Barrel-aged red wines Barrel-aged red wines

Ethyl, vinyl guaiacol Ethyl, vinyl guaiacol

Tobacco

Barrel-aged red wines Barrel-aged red wines

Ethyl, vinyl guaiacol Ethyl, vinyl guaiacol

Earthiness: Mushrooms

Botrytized wines Botrytized wines

Octenol Octenol

Stone

Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc

Sulfur compound Sulfur compound

Smoke, Tar

Many red wines Many red wines

Ethyl phenol, ethyl guaiacol, vinyl guaiacol Ethyl phenol, ethyl guaiacol, vinyl guaiacol

Sweet, caramel: Maple syrup, fenugreek

Sherry, port Sherry, port

Sotolon Sotolon

b.u.t.ter

Many white wines Many white wines

Diacetyl Diacetyl

Roasted: Coffee, toasted brioche

Champagne Champagne

Sulfur compounds Sulfur compounds

Grilled meats

Sauvignon Blanc Sauvignon Blanc

Sulfur compounds Sulfur compounds

Animals: Leather, horse, stable

Many red wines Many red wines

Ethyl phenol, ethyl guaiacol, vinyl guaiacol Ethyl phenol, ethyl guaiacol, vinyl guaiacol

Cat

Sauvignon Blanc Sauvignon Blanc

Sulfur compounds Sulfur compounds

Solvent: Kerosene

Riesling Riesling

TDN (trimethyldihydronaphthalene) TDN (trimethyldihydronaphthalene)

Nail polish remover

Many wines Many wines

Ethyl acetate Ethyl acetate

Taste The The taste taste of a wine is mostly a matter of its sourness, or a balance between sour and sweet, and a savory quality that has been attributed to succinic acid and other products of yeast metabolism. Phenolic compounds can sometimes contribute a slight bitterness. The acid content of a wine is important in preventing it from tasting bland or flat; it's sometimes said to provide the "backbone" for the wine's overall flavor. White wines are usually around 0.85% acid, red wines 0.55%. Wines that are fermented dry, with no residual sugar, may still have a slight sweetness thanks to the alcohol and glycerol, a sugar-like molecule produced by the yeasts. Fructose and glucose are the predominant sugars in grapes, and they begin to provide a noticeable sweetness when left in wines at levels around 1%. Sweet dessert wines may contain more than 10% sugars. In strong wines, alcohol itself can dominate other sensations with its pungent harshness. of a wine is mostly a matter of its sourness, or a balance between sour and sweet, and a savory quality that has been attributed to succinic acid and other products of yeast metabolism. Phenolic compounds can sometimes contribute a slight bitterness. The acid content of a wine is important in preventing it from tasting bland or flat; it's sometimes said to provide the "backbone" for the wine's overall flavor. White wines are usually around 0.85% acid, red wines 0.55%. Wines that are fermented dry, with no residual sugar, may still have a slight sweetness thanks to the alcohol and glycerol, a sugar-like molecule produced by the yeasts. Fructose and glucose are the predominant sugars in grapes, and they begin to provide a noticeable sweetness when left in wines at levels around 1%. Sweet dessert wines may contain more than 10% sugars. In strong wines, alcohol itself can dominate other sensations with its pungent harshness.

Wine Aroma If acidity is the backbone of a wine, viscosity and astringency its body, then aroma is its life, its animating spirit. Though they account for only about one part in a thousand of wine's weight, the volatile molecules that can escape the liquid and ascend into the nose are what fill out its flavor, and make wine much more than tart alcoholic water. If acidity is the backbone of a wine, viscosity and astringency its body, then aroma is its life, its animating spirit. Though they account for only about one part in a thousand of wine's weight, the volatile molecules that can escape the liquid and ascend into the nose are what fill out its flavor, and make wine much more than tart alcoholic water.

An Ever-Changing Microcosm A given wine contains several hundred different kinds of volatile molecules, and those molecules have many different kinds of odors. In fact they run the gamut of our olfactory world. Some of the same molecules are also found in temperate and tropical fruits, flowers, leaves, wood, spices, animal scents, cooked foods of all kinds, even fuel tanks and nail polish remover. That's why wine can be so evocative and yet so hard to describe: at its best, it offers a kind of sensory microcosm. And that little world of molecules is a dynamic one. It evolves over months and years in the bottle, by the minute in the gla.s.s, and in the mouth with every pa.s.sing second. The vocabulary of wine tasting thus amounts to a catalogue of things in the world that can be smelled, and whose smell can be recognized, however fleetingly, in an attentive sip. A given wine contains several hundred different kinds of volatile molecules, and those molecules have many different kinds of odors. In fact they run the gamut of our olfactory world. Some of the same molecules are also found in temperate and tropical fruits, flowers, leaves, wood, spices, animal scents, cooked foods of all kinds, even fuel tanks and nail polish remover. That's why wine can be so evocative and yet so hard to describe: at its best, it offers a kind of sensory microcosm. And that little world of molecules is a dynamic one. It evolves over months and years in the bottle, by the minute in the gla.s.s, and in the mouth with every pa.s.sing second. The vocabulary of wine tasting thus amounts to a catalogue of things in the world that can be smelled, and whose smell can be recognized, however fleetingly, in an attentive sip.

