What exactly is sensor technology?

Wine connoisseurs love to throw around technical terms. So that you can keep up with the next discussion, let's take a look at the term "sensory perception." It has nothing to do with "sense," but rather with the English word "sense" – meaning "sense" or "perception." As is well known, we have five senses (we'll discuss the sixth on Walpurgis Night): sight, smell, taste, touch/feel, and hearing. Indeed, all of these senses are required to evaluate wine.

What would life be without taste? Anyone who's ever had a coronavirus infection or a cold knows how little fun life is when you can't taste or smell anything. And as a winemaker, that literally puts you out of work, at least in the winter.

When it comes to the sensory properties of wine, a distinction is made between primary, secondary and tertiary aromas:

The primary aromas

The primary aromas come directly from the grapes. A Burgundy grape, picked from the vine, tastes very different from a Riesling grape, just as a Granny Smith apple differs from a Boskop apple. These aromas are often fruity and floral and define the so-called "young wines."

The secondary aromas

The secondary aromas develop during the production process in the winery. They are often described as nutty or buttery. The yeasty, creamy character develops from contact with the yeast in the barrel and is crucial to the quality of the wine.

You can find out more about the development in the basement here.

The tertiary aromas

The tertiary aromas emerge in the third step, as the name suggests. This involves aging—and requires a lot of patience! Through what is known as oxidative aging (the development of oxygen in the wine), fascinating aromas emerge, especially when the wine is aged in oak barrels. The aromas that emerge during this phase are reminiscent of coffee, toffee, caramel, and chocolate. Sometimes also of mushrooms, vegetables, or earthy flavors (but thankfully never kale).

If a wine is characterized by primary and secondary aromas, it is referred to as youthful or fresh . However, if the tertiary aromas are the main feature, it is referred to as a fully developed wine with a rounded flavor profile.

Who came up with the idea of ​​the three-tiered flavors?

The systematic tasting scheme by which wines are assessed, and in which these three aroma levels play a major role, was established by WSET in 1969. The abbreviation WSET stands for " Wine and Spirit Education Trust " and comes—you wouldn't believe it—from England, which is famous for many things, but not for wine. The goal of this now world-renowned association was and is to educate taste palates and make assessment and categorization more comparable internationally. Since then, the sensory analysis or sensory assessment of wine has truly become a scientific discipline based on statistical evaluation. We've attached the tasting scheme for you.

There are strict rules governing production that winemakers must adhere to. For example, they are n't allowed to add fruit extracts to the wine – otherwise, it's officially no longer wine, but some kind of adulteration!

Interestingly, in this context, the WSET standard is valid worldwide, with the exception of China. For this reason, Chinese wine is not (yet) comparable to the global market, even though the WSET opened a branch in Hong Kong in 2016. But such a transformation in the wine market, as we already mentioned, takes time. And perhaps Chinese palates don't even care about our standards. Just as the German Purity Law for beer brewing is merely laughed at in England. But that's going too far at this point; back to the flavors!

When is a wine too old?

Can you overdo it with tertiary aromas? In the craft world, the saying "tighten it, loosen it," meaning if you overtighten a screw, it won't hold. Is there something like that for wine? Stored to death, so to speak?

Yes, it does! Not all wines become more interesting with age (they're no different from people in this regard). Our rosé and table wines, for example, shouldn't be left to age for too long, as they'll feel neglected and become sour. With our premium wines, however, the rule of thumb is: the older, the better.

And so we're faced with a question of conscience: Do we immediately try the new generation that's currently being bottled because we can't wait? Or do we prefer to savor the older, more mature treasures?

Our tip: For picnics, summer parties and uncomplicated moments, choose a fresh Blanc de Noir, a crisp Rosé or a sparkling Secco .

And for the enjoyable, quiet moment, for the official occasions, the special moments and the sensory highlights in life, take a look into our treasure chamber :

There rest the precious terroir Rieslings , whose stunning aromas will make your eyes pop and your taste buds dance in rapture. Some vintages are already sold out, and of others, we only have a few precious bottles left in stock. But see for yourself:

Here you will find the door to our treasure chamber.

Let's now look at the other senses: hearing, sight, smell, and touch! We'll follow the order of the systematic tasting scheme used to taste wines internationally.

