I wish I had the words to put this clearly, but I'll just have to do my best.
I have encountered several peach, blackberry, and rapsberry wines that taste phenomenal. When tasting, I experience what I can only describe as a "Zing!" My first encounter was with a wine I quickly dubbed "Electric Rapsberry". The problem is, I can't duplicate that effect in my own wines. What causes this "Zing!" sensation, and how can I duplicate it in my own wines?
Could it be that your are getting a slight prickling feeling on your tongue? Sort of like it is a sparking wine but not really? If that is what you are getting, I believe it is called piquant and it is due to the wine being bottled early, without de-gassing.
Some people like this sensation. Many do not. (I don't but then I do not like Champaign either.) But if this is it and you like it, to h--- with what anyone else thinks. It is your wine, craft it how you like it!
Ray
Hi Matthew,
Though I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "Zing!," failing Ray's piquant suggestion perhaps you could consider pH / aciditiy? Certainly a lower pH will add to the 'freshness' (and possible "Zing!") of the wine.
Mike
Matthew Givens wrote:
A "zing"?
Yes, an attractive feature of some fruit wines... I'm assuming the sweeter wines here. It could be caused by dissolved CO2 and the associated carbonic acid levels see
it also could be as the result of overall balance in the wine between tannins, sweetness and acidity. So many fruit wines I have tasted miss out on this important balance.
Don't hold back on the definition that the application of acids: citric, malic or tartaric can make to a wine. Don't just rely on the pH of a wine either, the taste test has a very important place. An easy example is the difference in taste and balance between Coca Cola freshly opened, and Coca Cola left to go flat. Which is sweeter? Which is in balance?
Regards
Wayne
I am taking about flat Coca Cola. Our taste buds react to taste according to temperature too. Flat Coke tastes sweeter because it is usually at room temperature. The cold temperature masks the sweetness, thus we taste the sourness in the phosphoric acid. Carbonation increases sourness because of carbonic acid formation. The zing is gone when the Coke goes warm and flat.
So back to the wine. You get more zing by lowering the PH (increased sourness), lowering the sweetness, lowering the temperature (lessen our sensitivity to sweetness), or increasing the carbonation. The last one is only if you are making sparkling wine.
Best Regards, Wannabe ======
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