Wine Tasting - The Sense of Touch
Touch is an important category of taste sensation. This is where we try to feel the wine on the palate. Here we seek to find impressions of such things as texture, body, temperature, and astringency. The aftertaste, finish, and length of a wine are all things we feel on our palate. We are looking for how the wine feels in weight (light, medium, full) and texture (silky, coarse, velvety). Try to observe how long the sensations last in your mouth. Most will tell you the longer it lasts, the better the wine!
Chateau Julien Wine Estate
Have you ever sat amongst nearly 2000 aging oak barrels of wine, with ambiance lighting, an exquisite four-course meal paired with the winemaker's choice vintage wines from the owners' cellar? Witnessed Monterey County crush with the winemaking crew, followed by a family-style dinner in the cellar? Heard the beauty of a cappella performed privately in a Chai over the holidays? Chateau Julien Wine Estate rests amongst the Santa Lucia Mountains in beautiful Carmel Valley, California and offers a magnificent setting for eight different events throughout the year–such as the Fall Winemaker Dinner, Harvest Wine Seminar and Holiday Spectacular. You may view a complete list of Chateau Julien Events on our web site!
Family owned and operated since 1982, Chateau Julien Wine Estate produces Estate grown wines from the soils of Monterey County. Through daily wine tasting, estate tours and a selection of unique events, the winery continually shares its passion for wine and hospitality. For more information on the Estate, please visit us at www.chateaujulien.com or contact us at info@chateaujulien.com
Pinot Noir (PEE-know Na-WAHR)
The great red wine of France’s Burgundy region is produced by one of the world’s
most challenging grape varieties - both to grow and vinify. For every great pinot noir, there are a dozen poor
or mediocre
versions, and this is true wherever pinot noir is made, whether in France, California, Oregon, Germany, or New Zealand.
Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate, with its fine, delicate aroma and flavor disappearing when grown in warmer climes. It is an ancient variety notorious for having dozens of inferior mutations (clones), which likely account for much of the insipid wine produced in its name around the world.
A thin-skinned, early ripener, pinot noir is prone to a host of viticultural maladies, from mildew and rot to viruses like fanleaf and leafroll. It is also difficult to vinify, with the vintner’s primary challenge to draw sufficient color and flavor from the grape skins without extracting too much astringent tannin.
Despite these difficulties, what motivates pinot noir producers to keep trying is that the grape can make marvelously aromatic, flavorful wines boasting a seductive perfume of strawberry, raspberry, black cherry, tea, mint, violets, and oriental spices, and silky, ethereal flavors The best pinot noirs benefit from judicious aging in high-quality French oak barrels and are profitably paired with subtly seasoned salmon, chicken, ham, and lamb dishes.
