Wine 101 Tasting #5 - Sleek & Soft white wines

Wine Varietals in Wine Tasting #5
Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc

Wine Words in Wine Tasting #5
Body, Oak, Malolactic Fermentation

This tasting features these styles of white wine, Soft and Rich, and it centers around the use of oak in making wines. Sleek wines are almost never treated with oak in the wine making process. Soft wines, on the other hand, are almost always treated with oak. This tasting will let you try some of today’s most popular white wines, and it will help you see the difference in wine style that a little wood makes.

To prepare for the tasting take a quick look at how to organize a wine tasting. If you are ready to buy wine, the suggested wines for this tasting can be found by searching our wine reviews section for Sleek wines and Soft wines. Be sure the wines are chilled before starting your tasting.

Tasting the Sleek Wine

Sleek white wines are pale yellow to straw in color. They can be made from several different varietals, but most are made from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. If you selected an unoaked Chardonnay for this tasting, the aroma will be mostly apples. Sleek Sauvignon Blancs, on the other hand will display red apples, melons, and maybe pears.

Give the Sleek wine a taste. In the mouth, Sleek Chardonnays will taste “clean” with simple apple and a little richness from the malolactic fermentation. Sleek Sauvignon Blancs might express flavors such as apples, pears, and melons.

What is the body of the Sleek wine? Sleek wines tend to have medium body. Some Sleek wines will display a some acid.

Tasting the Soft Wine

Now we are going to try the Soft white wine. Remember the Soft wines are treated with oak, which frequently makes white wine a little darker in color or a little more golden. Is that the case with the Soft wine you are tasting?

Take a sniff of the Soft wine. Can you smell the oak? Oak tends to make a wine mellow, softening the fruit and adding toasty notes and spice. Do you smell any of these oak effects?

Oak also affects the flavor profile of a wine. Do you detect butter or a little richness? Oak treatment enhances the richness imparted to a wine by malolactic fermentation. What fruit flavors do you notice? Typical flavors include apple, baked apple, and melon.

What is the body of the Soft wine? Soft wines tend to have a little more body than Sleek wines. The extra body comes from the oak and (sometimes) a slightly higher alcohol content compared to Sleek wines.

What do you think about oak now? Oak has been used in wine making for hundreds of years. Not only does it make a good barrel, but it also adds things to wine that people have liked for a very long time.

What to Do Next…

Now that you have tasted these two wine styles side by side, which do you like better? Search our wine reviews section for either Sleek wines or Soft wines. Also, you can continue on and do the other wine tastings.