Abstract

One of the most respected professionals in the wine industry-Ron Jackson, author of Wine Science (now in its second edition)- covers all practical and theoretical aspects of wine tasting in his new book. It details the basic techniques used by professionals to sense all visual, gustatory, and olfactory wine properties (sight, taste, and smell). It also describes the physiologic, psychologic, and physicochemical origins of sensory perception and discusses wine types to illustrate the characteristic features that distinguish the majority of wines.
A large portion of the book is dedicated to the practical concerns of preparing and performing wine assessments. Readers are instructed in how to differentiate between the various types of wine tastings (each requiring its own design, tasting sheets, training, skill measurement, and analysis). Included is a general overview of the types and sources of wine quality and how wine is most appropriately paired with food. Special features include a flow chart of wine tasting steps, details of errors to avoid, procedures for training and testing sensory skills, sample tasting sheets, original data from 14+ years of training tasters, and numerous tables, charts, and figures.

• Modern treatment of all relevant data relative to wine tasting, both professional and personal
• Separates the practical and more technical and theoretical aspects of wine tasting, allowing easy access to people of different interests
• Stresses the explanation and significance of each step in the tasting process, as well as errors to be avoided
• Outlines procedure in the training and testing of sensory skill (professional and personal)
• Presents sample tastings designed to teach tasters specific varietal, regional and stylistic types of wines
• Provides examples of tasting results and means for analysis
• Discusses the evolution of cuisine and wines association with food
• Outlines the diversity of wines and the sensory experiences expected with each
• Outlines the nature and origins of wine quality

Illustrative Material:

• Flow Chart of Wine Tasting Steps
• Examples of Tasting Sheets: Hedonic (hierarchy and numerical ranking), Wine Appreciation (blank and complete examples), Quality assessment (general, sparkling, artistic ranking), Sensory Analysis (quality and aroma specific)
• Fragrance Chart (with colored icons)
• Off-odor Chart (with colored icons)
• Color transparency representing standardized wine color terms
• Color illustrations representing the appearance of wines of different ages
• Warming-cooling chart for bottles of wine (air and ice water)
• Table of aroma descriptors for the major grape varieties (red and white)
• Chart of the warming rate of wine in a glass
• Figure showing the influence of alcohol content on 'tears' formation
• Taster variability to the major tastant and odorants in wine

"...highly recommended to any individuals involved in wine tasting."
- Carbohydrate Polymers (2005)
"...very entertaining and informative to read...I am seriously contemplating using it in my Wine Sensory Evaluation course."
-H. Heymann, Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California- Davis (September 2004)
"...would appeal to the experienced wine aficionado or the faculty member teaching a beginning wine sensory/wine tasting class."
-FOOD QUALITY AND PREFERENCE (2003)
"...a solid text that offers practical information on the sensations of wine for many types of readers..."
-E STREAMS (June 2003)
"As a whole, the book is a generous package of information, thus updating and providing a scienctific background for sensory research on wine."
—Hely Tuorila, Department of Food Technology, University of Helsinki
"Wine Tasting is without question the finest book addressed to wine sensory technology that I have ever seen during my 41 years in wine".
—Richard P. Vine, Ph.D, Professor of Enology, Purdue University, IN, USA
"...an extensive amount of information, some very solid reference material, all presented in a text that is easy to read...it should be part of the required reading for students in both enology and sensory evaluation..."
-Herbert Stone and Joel Sidel, Tragon Corp., California, USA