Big Finish
A wine passes your lips, dances on your palate…but how does it leave? A sudden exit, without consequence? With a lukewarm “call me” or “let’s do lunch” that will never happen? Or did it pique your curiosity and stretch the experience, with a lingering of desire for more?
Finish is an important part of a wine’s profile, as it’s the last impression you’re left with, and no one wants to be soon forgotten, do they?
Goes great with: You name it – unless you’re sipping with a stopwatch, you’ll want to note the finish.
Finish is usually defined as the lingering taste of a wine after it goes down the hatch. But this reminds me of PJ Harvey singing “Is that all there is?”
I offer that a memorable finish isn’t just The End, nor simply a memory of what you just tasted. A finish should seem effortless, seamless with the wine’s personality.
A choice Gewürztraminer can gracefully triple axel, and then stick the landing with a wide arc and a smile. Likewise, a thoroughbred Barolo might fly down the final stretch, taking your breath away. Different grapes, different sensations – their finish helps you experience them in the moment as well as afterwards. Length counts: the better the wine, the longer the afterglow of the finish.
As always, there’s no substitute for experience – go to a local wine shop tasting and sip with a focus on the finish. One Gewürztraminer that did more than just slip away was the 2006 Tramin Nussbaumer. Winemakers get a knowing smile when your eyes close, slowly re-open, and you say, “Wow…what was the name of that one again?”