Common tasting note for white wine (particularly New World Riesling):
"On the palate, it has mouth filling richness of freshly squeezed lemon
juice, full of fresh grapefruit and citrus vitality, crisp finish and
perfect balance of acidity and vinified in the bone-dry style".
What are in balance here? The smell of lemon and grapefruit balanced with
the taste of acidity? Olfactory detection balanced with palatal detection?
Or the perceivable sweetness of alcohol and acidity of grapes? Had one
lately. At 11% alcohol. and 0.2 % r.s. the wine tasted sour. It was like a
Chablis made from Riesling. (Sorry, no name pls.)

Hello Raymond,
My interpretation of a "balanced" wine is that there is a nice mix of
flavors without any one flavor overwhelming the others.

Dan-O <<----nicely balanced

Well, I usually think of balance in white wines as being a function of
fruit and acidity (with residual sugar to acid as an additonal factor
in non-dry wines). In red wines I think of balance as a function of
fruit, tannin, and acidity.

Alcohol, to me, only generally figures in the equation when too much
noticable alcohol (a "hot" wine) throws off the balance.

Now some dislike dry Riesling (such as many Australians, Austrians, and
maybe Alsace) due to what they precieve as too much acidity. Some of us
are acid-freaks, others not. Chacun a son gout.

In message .com>
"DaleW" > wrote:

> ..... Chacun a son gout.
>
or, in the case of curry, chacum à son goat.


Tim Hartley

Does it mean that a wine that has high acidity and zero sugar which is
supposedly sour can be considered as balanced because our brain interprets
the smell of ripe fruits as sweetness. After my humble experiment, I am not
quite convinced. I had two glasses of pure lime juice. One unsweetened and
the other with some sugar.
Obviously, the latter tasted much better because the sugar was in harmony
with the acidity. Though the formal has smell of ripe lime, the inadequacy
of sweetness threw it off balance. My conclusion: a high acidity bone-dry
wine is never balanced.


"DaleW" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Well, I usually think of balance in white wines as being a function of
> fruit and acidity (with residual sugar to acid as an additonal factor
> in non-dry wines). In red wines I think of balance as a function of
> fruit, tannin, and acidity.
>
> Alcohol, to me, only generally figures in the equation when too much
> noticable alcohol (a "hot" wine) throws off the balance.
>
> Now some dislike dry Riesling (such as many Australians, Austrians, and
> maybe Alsace) due to what they precieve as too much acidity. Some of us
> are acid-freaks, others not. Chacun a son gout.
>

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...10SAP1&s=dhsOn
Wed, 5 Oct 2005 23:11:52 +0800, "Raymond" >
wrote:

>Common tasting note for white wine (particularly New World Riesling):
>"On the palate, it has mouth filling richness of freshly squeezed lemon
>juice, full of fresh grapefruit and citrus vitality, crisp finish and
>perfect balance of acidity and vinified in the bone-dry style".
>What are in balance here? The smell of lemon and grapefruit balanced with
>the taste of acidity? Olfactory detection balanced with palatal detection?
>Or the perceivable sweetness of alcohol and acidity of grapes? Had one
>lately. At 11% alcohol. and 0.2 % r.s. the wine tasted sour. It was like a
>Chablis made from Riesling. (Sorry, no name pls.)
>http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...E510SAP1&s=dhs
>

"Raymond" > wrote in
:

> Does it mean that a wine that has high acidity and zero sugar which is
> supposedly sour can be considered as balanced because our brain
> interprets the smell of ripe fruits as sweetness. After my humble
> experiment, I am not quite convinced. I had two glasses of pure lime
> juice. One unsweetened and the other with some sugar.
> Obviously, the latter tasted much better because the sugar was in
> harmony with the acidity. Though the formal has smell of ripe lime,
> the inadequacy of sweetness threw it off balance. My conclusion: a
> high acidity bone-dry wine is never balanced.
>
the problem is that there is a higher acid content to lime juice than grape
and it takes a lot of sugar to overcome the sourness of a Lime in grapes
the two are more in harmony



--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/

"My conclusion: a high acidity bone-dry
wine is never balanced. "

You base this on tasting lime juice?
Hmmm.
No problem, more Nigl Privat, Trimbach CFE, Baumard & Closel
Savennieres, and Louis Michel Chablis for me!