Hi everyone,
Here is an offering of general wonderings. No specific point and few specific questions. I’m just mostly curious on your thoughts.
My first foray into the world of fine alcoholic beverages was Scotch whisky. An inevitable descriptor in many whisky tasting notes is “smooth”. True whisky connoisseurs poo-poo the descriptor, stating that there are many more important, relevant, and interesting aspects to focus on when describing and judging the qualities of a spirit. I see where they’re coming from, though I also understand why commenting on smoothness is relevant when describing a beverage that can cause fits of coughing with a single sip.
I rarely think of smoothness when it comes to wine, but recently a wine-interested-but-inexperienced friend commented that a Raen Chardonnay from the extreme Sonoma Coast was “smooth”. It struck me as an unusual comment at first, which I hastily attributed to her inexperience, but then I realized she was exactly right. The flavor profile of the wine was decidedly Burgundian, but it still retained what I could only describe as “New World sensibility”. But what the hell does that mean, really? The fruit was restrained, the alcohol modest, the oak minimal…so what was so New World about it? It was SMOOTH in a way that felt Californian!
So I got to wondering, what is “smooth” in wine anyway, and what causes it? I’m assuming it falls under the umbrella of texture if you’re describing it in a tasting note, though I’m not sure. And what causes smoothness (as opposed to roughness)? I’m guessing high viscosity, low tannin, and maybe presence of glycerol. But what about acid; does high or low acid make a wine more or less smooth? What about concentration? Oak? Sweetness? Perhaps it’s not any of these individual components that make a wine smooth or not, but it’s balance that is perceived as smooth. After all, a balanced wine is much easier to drink than one that is unbalanced.
And is smoothness generally positive or negative? Or is it just a neutral attribute that isn’t intrinsically desirable or undesirable? I would think that it’s generally a good thing, but lots of the cheapest mass-produced plonk is verrrry smooth. They are engineered to be that way in order to appeal as widely as possible. Doesn’t mean it’s good wine. At the same time, there is an experience I’ve had only a few times with high end aged Pinot Noir (both Old and New World), in which the wine is so irresistibly silky and sexy in the mouth that the wine’s smoothness becomes one of its main defining characteristics. And it’s one of the chief reasons those wines are so appealing to me. I’m not sure whether the smoothness in these two very different examples are the same, but I think they’re at least related.
I’m curious if this is a concept that others on this board think about when evaluating a wine. Is it useful? As I said, I rarely think about it, but maybe I will from now on. I’m particularly curious what winemakers, as well as wine drinkers, think as well. And please keep in mind: I’m learning as I go here. I might be headed down a misguided dead end. If so, feel free to let me know or ignore this post!
Thanks,
Noah