There are a few places of harmonic convergence where every facet of the vineyard and every nuance of the grape fit together perfectly. In those rare places, both grapes and ground transform into ecstatic wine. Pictured is one of those erogenous zones.

It is the monastery and cathedral at Badia Apassignano in Tuscany, Italy. Nearby are the famous Antinori vineyards where some of the most seductive and luscious grapes in the world grow. When combined with the sensual beauty of the land, it is no wonder that people travel here from all over the globe to see, taste, smell and touch.

It is impossible to explain why regions such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Tuscany, Piemonte, Napa, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara, and Yalumba have that earthy, erotic ability to produce evocative and sacramental wine. But produce they do. The finest wines in the world come from these erogenous zones.

The term viticulture means the cultivation of grapes and grapevines. Viti means life and culture describes preparation and knowledge. So a winemaker literally cultivates life by making love to the erogenous zone and grapes. It is a beautiful thing and evident when you know and see the passion of these great men and women called viticulturists.

Wine is a living thing. That is why it changes so dramatically in the glass in just a few short minutes. Savor wine and sense its life. It will reward you in transcendent and yes, sensual ways.

Tomorrow, How Wine Is Made.

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The third aspect where wine begins (the grape) is:

3. Tannin – is perhaps the most intellectually intriguing aspect of wine, especially red wine. It can significantly add to a wine’s greatness. To best understand the concept of tannin, think about the bitter, astringent (sour), taste of tea brewed too long. That same harshness can occur in wine as well. Just as in an overly-brewed cup of tea, more sugar, water or lemon does not help soften the bitterness of the tea. Only milk can render it tolerable.

Thus: the perfect pairing of wine and…cheese. Somewhere in time, a European villager realized that a hunk of cheese makes wine, especially cheap, red wine taste better. Cheese tempers the harshness of the tannin.

So…if you can only afford cheap, red wine and love to have parties, make sure to have plenty of cheese alongside!

Excessive tannin makes your mouth feel as if it has been sheathed in shrink-wrap, but an appropriate amount will not. When in harmony, tannin is “sensed” as the wine’s structure and backbone.

4. Fruitiness is just what the word suggests. This aspect is often found in young wines and rarely found in mature ones.

5. Sweetness and Dryness are aspects of wine that are often misunderstood. For example, many people say they prefer dry wines, even though the wines they commonly drink are Chardonnay, which actually contains a little bit of sweetness. So this aspects begs three “sticky” questions:

1. Can a wine be fruity and sweet? YES

2. Can a wine be fruity and dry? YES

3. Can a wine be sweet and dry? NO

Fruitiness and sweetness are two different things! Fruitiness means to display fruit-like aromas and flavors. Sweetness and dryness refers to the original sugar content of the grapes. If all (or most) of the sugar was converted to alcohol – the wine is dry. If only some of the sugar was converted to alcohol – the wine is said to be sweet.

It is important to note that sweetness must be balanced by acidity or the wine will taste like children’s cough syrup.

Tomorrow, did you know the Earth has her own erogenous zones?

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Wine has five qualities:

1. Distinct Varietal Character

In other words – “The more Granny Smith-ish the Granny Smith apple is, the more it can be savored and appreciated.” The same is true for grape varieties. Each variety of grape presents itself in a different way.

You either love Bleu Cheese or you hate it, but should every cheese taste like Kraft Singles just because it has widespread appeal? Nonsense!

2. Integration

The second quality to look for in wine is integration. That is, when the aspects of a wine (acid, tannin, alcohol, etc.) are so perfectly interwoven that no one aspect stands out from another. It is important to note, wine that is NOT integrated is far easier to describe than wine that is.

Karen McNeill, in the The Wine Bibledescribes non-integrated wine like a star. You can taste and talk about the “points” of acidity, tannin or oak.

She says an integrated wine presents itself in the mouth like a sphere. So round, so harmonious that one cannot easily grab onto any single sensory or intellectual aspect.

3. Expressiveness

The third quality to look for in a wine occurs when the aromas and flavors are well-defined and clearly projected. While some wines seem muddled and diffused, others have transcendent clarity and focus.

It is the difference between a pixelated You Tube video on a small computer screen and a Blu-Ray DVD on a large screen LED television.

Kermit Lynch says it this way, “Great wine is about nuance, surprise, subtlety, expression – qualities that keep you coming back for another taste. rejecting a wine because it is not big enough – is like rejecting a book because it is not long enough, or a piece of music because it is not loud enough.”

4. Complexity

Complexity is not a thing – but a phenomenon. A thing is jamminess or acidity. A phenomenon is a force that pulls you into a wine and impels you to return again and again – and every time you return you find something new.

Movie critics say that the greatest films are those that continue to crop up in your consciousness days after you have seen them. Art critics say it is the difference between a momentary response and art that you cannot stop looking at. In his description of beauty, Aquinas calls this “radiance”.

5. Connectedness

This aspect is perhaps the most elusive of all the five qualities to ascertain. It is the bond between a wine and the plot of ground it was born in. Connectedness makes a grape different from other grapes and therefore worthy of appreciation. It is like the link between a person and their culture and hometown.

Wine without connectedness to the ground from which it came may be of good quality, but like a modern Hampton Inn in Italy, there is a limit to how deep one’s aesthetic appreciation of it can be. For example, an Amarone can derive from nowhere other than the Piemonte region of Northern Italy. It is singularly connected to that tiny region of the world.

Finally, to appreciate what makes wine great – we must SLOW DOWN. This is tough for those of us who have been reared in the Westernized culture of America. I have a friend whose glass always gets filled up first by the waiter or Sommelier at a restaurant because he gulps it down. At first, it infuriated me that he receives more quantity of wine, until I realized that the quality and pleasure of my experience was far more enjoyable.

• To discover varietal character, try a Sauvignon Blanc and look for distinctiveness.
• To discover integration try a white Burgundy, such as a Mersault and look for harmony.
• To discover expressiveness try a Viognier, and look for intensity.
• To discover complexity, try a ten year old plus Napa Cabernet or Italian Barolo and look for naunce.
• To discover connectedness, try an Italian Amarone, and look for uniqueness.

Tomorrow, Part 4 of an Introduction to Wine, “Where It All Begins”

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