A few of the aromatic substances in wine are contributed directly by particular varieties of grape, mainly the flowery terpenes of some white grapes and unusual sulfur compounds in the Cabernet Sauvignon family. But the primary creators of wine aroma are the yeasts, which apparently generate most of the volatile molecules as incidental by-products of their metabolism and growth. The yeasts and 400 generations of winemakers, who noticed and cultivated those incidental pleasures, made a tart alcoholic liquid into something much more stimulating.

Beer Wine and beer are made from very different raw materials: wine from fruits, beer from grains, usually barley. Unlike grapes, which acc.u.mulate sugars in order to attract animals, the grains are filled with starch to provide energy for the growing embryo and seedling. Yeasts can't exploit starch directly, and this means that before they can be fermented, grains must be treated to break down their starch to sugars. While it's true that grapes are much more easily fermented - yeasts begin to flourish in the sweet juice as soon as they break open - grain has several advantages as a material for producing alcohol. It's quicker and easier to grow than the grapevine, much more productive in a given acreage, can be stored for many months before being fermented, and it can be made into beer any day of the year, not just at harvest time. Of course grains bring a very different flavor to beer than grapes do to wine; it's the flavor of the gra.s.ses, of bread, and of cooking, which is essential to the beer-making process.

The Evolution of Beer Three Ways to Sweeten Starchy Grains Our ingenious prehistoric ancestors discovered no fewer than three different ways to turn grains into alcohol! The key to each was enzymes that convert the grain starch into fermentable sugars. Because every enzyme molecule can do its starch-splitting operation perhaps a million times, a small quant.i.ty of the enzyme source can digest a large quant.i.ty of starch into fermentable sugars. Inca women found the enzymes in their own saliva: they made Our ingenious prehistoric ancestors discovered no fewer than three different ways to turn grains into alcohol! The key to each was enzymes that convert the grain starch into fermentable sugars. Because every enzyme molecule can do its starch-splitting operation perhaps a million times, a small quant.i.ty of the enzyme source can digest a large quant.i.ty of starch into fermentable sugars. Inca women found the enzymes in their own saliva: they made chicha chicha by chewing on ground corn, then mixing that corn with cooked corn. In the Far East, brewers found the enzymes in a mold, by chewing on ground corn, then mixing that corn with cooked corn. In the Far East, brewers found the enzymes in a mold, Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus oryzae, which readily grew on cooked rice (p. 754). This preparation, called the which readily grew on cooked rice (p. 754). This preparation, called the chhu chhu in China, in China, koji koji in j.a.pan, was then mixed with a fresh batch of cooked rice. In the Near East, the grain itself supplied the enzyme. Brewers soaked the grain in water and allowed it to germinate for several days, then heated the ground seedling with ungerminated grain. This technique, called in j.a.pan, was then mixed with a fresh batch of cooked rice. In the Near East, the grain itself supplied the enzyme. Brewers soaked the grain in water and allowed it to germinate for several days, then heated the ground seedling with ungerminated grain. This technique, called malting, malting, is the one most widely used today to make beer. is the one most widely used today to make beer.

Beer in Ancient Times Malting is much like the making of sprouts from beans and other seeds, and may have begun in the sprouting of grains simply to make them softer, moister, and sweeter. There's clear evidence that barley and wheat beers were being brewed in Egypt, Babylon, and Sumeria by the third millennium Malting is much like the making of sprouts from beans and other seeds, and may have begun in the sprouting of grains simply to make them softer, moister, and sweeter. There's clear evidence that barley and wheat beers were being brewed in Egypt, Babylon, and Sumeria by the third millennium BCE BCE, and that somewhere between a third and half of the barley crop in Mesopotamia was reserved for brewing. We know that brewers preserved the malted grain, or malt, by baking it into a flat bread, then soaked the bread in water to make beer.

The knowledge of beer making seems to have pa.s.sed from the Middle East through western Europe to the north, where in a climate too cold for the vine, beer became the usual beverage. (Among the nomadic tribes of northern Europe and central Asia who did not even cultivate grain, milk was fermented into the drinks called kefir kefir and and koumiss. koumiss.) To this day, beer remains the national beverage of Germany, Belgium, Holland, and Britain.

Wherever both have been available, beer has been the drink of the common people and wine the drink of the rich. The raw material for beer, grain, is cheaper than grapes and its fermentation is less tricky and drawn out. To the Greeks and Romans, beer remained an imitation wine made by barbarians who did not cultivate the grape. Pliny described it as a cunning if unnatural invention: The nations of the West also have their own intoxicant, made from grain soaked in water. There are a number of ways of making it in the various provinces of Gaul and Spain.... Alas, what wonderful ingenuity vice possesses! A method has actually been discovered for making even water intoxicated.Some Beer-like Brewed DrinksThis chapter concentrates on standard beers brewed with barley malt, but there are many other ways to make an alcoholic drink from starchy foods. Here are a few examples.

Name of Drink

Region Region

Main Ingredient Main Ingredient

Chicha

South America South America

Boiled maize, chewed to contribute saliva enzymes Boiled maize, chewed to contribute saliva enzymes

Manioc beer