My perception of a couple champagnes changed dramatically from early afternoon to late evening. My wife and I were fortunate to attend a Zoom tasting of Krug. I opened a Krug GC 165 and a half bottle of the Rosè 23eme. I opened them an hour earlier and served at about 50 degrees, in Gabriel Glas Gold. The house was quiet and warm, and the wines were expressive and spectacular. The rosè was especially in a good place, showing an kaleidoscope of fruit and spice.
Fast forward five hours, when we brought the same bottles to a friend’s backyard and joined another couple. We ate and drank outdoors. The wines, while still excellent, were very different. The texture, crispness and structure were as I’d remembered, but the depth of flavors and aromas were less extreme.
There were several variables to account for it: glassware, distraction, temperature, increased diffusion. The glasses in the evening were slightly different than the GGG. It was much colder outside, despite blankets and heaters, and there was a slight breeze. There was the joy but also the distraction of friends and conversation. The wines seemed to be at the same temperature as earlier in the day.
Even when I focused on the wine, I could not appreciate the depth and complexity I had earlier. I left thinking that simply being outdoors altered my sensory impressions. I plan to follow up, by enjoying several wines at home, indoors and out, and eliminating the controllable variables.
Have you noticed this phenomenon?
Cheers,
Warren
Warren,
Great post - and your experience is not surprising at all. Wine (and all alcohol for that matter) continues to amaze with how different the same bottle or glass can show when you change the variables you mention up. It shouldn’t surprise anyone - but too often, we don’t think about these things.
Aromatics and texture will certainly vary based on temperature, glass shape, overall setting - heck, even the music that is in the background may lead to ‘differences in perception’ when it comes to a glass of wine. Truly amazing - and something I absolutely dig thinking about and exploring.
Not much more to add but thank you for the post!
Cheers.
Warren - Thank for positing this. I almost started a similar thread back a few months after a shocking experience of outdoor versus indoor, albeit with whisky, not wine.
A friend stopped by our deck to chat and we poured for the three of us from an open bottle of 17year sherry cask Bunnahabhain. We sat outside sipping for about 15 minutes when my phone rang and I excused myself to take the call inside, naturally bringing my glass with me. When I took my first sip inside, not 2 minutes later, my jaw almost dropped - the whisky smelled and tasted much more concentrated, lively and complex! Over the next 20 minutes or so, my husband and I tested this impression by moving from indoors to outdoors several times, with nothing changing but our location. The difference was amazing to both of us. I’d heard many people say that it’s a bad idea to do any serious tasting outside, but I’d never before this experienced such a profound difference.
Yeah–I’m one of the ones who say never do any serious tasting outside. It’s hard to know for sure what the key factor is, but I’m suspicious it’s the “slight breeze” that plays the biggest role. It’s hard to be outside, even on a windless day, when there aren’t air currents wafting away a significant portion of the nose of the wine, which is at least 3/4 of the enjoyment of a wine, or other beverage. (we have a sailboat, and if we take wine to consumed in transit, I grab the biggest, boldest thing I can find, or something that folks won’t bother to judge before guzzling. Frankly, mostly we would drink beer unless the anchor was down.)
I think any or all of those factors could influence your experience of the wine, but the one that stands out the most to me is being outside in the cold.
I don’t think indoors versus outdoors makes a difference per se (to me, at least), if you hold most other factors like temperature and wind constant. But I think I perceive wines a lot differently, and overall in a less good way, if I’m in a very hot or very cold environment. Sitting in an ice fishing hut or a hot summer garage would also impair my wine appreciation, even though those are both indoors.
For what it’s worth, my story happened in early fall when there was essentially no difference in temperature between my kitchen and my deck.
I prefer not to drink wine outside - particularly reds. They often take on a “piney” smell and taste.
That said, much of my Champagne consumption occurs out on the porch where the views make up for anything lost by the location (indoors or out).