Santa Barbara Wine Trip 2011: After Lunch Tastings (Page Ten)

So Much Wine, So Little Time.... (Page Ten)

After a great lunch it was time to head-em out to the next pour spot....

Because of the combined short memories we reviewed the wine tasting stages....

The results of the four recognized stages to wine tasting:

appearance
"in glass" the aroma of the wine
"in mouth" sensations
"finish" ( aftertaste )

– are combined in order to establish the following properties of a wine:

complexity and character
potential (suitability for aging or drinking)
possible faults

Magnificent day in Santa Barbara

It was a long long brisk walk... about six blocks... many many calories died for us... we will get more

First Stop.... The Wine Cask

Fred was bad and had to stay outside

Mary told him it was OK to come back in...

We filled the place up

Our resident wino just shakes his head wondering if we know a fault from a flaw??

Did You Know? - In wine tasting, there is a distinction made between what is considered a flaw and a fault. Wine flaws are minor attributes that depart from what is perceived as a normal wine characteristics. These include excessive sulfur dioxide, volatile acidity, Brettanomyces or "Brett aromas" and diacetyl or buttery aromas. The amount to which these aromas or attributes become excessive is dependent on the particular tastes and recognition threshold of the wine taster.

Generally, a wine exhibiting these qualities is still considered drinkable by the large masses. However, some flaws such as volatile acidity and Brettanomyces can be considered a fault when they are in such an excess that they overwhelm other components of the wine. Wine faults are generally major attributes that make a wine undrinkable to most wine tasters. Examples of wine faults include acetaldehyde (except when purposely induced in wines like Sherry and Rancio), ethyl acetate and cork taint.

We are discussing the wines in a somber and serious mood

Now Greg has been sent outside

Oh oh.... He is up to something

Did You Know? - In early wine history, the amphora was the vessel of choice for the storage and transportation of wine. Due to the perishable nature of wood material it is difficult to trace the usage of barrels in history. The Greek historian Herodotus noted that ancient Mesopotamians used barrels made of palm wood to transport wine along the Euphrates. Palm is a difficult material to bend and fashion into barrels, however, and wine merchants in different regions experimented with different wood styles to find a better wood source.

The use of oak has been prevalent in winemaking for at least two millennia, first coming into widespread use during the Roman empire. In time, winemakers discovered that beyond just storage convenience that wine kept in oak barrels took on properties that improved the wine by making it softer and in some cases better-tasting.[3] Robert Mondavi is credited with expanding the knowledge of winemakers in the United States about the different types of oak and barrel styles through his experiments in the 1960s & 1970s.

Next door the conversation was the same

The photographer escaped

"I fink wine is jusssssst fine!"

"No Hans... There is no such thing as gooseberry wine!"

"See, I have him whipped into shape... again!"

Scott watches Mon and Dad to make sure they are OK

The photos on the wall were great

Interesting name

Did You Know? - The label explains that "chukker" is a playing period in a polo game. The popularity of polo in some of Santa Barbara's wealthy 'burbs would explain that facet of the definition, but the word descends from a circular concept in Eastern languages. To find that the wine sits round and full in the mouth is no surprise.

They are falling behind