Drink This Now! Lesson 4

On Saturday April, 29th I got together my mother and sister to do a wine tasting with me. I had earlier gone to the local wine store in my area to get the wines I needed for this lesson. I was unable to find the exact un-oaked chardonnays mentioned in the instructions but with the help of the sales person I found something similar; Smoking Loon Un-oaked Chardonnay, along with the Toasted Head Chardonnay.

For this lesson the goal is to test and taste the differences between un-oaked chardonnays versus chardonnays that have been aged in oak.

(Tasted Head Chardonnay, 2015) and (Smoking Loon Unaoked Chardonnay,
2015)

 (plane crackers and wines to taste) 

Step 1: first taste the wines un-chilled immediately after opening and describe them in detail. Below I have created a chart separating the two types of wine with different descriptors.

Both wines were very similar in color but the toasted head chardonnay which was aged in oak did have a yellower tint to it.

	Smoking Loon Chardonnay (unoaked) smooth and light body	Toasted head Chardonnay (Oaked)  medium body with longer finish
Fruity	Light and crisp. Strong fruity aroma. Aroma and taste of apples along with lemon and apricot flavor.	Hints of clementine with spice flavor and aroma.
Woody		Woody flavor along with toasty/smoky aroma. Hints of vanilla.
Barrel		Buttery and creamy palate.
Lees flavor	Baked bread	creamy

2: I took the time to go back and forth between the two wines cleansing my palate with unflavored crackers. 

3: After assessing my descriptions of the two wines I noticed for the smoking loon un-oaked chardonnay a lot more fruity flavors were very apparent. I picked up on various fruits when smelling and tasting this wine, especially in comparison to the oaked chardonnay. For the toasted head chardonnay there was less noticeable fruity notes and more relating to wood flavors. For the un-oaked one I couldn't pick up on any of these. 

4: After chilling both wines for 40-60 minutes I did the tasting again, cleansing my palate with the crackers in between tasting. The wines were not changed a significant amount but I was able to pick up on some differences. 

•Smoking Loon Un-oaked Chardonnay chilled had more of a pronounced flavor of fruits described and citrus aroma and hints picked up on. 

•Toasted Head Chardonnay chilled had a stronger spicy flavor with a little bit more of a bite to it. The smoky and woody aroma and taste became more apparent when chilled, almost covering all of the fruity notes. I did pick up on hints of caramel which I didn't when it at room temperature. 

Like explained in chapter 2 the wines are noticeably different depending on if they were aged in oak or not. As shown above from the lesson the wine which was un-oaked was almost only defined with fruit descriptors. The chardonnay aged in oak showed descriptors in all categories but primarily naming ones from the woody list. In conclusion aging a wine in oak can significantly change a wine and its aroma and flavor.