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Tim Gaiser, Master Sommelier

Tasting: the Evil Dwarves Part II

5/13/2015

11 Comments

 
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In the last post I wrote about two sets of grapes/wines that consistently give students nightmares in tasting practice and exams. Why? Because each set is filled with grapes easily confused with each other. I called these grapes the “Evil Dwarves.” My last post covered the first set which consists of semi-aromatic white grapes. This post is dedicated to the second set which is comprised of thinner-skinner red grapes including Pinot Noir, Gamay, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Grenache, and Nebbiolo.  

As with semi-aromatic white grapes, the color and fruit qualities of thinner-skinned red grapes can be similar making them difficult to tell apart. But once again practically all the grapes have a strong objective factor—a “Prime Factor”—that can be an important aid in identifying the grape/wine. Add this to the non-fruit and structural qualities (levels of acid, alcohol, and tannin) in each grape and you have a blueprint to be able to tell classic examples of the wines apart. For our purposes we’ll use the following wines as models for their respective grapes:

· Pinot Noir: Côte de Nuits/Beaune or California/Oregon New World

· Gamay: Beaujolais Villages

· Sangiovese: Chianti Classico Riserva or Brunello di Montalcino

· Tempranillo: Rioja Reserva or Gran Reserva

· Grenache/blend: Châteauneuf-du-Pape or Gigondas

· Nebbiolo: Barolo or Barbaresco

Evil Dwarves Part II: Thinner-Skinned Red Grapes

I. Pinot Noir

Prime Factors: possible stem inclusion, oak usage

Non-fruit: broad range of non-fruit including rose-floral, tea/herb/leaf, citrus rind, and spice

Structure: medium to medium-plus alcohol, medium-plus acidity, and medium tannin

Why it’s not:

Gamay: Pinot Noir lacks the candied/artificial fruit character of carbonic maceration as well as the granite/stony minerality. Pinot can also often display considerable use of new barrique.

Sangiovese: Pinot Noir lacks the tannin of Sangiovese—specifically the grape tannin often perceived in the front of the mouth on teeth and gums. Pinot will also often display more overt small oak character with Sangiovese often aged in larger cooperage. The anise-bitter herbal flavors set Sangiovese apart from Pinot Noir.

Tempranillo: extended aging in American Oak (coconut, dill, herb, pronounced vanilla, and baking spices) sets Tempranillo completely apart from Pinot Noir.

Grenache: Pinot lacks the peppery-rotundone and savory herb/garrigue qualities of Grenache or Grenache blends. Structurally, a Grenache blend also has higher alcohol and more tannin. Larger cooperage is also traditionally used for a Grenache/blend vs. barrique in Pinot Noir.

Nebbiolo: Pinot Noir with the acidity and tannin levels of Barolo would be Pinot Noir from hell.  Just kidding—or not. That is to say that both the tannin and acid levels of Nebbiolo are far higher than Pinot. Nebbiolo also is more floral (terpenes) with a completely different non-fruit set including anise, tar, and bitter herb. 

II. Gamay

Prime factors: carbonic maceration and stem inclusion

Non-fruit: green woody character (stem inclusion), granite/stony minerality

Structure: medium alcohol, medium-plus acidity, medium-minus tannin

Why it’s not:

Pinot Noir:  the candied fruit/tropical fruit punch qualities from carbonic in Beaujolais Villages set it apart from Pinot--whether the latter is from Burgundy or the New World. Beaujolais will also lack the new barrique qualities often found in Pinot regardless of origin.

Sangiovese: carbonic notes again differentiate Gamay from Sangiovese with the latter also having more tannin. No stem inclusion notes for Sangiovese.

Tempranillo: carbonic notes and lack of overt oak influence—specifically American Oak influence.

Grenache: ditto the carbonic notes with the Grenache blend having more non-fruit complexity (pepper, dried floral, garrigue/herbs, savory qualities) as well as higher alcohol and more tannin. And no stem inclusion.

Nebbiolo: again, no carbonic notes in the Nebbiolo along with higher levels of alcohol, tannin, and acidity as well as an oxidative character and completely different fruit/non-fruit set.

III. Sangiovese

Prime factor: oak usage, possible VA

Non-fruit: rose floral, anise, green herb, sandalwood, chalky/dusty earth

Structure: medium-to medium-plus alcohol, medium-plus acidity, medium-plus tannin (sometimes higher)

Why it’s not:

Pinot Noir: more grape tannin in Sangiovese as well as more of an anise/herbal character. Barrique also not used as often.

