Page 16 - Uncorked Magazine - Winter 2017

Shades

RED
of

Judging a red wine by its colour can

be deceiving, as Raymond Blake
warns that light colours don’t
always mean gentle flavours.

e are told never to judge a book by its cover,
but can we judge a wine by its colour?
Without wanting to sound evasive, the
answer is ‘yes and no’. The caveat is that
colour can give a reasonably accurate
W indication of style, but when it comes to
quality we must sniff and sip. A deep, dense colour usually indicates a
wine with a similar flavour – strong, robust and high in tannin. A paler
colour usually indicates a wine with less concentration but no lack of
intensity, where acidity rather than tannin is its principal calling card.
Two of the wine world’s best-known grapes illustrate this distinction
perfectly: Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. Cabernet is more tannic
and its thicker skins give more colour, while Pinot is thin skinned and
higher in acidity, yielding paler wines with a fine rather than full flavour.
The message is clear: pay attention to colour, but don’t read too much into
it and don’t make the very modern
mistake of assuming that there is a
direct link between depth of colour
and absolute quality. The best
way to assess colour is to tilt the White wines
glass away from you over a white darken with age,
surface, such as a sheet of paper or
a white napkin. Look down into but red wines
the centre of the wine to gauge the do the opposite.
depth, then look at the rim to see if Red wines are
it shades to purple or crimson, for at their most
instance. Resist the temptation to
hold the glass up to a light source vibrant when
to assess colour. That method may young and when
look good in moody photographs aged they can
of grizzled winemakers in ancient
cellars, but by looking towards the develop a brick-
Young shoots of Nebbiolo grapes, light you’re reducing your ability to red colour.
Barolo, Italy. judge the colour.

14 | UNCORKED CHRISTMAS 2017

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