Have you ever been so enamored with a glass of wine during a wine-tasting holiday that, a few months later, you opened a bottle of the exact wine at home and found it tasted quite different? If so, you’re not by yourself! It’s one of the most frequent grievances we hear as sommeliers—from confused wine lovers.
They have occasionally even enrolled in a winery’s regular shipment program since they loved the wines so much in that breathtaking wine country environment. Still, they don’t seem to have the same shine when they’re open on the couch while binge-watching Game of Thrones and playing at Stake fake money.
Wine is a living, breathing entity that is changing, and there are more practical aspects that affect how your wine tastes. If you find that each bottle is drinking a bit differently from the previous time you enjoyed it, you’re not crazy!
Climate
Starting with climate is the simplest. Most nations that make up the “Old World”—Italy, France, Germany, Austria, and so on—have comparatively cold temperatures, especially when contrasted with a place like Australia. The grapes’ chilly growing season slows the buildup of natural sugars and improves the preservation of natural acidity, which results in less rich and more elegant/light wines altogether.
Soil
Therefore, it seems logical that wines from warmer nations—like Argentina, the United States, and Australia—will be rounder and fruitier. The concept of minerality, however, also enters the picture. There is much disagreement over the possibility that the soil in which grapes are–cultivated might influence a wine’s flavor and texture, but it is undeniable that many Old World wines exhibit more of these “mineral” characteristics than their New World equivalents. In addition to their flavor, Champagne wines are regarded to convey the characteristics of the limestone soils on which they are produced.
When examining lighter, leaner, more savory, or more mineral wines, the following elements should be considered: chilly temperature, even climate, low pH, and early harvesting. Some of these criteria are technical. It means you don’t want the grape’s inherent fruitiness to overpower the other tastes in the wine.
The wine has matured since your previous tasting.
A few additional months in the bottle may indicate that the wine has changed somewhat. The biological material that makes up wine is never “frozen” in time. micro-oxygenation, which causes it to continuously become “riper.” Wine is like an avocado, in my opinion; it gets better every second until it reaches the ideal “peak” of ripeness. With an avocado, you know you only have a few minutes to get it at the right moment!
It doesn’t stop there, after reaching its apex, it starts to–descend and continues traveling until it has fully dissolved. The idea is that wine is far more similar to a piece of produce than it gets to a bottle of beer or soda. Even though it may not be noticeable at first, the taste changes a little every time it matures. If you sample a wine three, six, nine, or more months later, it’s not the “same” wine you fell in love with at first. It has changed into something somewhat different!
The serving temperature you used to drink it at has changed.
Serving temperature has a powerful impact on wine flavor; in fact, it’s one of the main elements that affect how you perceive flavor. The flavors (and the sense of alcohol) may get subdued in a colder wine, and the tannins will be more astringent and tight on your tongue. Because it becomes warmer the longer it remains in your glass. You will notice a significant difference if you test it at a different temperature than you have!
A kind of grape
The grape itself is another evident source of taste variations. Several strains and their flavors vary, just like any other fruit. Similar to how a Granny Smith apple tastes different from a Red Delicious, different wine grape varietals have varied flavor profiles. Black fruit, tobacco, and something green like capsicum or mint get the traditional flavors. Almost all Cabernets worldwide taste somewhat like this theme, albeit the strength of these characteristics will differ from nation to nation.
Winemaking decisions:
Decisions taken by winegrowers are vital. We presume you’re not picking too early to obtain unripe fruit or too late to get flabby, jammy, lifeless fruit. If you harvest grapes early, you get brighter, fresher wines with more acidity; if you pick later, you get fuller wines with sweeter fruit. A winery’s final product can be influenced by various factors, including how the fermentation is managed (yeast selection, temperature, the addition of acidity or nitrogen, etc.), the type of fermentation vessel used (oak barrel or stainless steel), how the wines get matured, whether they are filtered, and even the closure. It should be apparent to you that this is a complicated subject!