wct@mordor.UUCP (Bill Thompson) (01/16/86)
Through fortuitous circumstances I was able to acquire a bottle of the Kenwood
Chenin Blanc, 1984 as suggested by Kyle Adler ($4.77 / 750 ml. at Lucky's
Grocery Stores for those of you in the SF Bay area). I used a chart out of
the book "Winetasters' Secrets" (the author gives about 10 different charts)
for my evaluation. I explain the chart below. Incidentally I highly recommend
this book, it seems much more practical than the usual "Wines, their Sensory
Evaluation" by Amerine and ____. It gives a lot of tips on improving your tasting
abilities. I'll try to provide a more complete reference
to the book later this week.
The ratings are on a 0-4 score (as explained below), the score is the rating
times the weighting factor (given in parenthesis for each category).
Kenwood Chenin Blanc 1984
rating score
Visual
1. Appearance (1X): 3 3
2. Color (2X): 4 8
Olfactory (nose)
3. Intensity (2X): 3 6
4. Aroma (2X) 3 6
5. Bouquet (2X): 3 6
Tactile
6. Body (1X) 2 2
7. Astrigency (2X) 2 4
Taste
8. Sweetness (1X) 4 4
9. Acidity (2X) 2 4
10. Bitterness (1X) 2 2
11. Flavor (2X) 2 4
12. Balance (2X) 2 4
13. Typicalness (1X) 3 3
14. General Quality (2X) 3 6
15. Hedonic (2X) 3 6
Total 70
The 0-4 rating encompasses bad (0), poor (1), ordinary (2), fine(3)
and great (4). The evaluation categories may need a little explanation:
(by number).
1. Surface condition and clarity
2. an assesment of the tint and depth, taking into account the type and age.
3. Prominence of composite wine odors (e.g. vinous and intense:4)
4. Smell of the fruit, e.g. characteristic varietal odors rate higher than
nondescript or absent odors.
5. The bouquet is the vinification and ageing odors of the wine.
6. A high score indicates the appropriate body for this type.
7. Astrigency comes from the tannins in the wine--whites should certainly
have less, particularly as they age.
8. A judge of the appropriate sweetness for the type and acid level.
9. A measure of the crispness of the wine--acetic acid (vinegar) tastes
drop this score. Flat-tasting wines with low acidity also score low.
10. The bitterness should usually be evident in the aftertaste--other than
a slight youthful bitterness, a bitter finish should count against the wine.
11. Flavor is a composite of taste and olfactory characteristics, if it is
pleasant and long lasting--it gets top score.
12. Balance, if all of the previous scores are about the same, the wine will
be well-balanced and should score well here.
13. How true to type is this wine?
14. General quality: an overall quality examination.
15. This one is truly subjective, how much do you enjoy the wine?
Note that although our scores were the same (14/20 = 70/100), Kyle's and my
evaluation differed on several points, I was more satisfied with the color--
and less with the body of the wine. We both find some displeasing bitterness,
which seems to me to be fairly common with Chenin Blancs. Still, overall the
wine is very pleasing.
Bill Thompson
--
William C. Thompson III (S-1 Project, Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory)
U.S. Mail: LLNL, P.O. Box 5503, L-278, Livermore, Ca., 94550
Phone: (415) 422-0758
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