Gamay:  lack of carbonic artificial fruit character in Sangiovese as well as a higher level of tannin.

Tempranillo: the oxidative style and American Oak set Tempranillo apart from any form of Sangiovese. The latter is usually more tannic as well.

Grenache: lack of pepper/rotundone character in Sangiovese.  Grenache/blends will also offer a higher level of alcohol with relatively less acidity.

Nebbiolo: Sangiovese vs. Nebbiolo is one of the more challenging side-by-side comparisons. There are many similarities between the two but in the end Nebbiolo in the form of Barolo and/or Barbaresco is usually more tannic and acidic as well as offering more floral and high-toned aromatics.

IV. Tempranillo

Prime factors: oxidation, oak usage (American Oak markers)

Non-fruit: dried flowers/potpourri, dried herbs, dusty-baked earth

Structure: medium-to-medium-plus alcohol, medium-plus acidity, medium-to-medium-plus tannin

Why it’s not:

Pinot Noir:  oxidative winemaking/aging and American Oak set Tempranillo apart from Pinot Noir regardless of origin.  

Gamay:  same as above: oxidative style and American Oak. On the other side, no carbonic character or stem inclusion in Tempranillo.

Sangiovese: ditto: oxidative style and American Oak. Sangiovese is usually more tannic as well.

Grenache: although some styles of Grenache blends may show oxidation similar to Tempranillo with age the wines will never display the American Oak character. Grenache blends will also offer more alcohol as well as pepper and Mediterranean herb (garrigue) notes.  

Nebbiolo:  American Oak is rarely, if ever, found in Barolo and Barbaresco.  The latter two will also be far more tannic and acidic than Tempranillo.

V. Grenache and Grenache Blends

Prime factor:  rotundone (pepper) and possible oxidation

Non-fruit: wild flower/potpourri, lavender, garrigue (wild herbs), dried savory meats, stony earthiness

Structure: medium-plus-to-high alcohol, medium-plus acidity, medium-plus-to-high tannins

Why it’s not:

Pinot Noir: too much richness, alcohol, and tannin on the part of Grenache.  The peppery and herbal qualities of Grenache/blends also set them apart from Pinot Noir.

Gamay:  unless it’s a basic Côtes du Rhône the use of carbonic is very infrequent for Grenache/blends; thus the artificial fruit qualities of Gamay set it apart from the latter. Grenache will also offer more richness, alcohol, and pepper/herb notes.

Sangiovese: Grenache is richer with higher alcohol and peppery qualities than Sangiovese. Sangiovese will often have more grape tannin in the front of the mouth as well.

Tempranillo: Grenache/blends lack the American Oak character of traditionally made Tempranillo-based wines.

Nebbiolo: more acid and tannin—especially grape tannin--in the Nebbiolo.

VI. Nebbiolo

Prime factor:  possible VA, oxidation

Non-fruit: dried rose petal, pronounced tarry earthiness

Structure: medium-plus-to-high alcohol, high tannin, high acidity

Why it’s not:

Pinot Noir: Nebbiolo is usually far too tannic and acidic to be Pinot Noir. 

Gamay: ditto the above about tannin and acidity. Note that Nebbiolo rarely, if ever, shows carbonic notes. Finally, Nebbiolo is often aged in wood and can show considerable oak influence.

Sangiovese: as mentioned above, Sangiovese—especially Brunello—can often be confused with Nebbiolo. Generally the latter will have higher levels of acidity, tannin, and often alcohol. Nebbiolo usually displays more floral and high-toned aromatics than Sangiovese.

Tempranillo: again too much tannin and acid in Nebbiolo to be confused for Tempranillo. American Oak in the former also makes it easy to differentiate from Nebbiolo.

Grenache: Nebbiolo offers higher levels of acidity and tannin than Grenache as well as more floral and high-toned aromatics.

 

11 Comments
Steve Armes link
7/29/2015 12:02:03 pm

This is incredibly insightful and helpful information. Thanks for the insight!

Reply
Tim Gaiser
7/30/2015 09:14:29 am

Steve, good meeting you at the CIA class. Glad you enjoyed the blog. Hope to see you at Texsom.

Reply
Chris Tucker
12/7/2015 12:41:56 am

These have both been really helpful, thank you. With tempernillo though, the last three years have seen a large surge in the use of French oak in riojas and now ribera del dueros. A very different profile in the glass especially when you're looking for American oak. Considering that what would you look for?

