Understanding Fruit

WINE TALK
1

I’m trying to understand certain fruit profiles of red wine. Some reds I have tasted with friends this year have this sort of bright fruity aroma and taste although they are dry wines. Is that what you call “fruit forward”? In contrast, other wines we have tasted do not have that fruity nose and the profile seems to have more dark fruit notes. Although, I could pick up on some cranberry.

So, what do you call that if its not fruit forward? These were all red blends and cabs we sampled. Thanks.

2

Generally, a “fruit-forward” wine is a wine that is predominantly fruit with little or no non-fruit flavors. There isn’t a single accepted definition, though.

The type of fruit that presents in a wine is a different matter. Red fruit, black/blue fruit, etc. show up in different varietals. For example, cabs generally show dark fruits and zins generally show brambly fruits (berries).

The best way to learn, IMO, is to taste lots of wines (preferably with more experienced tasters), read this and other boards, and have as much fun as possible. And, of course, keep asking questions.

3

Dryness refers to the amount of residual sugar (RS) in the wine, i.e. sugar that for one reason or another had not been converted to alcohol at the time fermentation stopped or was intentionally halted. This is not related to fruit flavors in wine, however a fruity tasting wine is commonly mistaken as being sweet, even if it has very little to no RS, because our senses are trained to equate fruit with sweetness.

To me, “fruit forward” refers to a wine where fruit flavors hit you immediately and obviously, with little savory elements to add complexity. Maybe these finish with vanilla/spice/smoke flavors but an immediate wave of fruit I’d call fruit forward. This is often the case with modern-styled wines, that the fruit is very ripe so there are few savory elements contributed from the grapes themselves, but aggressive barrel conditioning shows on the finish, adding the only element of complexity on top of the fruit. I call this fruit+barrel wine, or just say it sucks.

As far as “what to call it” I’d say don’t worry about it. I know, this is a wine board and talk is what we do, but the only talk I find really enhances the enjoyment of wine falls into the category of, “want to get together and open a bottle of wine?” etc.
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