{"id":334042,"date":"2025-12-08T02:03:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T02:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/tombarraswinecommentary-structure-the-anatomy-of-wine\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T02:03:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T02:03:01","slug":"tombarraswinecommentary-structure-the-anatomy-of-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=334042","title":{"rendered":"TomBarrasWineCommentary: Structure: The Anatomy of Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"


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This was originally posted in 2012.\u00a0 However, this concept will never change.\u00a0 Read and Enjoy!<\/p>\n


I often take wine to restaurants, and if its quality warrants it, I like to share it with one or more of the employees. Recently my wife and I went to our favorite Italian restaurant, and being in the mood for something special, I took a 1997\u00a0<\/span>Flaccianello<\/em>, an exceptional Italian wine that ranks high in that unofficial classification of \u201cSuper Tuscans.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Our food server gave the wine an ecstatic two thumbs up, but I was curious how the Chef\u2014born and trained in Italy\u2014might react to it. Smiling broadly and carefully examining the bottle between swirls and sips, he was also quite taken by it. Among his several positive assessments, and the one on which we both agreed, was the wine\u2019s excellent\u00a0<\/span>structure<\/em>\u2014a special quality that made it vibrant and delicious even after all these years.<\/span><\/p>\n

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For people not into wine, the notion of structure may smack of pretense. For them, wine is simply wine\u2014one of many beverages to accompany food. However, for those who are more than casual wine drinkers\u2014informed wine enthusiasts\u2014that notion underlies their buying habits. For the former, it\u2019s a notion worth exploring. For the latter, it underlies what they buy and why.<\/span><\/p>\n

Structure, from a tasting perspective, is the vehicle or means by which a wine achieves its impact on your palate. Structure\u2019s major components that create the effect are\u00a0<\/span>alcohol, residual sugar, acid, and tannins.<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>Alcohol<\/em>\u00a0provides the body and feeling of weight in your mouth (light, medium, full).\u00a0<\/span>Residual sugar<\/em>, that portion not completely fermented into alcohol, is what determines how sweet or dry a wine tastes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Acidity\u00a0<\/em>(pleasant tartness) is a most vital component, especially for whites. It provides a crisp, lasting finish, as well as the ability to age and improve.\u00a0<\/span>Tannins<\/em>\u00a0(think black tea) are mainly from red grapes but also from stems, seeds and oak and give a wine a feeling of substance and texture, as well as its ability to evolve for years. Those four, acting in unison, are what comprises a wine\u2019s makeup and make you aware there is something far more than colorful liquid in your mouth.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, when and how do we identify and describe a wine\u2019s structure? After getting a handle on its appearance and aromatics, flavor and finish, you are totally armed with all you need to next judge and describe its structure. If it feels lifeless and flabby on your palate, the wine is said to be\u00a0<\/span>poorly structured<\/em>. It is likely short on acidity or tannin (or both).<\/span><\/p>\n

Poorly structured wines can also be described as being\u00a0<\/span>unbalanced<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span>out of<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>balance<\/em>, especially those with an excess of acidity or tannins (or residual sugar). An overly acidic white (or red ) wine can taste unpleasantly citric or sour, just as the astringency of a tannic red wine can jolt the palate with its abrasiveness. Unbalanced wines are easy to perceive\u2014something disagreeable is dominant. (Think vinaigrette with too much vinegar or too much salt.)<\/span><\/p>\n

As you likely can guess, wines with\u00a0<\/span>good structure<\/em>\u00a0have all four elements in perfect combination. Everything is in balance, with neither acidity nor tannins prevailing. They deliver a significant and pleasing palate impression, and are a joy to drink.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wines with\u00a0<\/span>great or excellent structure<\/em>, however, are in a class of their own. While \u201capproachable\u201d in their youth, some ageing is usually required to really discover and enjoy their best qualities. When evolved, all parts will be integrated and harmoniously balanced. Their appearance will be clear and brilliant, and aromatics and flavors will entice and amaze. They will be complex wines with depth, concentration and vitality, and\u2014more often than not\u2014coming from time-proven, high quality winegrowers and appellations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though they may challenge the purse as well as the palate, these wines\u2014and they run the entire gamut of red, white, sparkling and dessert\u2014certainly deserve a place on your \u201cWorld Class Wines to Try\u201d bucket list. To paraphrase the\u00a0<\/span>Michelin<\/em>\u00a0travel guides, \u201cThey are wines worth seeking out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This was originally posted in 2012.\u00a0 However, this concept will never change.\u00a0 Read and Enjoy! I often take wine to restaurants, and if its quality warrants it, I like to share it with one or more of the employees. Recently my wife and I went to our favorite Italian restaurant, and being in the mood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":334043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43211,14320,159374,9182],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-334042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anatomy","tag-structure","tag-tombarraswinecommentary","tag-wine"],"yoast_head":"\nTomBarrasWineCommentary: Structure: The Anatomy of Wine - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=334042\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TomBarrasWineCommentary: Structure: The Anatomy of Wine - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This was originally posted in 2012.\u00a0 However, this concept will never change.\u00a0 Read and Enjoy! 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