Listening

This is probably the last thing that comes to mind when it comes to wine tasting. But they do exist: those slightly cosmic-minded wine connoisseurs who swirl the wine in the glass and then put their ear (not their nose!) in, following the sound of the wine rustling as it slides down the side of the glass. Hmmmm. You can do that. But you don't have to. ;-)

But there are other exciting sounds that only winemakers and cellar visitors hear: the cellar symphony (admittedly, we made up that name). How does this bubbling music come about?
During fermentation, gases are produced that must escape, otherwise the barrels will burst. Anyone who has ever made the mistake of screwing a Federweißer bottle too tightly will probably have heard a loud bang that it's better not to do that. It's the same in the cellar.
To ensure that the CO2 can escape unhindered without allowing outside germs to penetrate the wine, there's a sophisticated technique: the fermentation pipe. Like so many things, it has a misleading name. It doesn't look like a pipe at all, and it doesn't whistle; it bubbles! It's an S-shaped, thick glass tube filled with water. A fermentation pipe is located at the top of each tank. The CO2 rises as a gas, visibly working its way through the water in the glass tube as small bubbles, and finally escapes with an audible pop .
Now imagine a multitude of tanks bubbling away – and you have a cellar symphony! With a lot of experience, you can also tell from the bubbling speed (what a wonderful word!) what stage of fermentation the wine is currently in. At the beginning and end of the fermentation phase, it bubbles more slowly, while at peak fermentation times, it really gets going.
To reassure all connoisseurs who have been scratching their heads in confusion since the beginning of this paragraph: That's right, hearing is not part of the professional wine tasting scheme, because that only begins with the next sense:

Seeing - Part 1

Photo: The colors of wine

We've all seen experts swirl the wine in the glass and peer inside. But what exactly are they looking at? Church windows. No joke, that's what they're called! The wine slides down the glass in streaks, and if you look at the whole thing with a little imagination, you can actually make out the shape of a Gothic church window. Incidentally, the wider the window, the higher the alcohol content of the wine. Could that be where the expression "It's wide" comes from? It's conceivable...

Seeing - Part 2

The smell

Only now do you put your nose in the glass, still swirling the wine gently to allow the aromas to develop. Incidentally, wine glasses are slightly conical in shape so that the aroma is trapped at the top of the glass. This makes it easier to "draw off" the smell. Think of the anteater and the ants. It's good to know: depending on the shape of the glass, different aromas are brought out in the same wine. It's no wonder, then, that the discussion about the right wine glass shape fills entire volumes! Since the nose plays an extremely large role in the perception of taste, the transition to taste is fluid.

The taste

We've already discussed this in detail above. What's even more interesting is that during their initial sensory training, newbies are initially taught only the differences between sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Because these are the only four things you can taste directly on your tongue, without using your nose.
If the sensory novice is a bit more experienced, umami follows. This spiciness is also tasted on the tongue and is actually difficult to describe. It vaguely resembles a mushroom heated in the microwave. Never tried that before? Then it's time! The best thing to do is buy some mushrooms and put them in the microwave. Then you'll have a rough idea of ​​what umami means.
Only when all these senses are alert and can be tasted separately and neatly, are the other taste senses trained using the three-stage aroma model , which we already described in detail in Part 1. Here, nose and palate work in tandem.

The feeling

After all, no one has ever thought of dipping their hand into wine and rubbing it between their fingers (although one should never say never!). Anyone looking to make a name for themselves as an eccentric can take this as their first inspiration.
No, the feeling we refer to in sensory testing is performed exclusively with the tongue. Thus, with the tongue or the palate, you can feel whether a wine tastes furry and whether there are residues such as tartar. Tannin can also actually be felt, as it is often perceived as rough on the gums.

Almost all wine competitions and awards follow this system. There are different evaluation methods. The most well-known award is a system out of 100 points, with 100 being the top score. This system is used, for example, in Best of Riesling. Our Rieslings regularly score in the 90s, placing them among the top 10% of wines rated (and we're quite proud of that!).

You can find out more about our heroes here!

Older competitions, such as the DLG, work according to a 5.0-point system.

Experienced tasters can – as we already mentioned – tell, after just one sip, where the wine's exact origin is, in which year it was harvested, and by which winemaker it was produced.

You can find out more about these very special wines.

So, now all five of your senses should be stimulated (at least in theory)! Are you ready to take your sensory abilities to the next level in practice? Then try this flavor package that will stimulate your taste buds in a variety of ways!

Click here for the aroma package.

Your counts, who enjoy with all their senses