Fifty shades of red (and white)

In the first part of how it looks,  we dealt with the legs. Now we are going to tilt our glass 45ish degrees and look at the wine against a white background. The two areas we are focusing on are the general colour and the edge of the wine.

Firstly, the general colour, its not just red, white and pink. The are fifty shades of red, from brick red, cherry red, garnet etc. You have to imagine you are writing the Farrow and Ball chart and come up with your own.


As said before, the more words you throw at the wine, the more chance you will pick it out.
If we look at the two wines above, you could make an educated guess that the darker one on the left, is a Cabernet. While the lighter, almost strawberry red on the right,looks like a Pinot Noir.

So when you are exploring your bottle, note the colour against the grape.

Now, the rim shows age and maturity. Our glass is still tilted and we are holding it against a white background. If the rim of the wine is clear ( for all wines), it is young. For reds, this may mean the wine needs laying down, to age in the bottle. For whites, we are far more likely to drink young.

However,if the colour goes to the very edge, then ageing is occurring. In red wine, if the edge looks rusty,then the wine is matured. This is a broad broom, that I am sweeping with, but I stand by it.
Next week, I will show you this blog has taste.