E3

Robert Noel

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This week, I share with you my personal way to educate people on the various wine styles according to families of wines with similar characteristics.

These families of wine are established according to the flavour profile of each wine.

When conducting wine seminars and courses, I always stress the fact that the first step to learn more about wine is to recognize the characteristics of a wine lover's favourite wines.

Having a good knowledge of grape types, key wine producing areas and the wine style which they produce is certainly an asset.

However, given the wide number of wine producing areas and types of grapes, plus various blends, it is not necessarily an easy task for all amateurs to know and remember all of this information.

For this reason, I collected information during seminars, wine tastings and courses -- including the Master Sommelier courses I am currently taking -- and developed a certain way of categorizing the various table wines by styles and families.

I did not create this system of dividing wines by styles; a lot of wine professionals already use it. I simply tweaked it to make it easier to understand when teaching about wine.

The table wine category includes all the wines which are not sparkling wines, fortified (like ports) and dessert wines (like icewines).

These have their own categories and families. The following list includes the families of wine styles for white table wines.

n Light and refreshing: usually, in this family these wines are light, refreshing and usually have a medium-to-high acidity level. They are dry wines, and often fruity without necessarily being exuberant (except for some styles of Sauvignon Blanc).

In general, these wines do not have a new oak influence (or any oak). We appreciate these wines as aperitif or with light dishes. Wines: Muscadet, Sauvignon Blanc, Soave, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Chenin Blanc, Chablis, Vouvray, Gruner Vetliner, etc.

Aromatic and exotic: This is the family of perfumy wines, offering tropical, floral and at times quite exuberant aromas. Usually these wines can have a viscous and at times heavy feel in the mouth and most have medium to low acidity levels (except Albarino, Torrontes and Riesling).

These wines can be dry or off-dry, having flavours and aromas of honey, orange zest, apricot, mango, strawberries, flowers such as roses and violets and many other charming aromas. Wines: Gewurztraminer, Viognier, Condrieu, Torrontes, Muscat, Riesling, Albarino, etc.

n Rich and round: The best wines representing this family would be a decant New World Chardonnay aged in new French oak barrel.

These wines usually have medium (sometimes medium to high) acidity, are subject to oak influence (new or old oak), tend to be a little heavy to drink on their own and most of the time are much better appreciated with richer culinary creations such as seafood or white meat served with a rich sauce.

We can notice flavours and aromas of vanilla, butter, hazelnut, honey, caramel, almonds, baking spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, white flowers and sometimes exotic fruits such as mango, pears or nectarines. Wines: Chardonnay, Sémillon, White Bordeaux (Graves, Pessac-Leognan), white wines from the Rhone Valley, white Chateauneuf-du-pape, white Hermitage, Marsanne, Roussanne, white Burgundy, white Rioja, Pinot Gris (especially from Alsace), etc.

n Exceptions

It is however necessary to pay attention; these are merely basic rules. The climate (vintage), the winemaking techniques, the type of wine aging, the grape blend and the winemaker's philosophy are all key factors affecting the final product.

Because of these reasons, on occasion some of these wines can change category or family.

On the other hand, these guidelines are excellent information to use when it comes time to purchases of wine in a store or a restaurant.

Next week, the four families of red wines.

Have a good weekend.

* Weekly wine picks:

* #3279870608532 Carte D'or Sauvion Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie, Loire, France ($16.99): Light and fresh family -- drinks as an apéritif or with mussels, clams or fresh raw oysters.

* #5011932008632 Clay Station Viognier -- California ($22.49): Aromatic and exotic family -- a very good example of what the aromatic Viognier grape can offer with very interesting flavours and aromas.

* #086003000087 Woodbridge Chardonnay -- California ($15.29): Rich and round family -- a very good Chardonnay for the price. The Woodbridge line from Mondavi has made some great improvements over the last few years.

* Robert Noel is Alcool N.B. Liquor's sommelier. His column, World of Wine, appears each Saturday in Life & Times.