The Typical Qualities of Wines
By now, it scarcely needs saying that one will derive a quite
different pleasure from a burgundy than from a port. What are the
typical qualities of the different types of wines?
Dry Reds
Dry reds should be of strong, deep color, but not too brown which may
indicate an over-long acquaintance with the cask. They should be quite
dry, with no trace of sugar. The bouquet should offer a suggestion, but
only a suggestion, of alcohol, a distinct suggestion of the fruit, and
perhaps of wood. The wonderful Grange Hermitages, made by Penfolds at
Adelaide, often give a strong bouquet of cedar, taken from the new casks
of French Nevers oak in which they are first matured. At the finish
there should be the suggestion of tannin which is the hard, gripping
sensation that contracts the cheeks at the back of the tongue.
Dry Whites
Dry whites gave Australian vignerons great difficulty for a long time,
but modern manufacturing processes, notably refrigeration, have helped
to produce wines that are delicate, fruity, and fresh. In a dry white,
look for paleness of color, fruity bouquet and acidity—but not too much.
If you find one with these qualities, and a Hood finish as well, you
will have found a very good dry white, for finish is where most of them
fail. Because they must be taken very quickly from their skins they have
little chance to gather in the tannin, so that often the palate is left
with nothing much to experience at the end.
Sweet whites, like Sauternes, wrongly are said to be a ladies' drink.
Good sauternes, made from grapes left to ripen almost until they
shrivel, are high in sugar and the sweetness is preserved in the wine by
one or more of the several devices available to the winemaker for
 stopping fermentation, without adding alcohol, while there is still some
unfermented sugar left. The true Chablis of Burgundy has a trace of
sweetness and there was a Porphyry, made by Lindemanns in 1957, that was
so big and fruity and succulent and well made, that the only bottles
left are carefully guarded in private cellars. There is very little
sweet white of quality made in Australia, and it is not popular, but
careful shopping will produce the occasional bottle. Most Australian
whites labelled "Sauternes" are not worth drinking.
Port
Port is a variable wine. "Invalid" port, like "hospital" brandy, is for
people of strong stomach and poor palate. Both should be kept well away
from the sick, but are useful in the kitchen. They are best not brought
to the table. Port is a sweet, fortified red wine, hence its basic
qualities should be sweetness, alcoholic strength and redness. Most
Australian ports are far too sweet. Certainly the sugar should be
present and detectable, but if there is too much sugar it will overpower
the other flavors. A well made port should be dark in color and may show
a strong brownness, it should be strongly aromatic, whiney, rather than
sugary in aroma and flavor, and the alcohol should have a decided
dryness. The alcohol is important, for it is too easy to use a neutral
spirit with all the congeneric distilled out of it, their absence
concealed by too much sugar. The finish of a port is not less important
than that of a dry natural wine and a good port will have a grip of
tannin at the finish.
Sweet dessert wines
Sweet dessert wines should have a decided fruit flavor. The best
Australian muscat, made from brown muscatel grapes left to ripen until
the last moment, will taste almost raising through the sugar. Poor
alcohol and too much sugar will merely make a very strong, sweet cloying
wine, not worth drinking. Glycerine content should be high and
discernible as it runs sluggishly down the inside of the glass. The
finish of these wines is difficult to determine because of their very
pronounced fruitiness and sweetness which tend to overpower the end
tastes.
Brandy
Brandy is a spirit of flavor and the brandy balloon was designed for the
purpose of entrapping that flavor. Made of thin glass, with large
surface area, it permits ready transfer of warmth from the hands, for
wines give up their bouquet more readily when warm. From this it follows
that the wine-maker is making, or trying to make, a product with a lot
of flavor and indeed there should be a lot of flavor, and bouquet, in a
brandy. Some brandies have a decided nutty sweetness, which should not
be there. Brandy should be clean, crisp and decisive, odorous and not
harsh to the palate.
Champagne
Champagne has an elusive bouquet. The escaping carbon dioxide, carrying
tiny bubble film of liquid, gets into the nose before the bouquet
impinges and much of the aroma is lost in a sneeze. Look for the pale
color of a good dry white, very small bubbles which will indicate that
the wine is bottle fermented and not just pumped full of carbon dioxide,
and preferably, look for dryness; if not bone dry, at least not sweet.
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