[MUSIC] Welcome to Wine Tasting, otherwise known as Sensory Techniques for Wine Analysis. My name is John Buechsenstein, and I'm a UC Davis Extension instructor. Actually, I'm a winemaker and have been for about 30 years. But all along I've been teaching sensory evaluation classes for UC Davis and also elsewhere. And it's my passion, it's something I really love to do. And in thinking about the best way to bring this information to you, I have developed four separate modules. In the first module, we're going to talk about wine in general, general types of wine. We're going to review the type of equipment you would need to set up a tasting of your own. How you would take notes, what types of glasses you would use. The importance of spitting when you're tasting formally. And various things to help you get started in the world of wine. I'll also be sharing with you sensory vocabulary that you'll use at each step of the way. When you look at wine, when you smell wine, when you taste wine. A second module will review classic wine types of the world. Many wines of the world are called by their grape names. But in some cases, they're called by the name of the region where they're produced. So we'll talk about that in module two. And in Module 2, we'll actually set up flights of certain wines, which I'll assign to you in advance. And we'll taste them together so you can get further practice in actual live tasting with me. [MUSIC] The third module will talk about wine faults. As a winemaker, [LAUGH] I realize that there are a lot of potential problems that can develop with wine. And so my duty is to guard against them. As a wine judge judging maybe a few thousand wines every year, I actually find a lot of those wine faults. So it's important for us to know what they are so that we won't think they are normal for a particular wine. We'll know that there's something going wrong with this wine. I won't necessarily be able to illustrate all of those thoughts for you. But I'll tell you very, very shortly how to recognize them. The fourth module that we've prepared is a module talking about wine and food and wine and food compatibility. Wines are a food or a beverage on their own. And they have their own balance of flavor, and so forth. Food, in another part of the meal, has its own flavor, interaction, and balance. But the question is, do they go together? Does the wine ruin the food? Does the food diminish the quality of the wine? And how do we best predict what that compatibility will be between the wine and the food? It's not that difficult to do if we just know a few basic principles. So that's what we'll review for you. As a final project, in fact, I'm going to assign you to go out and find a wine and completely describe it. Not only in its sensory aspects, but also some information about where it came from and the culture in which it exists. And I'll also ask you to find a compatible food and find a recipe and mention the elements in that food that are going to work nicely with the wine. Mention the elements in the wine to make sure that they are going to be compatible with the food so that we have a good balance, food and wine. And that's what it's all about, that's what's really fun. I think you'll find, even as a novice taster, if you simply take a moment and look at the glass. Pause and sniff the glass. Take a quick sip and taste the glass. And pay attention to what's in the glass. You'll be a superior taster very, very quickly. You'll be a better taster than most of your friends, in fact. Most people will pick up a glass of wine and just toss it back and say, yeah, that's lovely. But actually what I want you to do is to pause. In fact, pause a little bit longer, focus on all the basic components of that wine, and take notes as you do so. And you'll end up a very, very accomplished taster. All the way along, we're going to give you vocabulary to use. We're going to acquaint you with the various expected flavors and aromas that there are in wines. And then ultimately talk about how those will blend nicely with the food that's on the table, as well. So I'm looking forward to working with you over these four modules. And I'll just kick this off by saying, cheers. [MUSIC]
