What is wine?  I know this may seem elementary, but I asked myself this question before writing this article and I found that a proper definition is needed in order to create our foundation for knowledge.  There are many assumptions made on what wine actually is, and, more importantly, what it isn't.  This definition is the most important component to the fundamental understanding of wine as a subject; it is the 'nuts and bolts.' 

Wine, noun: An alcoholic beverage of

fermented grapes, juice, honey, and/or fruit.

A common question you will hear from us at the winery is "What type of wine do you normally like?"  Nine times out of ten I will get a response like "Riesling" or "I like a Merlot."  According to the definition of wine above, there is something inherently wrong with these answers.  While helpful, these aren't really a "type" of wine.  Riesling is the name of a grape.  Same goes for Merlot.  They can be made into wine in several different ways and there is good and bad wines made from each.  With that in mind, commercial Rieslings are commonly sweet white wines and commercial Merlot is generally a dry red.  Knowing this information helps me to make recommendations based on what commercial wines tend toward.  If someone tells me they like Rieslings I will give them our Riesling, but I will also encourage them to try Soren's Favorite and 101 Lakes White, because if they say they like Riesling, chances are they like sweet white wine.  If someone tells me they like Merlot I will give them our Merlot, but I will also recommend the other dry red wines on our list because they more than likely prefer dry red wine.  With that being said, when answering the question "What type of wine do you normally like?",  a more accurate response would be "dry reds" or "sweet whites",  etc.

Another misconception I witness in the tasting room is the definition of Dry.  In my early years, I used deductive reasoning to form my own opinion and definition of what dry was.  Someone gave me a taste of dry wine and it made my mouth feel dry, kind of like cranberry juice.  I thought, if this is a dry wine, and it makes my mouth feel dry, all dry wines will do this.  Easy, right?  It is my belief that most people arrive at this same conclusion.  Unfortunately it is incorrect.  Dry is a technical winemaking term that refers to a wine which has less than .4% residual sugar.  For the average consumer, this is well below the threshold of perception.  Okay, so there's no sugar, so what?  Not all dry wines will make your mouth feel dry, this is a phenomenon which is a direct result of a compound called Tannin.  Tannin can be found in the skins and seeds of grapes as well as many other places.  Cranberries have a lot tannin, hence the dry feeling from cranberry juice.  If you wish to have more clarity on tannin, find a yellow persimmon and chew on the skin.

Now that we know that dry is a measurable condition of wine and not a perception, we can know what to expect.  Instead of tasting a wine from the dry list and making the comment "ooh that's dry" we can forgo the aforementioned and focus on the delicate fruit flavors and tantalizing aromas of our wine.  An important thing to remember, wine tasting is not a test for you, it is a test for the wine.  Use your knowledge of wine basics to sift through the wines of the world and find wines that you like.  Spend some time smelling the wine with your eyes closed and imagine you are in the produce section at the supermarket, what fruit are you standing over?  Is it melons?  Is it Citrus?  Are you over by the bakery?  Hopefully not the butcher!  There is no right or wrong when it comes to perception so say whats on your mind, and enjoy.