Wine Tasting: A Professional Handbook (Food Science and Technology)

One of the most respected professionals in the wine industry-Ron Jackson, author of Wine Science (now in its second edition)- covers all practical and theoretical aspects of wine tasting in his new book. It details the basic techniques used by professionals to sense all visual, gustatory, and olfactory wine properties (sight, taste, and smell). It also describes the physiologic, psychologic, and physicochemical origins of sensory perception and discusses wine types to illustrate the characteristic features that distinguish the majority of wines. A large portion of the book is dedicated to the practical concerns of preparing and performing wine assessments. Readers are instructed in how to differentiate between the various types of wine tastings (each requiring its own design, tasting sheets, training, skill measurement, and analysis). Included is a general overview of the types and sources of wine quality and how wine is most appropriately paired with food. Special features include a flow chart of wine tasting steps, details of errors to avoid, procedures for training and testing sensory skills, sample tasting sheets, original data from 14+ years of training tasters, and numerous tables, charts, and figures.

• Modern treatment of all relevant data relative to wine tasting, both professional and personal
• Separates the practical and more technical and theoretical aspects of wine tasting, allowing easy access to people of different interests
• Stresses the explanation and significance of each step in the tasting process, as well as errors to be avoided
• Outlines procedure in the training and testing of sensory skill (professional and personal)
• Presents sample tastings designed to teach tasters specific varietal, regional and stylistic types of wines
• Provides examples of tasting results and means for analysis
• Discusses the evolution of cuisine and wines association with food
• Outlines the diversity of wines and the sensory experiences expected with each
• Outlines the nature and origins of wine quality

Illustrative Material:

• Flow Chart of Wine Tasting Steps
• Examples of Tasting Sheets: Hedonic (hierarchy and numerical ranking), Wine Appreciation (blank and complete examples), Quality assessment (general, sparkling, artistic ranking), Sensory Analysis (quality and aroma specific)
• Fragrance Chart (with colored icons)
• Off-odor Chart (with colored icons)
• Color transparency representing standardized wine color terms
• Color illustrations representing the appearance of wines of different ages
• Warming-cooling chart for bottles of wine (air and ice water)
• Table of aroma descriptors for the major grape varieties (red and white)
• Chart of the warming rate of wine in a glass
• Figure showing the influence of alcohol content on 'tears' formation
• Taster variability to the major tastant and odorants in wine

Ron Jackson received the bachelor's and master's degree from Queen's University and the doctrine from the University of Toronto. His time in Vineland, Ontario, and subsequently at Cornell University redirected his interest in plant disease toward viticulture and enology. As part of his regular teaching duties at Brandon University, he developed the first wine technology course in Canada. For many years he was a technical advisor to the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission, developed sensory tests to assess the tasting skills of members of its Sensory Panel, and was a member of its External Tasting Panel. He is also the author of Conserve Water, Drink Wine and several technical reviews. Dr. Jackson has resigned from his position as a professor and the chair of the Botany Department at Brandon University to concentrate on writing. He is allied with the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, Brock University.