Reply
Tim Gaiser
12/9/2015 02:02:01 am

Hi Chris, thanks for reading. Some producers in Rioja are moving away from American Oak and the traditional oxidative style. These wines are fresher in style showing more dark fruits and less pronounced wood spice. Ribera wines are made from a different clone of Tempranillo and are much richer, denser, and more tannic wines. Cheers and hope this helps.

Reply
Shawn Tsai
5/24/2016 11:31:55 pm

Dear Tim,

This article is really helpful. I have shared with friends in blind tasting club. We just had an Italian vs. Spanish red blind tasting event this Monday and I learn a lot by applying your description to my tasting result.

Is it possible to share your view on the differences between Argentina Melbec and Rhone Valley Syrah & GSM? Recently I tasted some Argentina Melbel and found it also has ruby color and sweet spice + black pepper nose. All these clues indicate Rhone valley red wine but in the end it’s actually not.

Thanks & Regards.
Shawn

Reply
Tim Gaiser
6/5/2016 07:19:27 am

Hi Shawn, thanks for reading and sorry about the delay in responding. To answer your question, big differences between Malbec and Rhone Valley Syrah and further Grenache blends. Remember that Malbec is from the Cabernet family so classic examples will be very deep ruby purple in color (high altitude and intense UV sunlight contribute to that) with emphasis on dark fruits, herbal notes (pyrazines) and firm tannins. Rhone Syrah such as Cote Rotie, Crozes-Hermitage and the like is a completely different animal with a much wider range of fruit types/qualities, pepper, sanguine/blood/dried meat notes and both earth and mineral. The GSM blends will be similar to the Syrah with more intensely ripe red fruits and higher alcohol.

Finally, suggest tasting Mendoza Malbec next to Crozes-Hermitage (Alain Graillot is a classic example) multiple times. You’ll get the differences quickly.

Hope this helps!

Reply
Shawn Tsai
6/6/2016 02:22:03 am

Thanks Tim, I will definitely try your suggestion.

Shawn Tsai
4/23/2017 07:22:06 pm

Dear Tim,

Yesterday in a local blind tasting competition I had a Barossa Shiraz but mis-identified it as a right bank Bordeaux blend.

After the game I checked my tasting notes and recalled the wine I to figure out my own blind spot nevertheless I felt confused.

The wine I had yesterday was The Lindsay Collection, The Selector, Barossa Shiraz, 2014, 13%. Deep ruby with ruby purple rim; black berry, vanilla, sweet spice, mid acidity, mid & soft tannin, slightly off dry. The nose is mainly dominated by ripe black fruit. On the palate I can feel the light cream & vanilla scent created by partial French oak. Sweet spice is there but not so obvious. My teammate said he can feel it in the aftertaste.

My understanding is that above description can suit both to BDX right bank Merlot blend (especially modern producer) and Barossa shiraz. Unfortunately we choose wrongly. My question is what should I look for when trying to distinguish the two? It seems quite easy to identify a Merlot from Shiraz but after a second thought I found it might not be the case. Am I missing anything here? I appreciate if you can share your thoughts. Thanks a lot.

Regards,
Shawn

Reply
Tim Gaiser
4/26/2017 05:39:21 pm

Shawn, thanks for writing. At 13%, the Shiraz simply is not typical and probably harder to identify. Most weigh in at 14.5%. That being said, any AUS Shiraz will considerably different than Bordeaux with the latter showing earth/mineral and pyrazines/herb/bell pepper character.

Reply
Anne Cox
10/8/2018 12:46:27 pm

Dear Tim,
Any help you could offer on Tempranillo versus Grenache (Gigondas) now that so many Tempranillos are using French oak would be much appreciated. Should I expect the Tempranillo fruit to seem more dry and dusty versus the lush, compote style fruit on the So. Rhone wines?
Thanks!

Reply
Tim Gaiser
10/8/2018 03:34:55 pm

Hi Anne, thanks for reading. The best way to think of these two similar but very different grapes is through structure and impact compounds. What both have in common is that they are generally red fruit dominated (certain clones of Tempranillo excepted). Beyond that consider the structure for both: Grenache blends from the Southern Rhone will almost always have high alcohol, riper (even raisinated) fruit, and less natural acidity. Tempranillo, especially from Rioja, will have less alcohol, higher natural acid, and generally less ripe fruit. It will also probably be less tannic. In regards to impact compounds, look for pepper (rotundone) and savory, sanguine qualities in Grenache. If the Rioja is a traditional wine, it will probably show American Oak which I think always smells and tastes like Bourbon. Hope all this helps.

Reply



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