Four characteristics determine a wine’s quality: balance, depth, length or finish, and complexity. The more qualities a wine excels in, the more likelihood it is a good brand. Balance refers to the relationship between the sweet, bitter, and acidic flavors, and the wine’s alcohol content, with a balanced wine containing an equal amount of all four elements. A wine’s depth derives from the intensity of its scent in the glass before drinking, or how well its flavors represent the grapes and fermentation process used in its geographic location.
The length or finish of a wine define how much of the tongue’s taste buds experience the flavors when drinking, and how long those flavors linger in the throat while and after swallowing. A wine with an increased length and finish stimulates more taste buds than a shorter one, and has an enduring aftertaste. Complexity encompasses how many unique flavors and scents a wine has. These can derive from the grapes sued, the fermentation process, and or the finished wine’s storage conditions in the bottle.
