Under the Influence of Flavour Experience

Thank you to all the Guests that attended the mini-course: Under the Influence of Flavour last night at Campbell House in Joburg.

The purpose of the evening was to better understand flavour in wine and just where it stems from. Our first exploration was primary flavour, contributed solely by the grape. We tasted the following pure primary fruit flavoured wines:

• Graham Beck Pheasants Run Sauvignon Blanc
• Graham Beck Viognier
• Jordan Rhine Riesling

Through understanding each grape variety and its characteristics we developed an understanding of how soil and climate can influence the grape and the subsequent flavour of the vino!

Moving onto secondary flavours, which are created by none other than the wine maker. He or she has the option to pop the wine in a barrel, and different types of barrel to boot! They can let the wine go through secondary fermentation, which changes the acid in the wine from green apple flavours to buttery and creamy flavours and textures. To understand this we tasted:

• Bouchard Finlayson Kaaimansgat Chardonnay (a beautifully oaked Chard)
• Bouchard Finlayson Galpin Peak Pinot Noir
• De Trafford Merlot
• De Trafford Blueprint Shiraz
• Graceland Cabernet Sauvignon

Finally we had the pleasure of exploring tertiary flavour through Jeremy Walker’s exceptional Grangehurst Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2001. Tertiary flavours are those that come about from time in the bottle. I.e. truffles, earthiness and all those good forest floor smells! The wonderful thing about Grangehurst is that they release their wines when they believe they are ready for drink. This means we don’t have to be the patient ones when it comes to cellaring the wine!

Thanks to all that joined. Keep a look out for our Under the Influence of Italy food and wine experience in April, a vertical tasting of De Trafford Cab and Merlot and another Under the Influence of Flavour mini-course.