Vergani taste model

Every wine and grappa lover has individual preferences and every dish requires a different companion. The Vergani taste model helps to find wine or grappa according to personal taste preferences.

It is not about knowing every detail. More important than individual aromatic notes, the soil conditions or the direction of the vineyard are generally understandable key words that accurately describe the taste.

Another advantage of the taste model: if you already know a wine from our range that you like, the consultant will recommend wines with a similar taste based on the taste profile. What could be more exciting than expanding your knowledge and discovering new (favourite) wines?

The following three criteria are important in the Vergani taste model for defining the taste profile:

 

Dry vs. Sweet

Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of grapes. Before the grape juice (must) ferments, it is very sweet thanks to the fruit sugar it contains. During fermentation the sugar is transformed into alcohol. Here the winemaker can decide which flavour he wants to give his wine. Most red wines are considered dry because acidity counteracts the sweetness. White, rosé and sparkling wines, on the other hand, have different degrees of dry, semi-dry, sweet to very sweet.

 

dry

The longer the wine ferments, the more sugar is transformed into alcohol - the so-called Oechslegrad increases and the wine becomes drier. Dry wines are therefore those in which the sweetness is no longer perceptible, as they are almost or completely fermented.

 

sweet 

Sweet or sweet we call wines in which the sugar is only fermented to a small extent. Sweetness is often caused by irritation at the tip of the tongue. We often perceive sweet wines as mild and drinkable. 

 

Fruity / soft vs. spicy / tart

 

Fruity / soft

We speak of fruity wines when the fruit notes of the grapes dominate the wine. Fruity aromas include impressions of apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, cassis, dried fruit, etc. Floral aromas such as acacia, rose or violet also go in this direction.

We consider wines to be soft if they have little acidity or only a low percentage of tannins, which lead to a feeling of roughness or furriness, the so-called astringency.

 

Spicy / tart

We speak of spicy aromas in the following sensations: Pepper, clove, cinnamon, bay, truffle, licorice, vanilla. Also earthy aromas such as those of moss, mushrooms, damp earth etc. or wood aromas such as those of chestnut, oak, damp wood etc. go in this direction. We perceive as tart wines that have a strong acidity or whose high content of tannins gives the impression of roughness/furriness.

 

Light vs. heavy / rich in content

The more alcohol a wine contains, the more likely it is to be perceived as heavy. Wines with little alcohol quickly taste "thin". This is because alcohol is an important flavour carrier which brings out the aromas.

Often times, people forget: Whether we perceive a wine as light or heavy depends on two other factors: the acidity and the extract. The less acidity a wine contains, the "clumsier" it appears. A higher acidity makes a heavy wine look slimmer, the acidity invigorates a heavy wine, so to speak. Extract value refers to the substances which are contained in the wine after alcoholic fermentation.

 

light

Light we call wines with little alcohol and low extract values. We also use the term for easily drinkable wines with a normal alcohol content. 

 

Heavy

Heavy we call wines with a lot of alcohol and high extract values, respectively an increased colour and tannin content. Furthermore, wines with more alcohol have other ingredients such as glycerine, which leads to an "oily" or "round" perception. However, this has more to do with the sense of touch than with the sense of taste. 

 

 

Try it out for yourself. Click here for the consultant with the taste profile.