, water cups (not pictured), wine glasses, a big wine glass, and a huge bowl to sub for the fish tank.

1. We lined up our glasses, chilled the white wine, and put a shot of wine into each container.
2. We filled the containers with a shot each of white wine. We did this during the first step.

The gerwertstraminer in all of our glasses and some crackers to chew on in between.

3.  White Wine Smelling and Tasting:

• Shot Glass: Concentrated lychee, sweet and pair. These flavors are present but not very complex and I really have to think about finding them. Tasting was rough. It's kind of hard to drink. Acidic and metallic. There is a lingering taste of lychee and pair though which is nice. Some residual sugar. 
• Rocks Glass: Mellowed out, not as much fruit, smells more rotten and musty. More of an alcohol smell. When tasting it was a lot better. Not metallic at all. Those gross flavors from the shot glass are gone. It's smoother and softer and more of the fruit comes through. There's even a walnut or chestnut taste in the back. 
• Water Glass: I really can't smell much of anything. Maybe a hint that it's sweet? That's it. Tastes like it did with the rocks glass. Smooth, no metallic taste, and lots of lychee and pear. But this time, there was also a hit from the alcohol. 
• Wine glass: Ooooo this is why we drink out of wine glasses. The smell is so well concentrated and pleasant. There is some subtle fruit and sweetness. But at the same time, I can smell the crispness and the acid. The sweetness and acid balance each other out very well and the fruit complements well. Floral tastes came out at the end as well.
• Flared Glass: Similar to the water glass. You really can't smell much other than some sweetness. More sharp than the water glass though and the metallic taste returns. Not well balanced and very heavy on the alcohol. 
• Huge Bowl: Really no smell at all. Not even sweetness or alcohol. The flavor was washed out as well. It was like sweet water with some lychee. 

4. I found that even out of order, I still found that the larger glasses and flaired glasses gave less scent and that the smaller ones were more concentrated. I still found the wine glass to be a perfect vessel revealing subtle flavors and layers of fruit, acid, crispness, and sweetness. It is sooo good. When I whirled in the fishbowl, the wine smoothed out so much more and was easier to drink. Still more dilute though.

Our classes right after the Shiraz experiment. Only one cracker remains.

5. Red Wine Smelling and Tasting:

• Shot Glass: All I smell is wood. Taste is sharp, bold, and very oaky. Really not much of a fan of that. It was so overwhelmingly dry, tannin, and there was absolutly no fruit or layers. 
• Rocks Glass: Still the same woody scent but with a little more jammy black fruit. More smoky and jammy red and black berries. Good smoke, rich creamy body. 
• Water Glass: Smells are very very faintly of strawberry but so little smell. Oaky and smoky but not really any laying of flavor. 
• Wine Glass: Smells so much more complex. Some nice jammy black and red fruit, some smoke, oak, and even a bit of acid. So well balanced when smelling. This is what wine should taste like. It was peddle toned with the oak and then fruit just erupted. Blackberry, ripe strawberry, raspberry, tart cherry. So incredibly good and muddled together into a smoky jam. 
• Flared Glass: All I get out of smelling this is acid and alcohol. Tasted very much like tannins, acid, and some sharp, tart cherry. Some oaky and smokey jammy fruit stick around but so does a new metallic flavor. 
• Huge Bowl: No smell. Smells like the plastic in the bowl. The taste though isn't terrible. Sure, the acid is a bit overpowering. But there is a leather sort of taste that complements the jammy oxidized fruit. 

6.  In the bigger glass, with more surface area, there is certainly more to smell. But it's not as inviting. The smells in the larger flared glass are more acidic and of alcohol and not as much fruit. It's kind of unpleasant. In the smaller glass though, the taper helps concentrate the smell. And since there is a better bowl shape to the smaller wine glass, more of the fruit is exposed. The smell is much more complementary to the wine.