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In almost all European countries wine will be legally
designated as being in the "Table wine" or "Quality Wine"
categories, but the rules are not uniform and you will find
good and bad wines in both categories. These classifications
are well documented but criteria for assessing a wine,
regardless of any formal classification system are not so well
understood.
In South Africa there is no legislated quality designation
which leaves producers free to use and abuse phases like
"Quality Wine", "Grand Cru" and "Premier Grand Cru" to the
extent that they have become almost meaningless. I believe
that at least the phrase "Quality Wine" should designate a
wine with fairly high standards which makes it distinctly
superior to merely "Good Wine".
Wine can indeed be categorised as follows:
- Flawed wine
- Good wine
- Quality Wine
- Super Premium Wine
In South Africa, with the exception of the 'papsak'
industry, almost all wine is made well. The wines are filtered
clear, acids, alcohol and tannins are all within reason and
sulphur dioxide levels are within legal limits, etc.
But the truth is such 'good wine' is not in the quality
class. Whether its good box wine or good bottled wine, you can
swirl and sniff as much as you like, it will stay
undistinguished. At best such wine's best features will be
described as what it is not….not too acidic or tart, not too
tannic, not too sweet, not too bad.
A Quality wine is indeed in a different class. It is more
than just OK. Even the untrained wine lover should recognise
the superior quality. I list the following as signs of a
Quality Wine:
- Firstly the wine must be distinctly what it
claims to be. The varietal character must be true and
recognisable. A Cabernet Sauvignon must smell and taste like
one, so with a Shiraz, Riesling, Chardonnay or whatever.
- Its obvious but it needs to said … Wine must be
free of obvious flaws, such as cork taint, oxidation, and
harsh, gum drying tannins.
- The wine must have some complexity and be
multidimensional. It must have varied and interesting
flavours.
- The wine should show good extract of fruit and
tannins which should be evident in colour richness, in fruit
flavours and ripe tannins.
- The wine must be in balance. Fruit, fruit tannin,
wood tannin, acid and alcohol must be well integrated.
- Too little acid will make a wine taste flabby,
while too much will make the wine tart.
- Fragrant whites should have a lot of fruit and
zesty acid.
- Wooded wines must be in balance. A very full
bodied red wine can handle a lot of new wood which will
integrate with the wine over time.
- A lighter bodied red or delicate white can
easily be dominated by too much wood flavours.
- A light bodied wine with too much alcohol will
taste sweet and leave a burning sensation.
- Some tasters consider excessive fruit a
negative.
A fruity, forward Pinotage is often slated,
while a fruitless, austere Hermitage from the Rhone valley
could be praised as being 'elegant'.
- The wine's aftertaste must be pleasant and linger
a while. If you can still remember the wine the next day you
probably had a great wine, approaching the Super Premium
category, that is of course, if these are pleasant
memories!
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