HERE’S HOW TO KNOW IF A WINE IS GOOD
It doesn’t all come down to personal taste. There is, in fact, a concrete way to know if a wine is good or not. Read on to learn how.
It comes down to balance. Balance is the single most important quality in a good glass of wine.
Balance happens when the technical parts of a wine — the acid, sugar, tannin, alcohol and fruit — are in such harmony that none of them stands out. The acidity doesn’t sear. The sugar doesn’t cloy. The tannins aren’t tough, rough or angular. And the fruit cloaks the alcohol like a glove with no boozy heat showing through at the back of the palate. So each sip slides in seamlessly and is a pleasure to drink.
Balance is paramount to pleasure in wine. But good wine must also be clean. If it smells of things you’d rather not put in your mouth such as rotting vegetal matter, bandages or wet cardboard, don’t drink it. It’s probably tainted, flawed or affected by sanitation issues in the vineyard or winery.
Dump it.
This critic pours, swirls, sniffs and dumps a lot of wine, so it’s out there — at every price point.
Good wine is always well-balanced and clean — regardless of its style.
Good wine becomes great when it also delivers depth, expressed though concentration, complexity and length. Concentration is that wonderful mid-palate stuffing that makes a wine taste dense with extract.
That density can be found in both lush, fruit-forward styles such as Californian Cabernet Sauvignon as well as more restrained wines such as, say, Cru Chablis. The feeling is of a tightly coiled centre.
Complexity offers that brilliant unfurling of flavours. It creates an intriguing interplay of nuance and allusion. A dance, if you like. For instance, an Ontario Chardonnay might beam in with lemon and baked apple. But if it’s complex, it might shift toward buttered toast, orange peel and flint before elongating toward a satisfyingly steely or saline finish. That layered expression adds excitement.
Length, of course, is the amount of time a wine lingers after you swallow it. Persistence matters because it bridges to the next sip, seasons the palate for the next bite of food and lends a long, languid quality to the experience.
There are finer brush strokes to technical tasting. But these main points are key. Importantly, they apply to all wines regardless of style. It’s an approach that’s universal, systematic and just plain handy.
Personal taste does play a part. If you don’t like rich reds, you may never warm up to Malbecs, Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux-style blends. If you only like lush, almostspoonable styles of wine, cool climate Pinot Noir may always seem too lean for you. But set aside your personal taste and approach a bottle using the technical approach to tasting — ideally with a broad knowledge of what is typical for a given style and price point — and you’ll be able to tell if it’s good, and just how good. There’s value in that.
Test out the method with the following four wines that range from good to great.
2022 Rapaura Springs Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand (LCBO $19.95)
A new listing at the LCBO, this wildeyed thriller is sure to appeal to lovers of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Each pristine sip erupts with aromas and flavours of sliced papaya and mango as well as cut grass and a touch of jalapeno before tapering to a bitter lime finish. The texture is glossy, smooth — almost glasslike — and shot through with that bracing acidity typical of the style. And it offers enough concentration, complexity and length to make it good value at its price point. Score: 90
NV Santa Margherita Brut Rosé Vino Spumante, Italy (New Vintages Essential $19.95)
This pale rosé shines the colour of sun-washed coral while tiny streams of persistent bubbles thread the centre. Scents are clean, pure and suggest white peach, red currant and a fluttery floral note. The attack is bright and beautifully balanced, then cascades with quiet allusions of apricot, violet, raspberry, cool stone before grapefruit zest emerges and lingers on the finish. This wine, which is soon to become a Vintages Essential in Ontario, offers more concentration, complexity and length than usually found in sparkling rosés at this price point. Score: 92
2018 Confidencial Reserva Vinho Regional Lisboa, Portugal (LCBO $15.95)
Portugal can produce outstanding value dry red wine, which is definitely the case here. Each sip is a clean-fruited crush of ripe berries — blueberry, cherry and blackberry — laced with toasty-biscuity notes derived from oak treatment. The result is a wine that tastes like homemade bumbleberry pie — but dry — with a velvety texture. The only way it could achieve such deliciousness is by being technically correct. Yes, this is a good wine. And very good value for money.
Score: 92
2019 Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery Robert’s Block Riesling Vinemount Ridge, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Vintages, Winery $26.95)
This connoisseur’s wine ticks all the boxes — balanced, clean, concentrated, complex and long. This medium-sweet, aromatic expression starts with the fragrance of salted lime sorbet then floods in with lit, citric zeal. A rush of silky, statured goodness that calls to mind lime sorbet, juicy Granny Smith, a touch of orange pith and cool stony underpinnings that linger flavour wise and texturally for ages.
CAROLYN EVANS HAMMOND IS A TORONTO-BASED WINE WRITER AND A FREELANCE CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST FOR THE STAR. WINERIES OCCASIONALLY SPONSOR SEGMENTS ON HER YOUTUBE SERIES BUT HAVE NO ROLE IN THE SELECTION OF THE WINES SHE REVIEWS OR HER OPINIONS EXPRESSED. ALL PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY. REACH HER VIA EMAIL: CAROLYN@CAROLYNEVANSHAMMOND.COM