Cave de Sauveterre-Blasimon - Vignerons de Bordeaux - Téléphone : 05 56 61 55 21

The colour of a wine, whether it be red or white, develops in the course of aging. It is an excellent indicator of the age of the wine and its state of conservation. A young red wine shows certain shades of violet, that is to say tending towards violet, whereas an old wine would show rather more orange tones. (tuilés) One could say, in a simplified manner, that the more orangey (tuilés) the tones, the older the wine.

For example, for a traditional red wine of the cooperative such as Château Monier La Fraise, kept for 3 months in barrels, the violet shade disappears quite rapidly and the cherry-red colour takes on an orangey nuance, which is clearly perceptible after 4 or 5 years. After 10 years, in normal conditions of conservation, it will be ‘tuilé'. This is a completely classical development of Bordeaux wines.

For the dry, white wines the development of colour according to age varies between pale yellow even slightly green to dark yellow even golden. For example, a dry white wine of the type Sauvignon from the cooperative is completely developed in the first year and its qualities do not improve with time. A limpid, pale yellow colour is the sign of a good conservation. For the mellow, sweeter white wines the colour devel

ops from light yellow to golden yellow and golden. The wine ‘cuvée Athalésie' is an example of this. After several years the colour develops towards a golden hue, the sign of a rich wine with a flavour of ripe fruits.

To estimate the richness of a wine by looking at it.

The darker the redness of a wine - one speaks of a ‘profound/deep' colour - the larger the chance of tasting a rich wine - the product of quality grapes harvested at maturity.
For the soft and mellow white wines, turn the wine gently in the glass and you will observe what is generally know as ‘the legs', i.e. the traces of wine left on the glass by the liquid. One can deduce that the wine is rich if these traces are thick and numerous.

Having observed the appearance (robe) of the wine one can move on to the second stage of the wine-tasting.

SMELL THE WINE.

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