What is roundness in a wine?
The first consideration is that it is one tactile and non-gustatory stimulus.
The perception of softness can be simply defined like the feeling of roundness which is produced in the mouth during tasting. A feeling, so to speak, viscous and dense, capable of giving the wine a less fluid and less flowing character in the mouth, such as to give a certain "volume".
And the result of several factors, substances and elements that yes develop during wine production and maturation. To these, as already mentioned, are added all the possible substances used in some stages of production, as well as the oenological corrections, made in the substances considered quantitatively excessive.
Apart from the substances added during production, among the elements that make up the softness of a wine we find it sugar, alcohol, the sugar alcohols and in particular, the glycerol.
The latter substance is usually produced during alcoholic fermentation.
The perception of roundness is not only linked to the substances that produce it, but also to the specific state of life and maturation of the wine.
The intensity and nature of the softness of a wine is also determined by the various processes of evolution, capable of altering the chemical characteristics of some elements and their molecular structure.
Even the winemaking practices and, in particular, the use of special containers, can affect on the determination from the softness, even substantially.
A case out of all is offered by the fermentation and aging of the wine in cask and barrique. The substances transferred by the wood to the wine, as well as the role played by oxygen during aging, can in fact co attribute to roundness and softness of a wine and the work done on the tannins is the result.
L'excess of softness makes the wine flat and soft, lacking in character and vivacity, becoming cloying in the worst cases. The current orientation of taste would seem to penalize wines with an evident character of roundness, both because these are associated with the so-called international taste and for the current preference towards wines in which acidity it is more evident, such as longevity character.
The concept of softness is also linked to the specific type of wine and, in particular, to the grapes with which it is produced. There are grapes, in fact, which lose much of their personality and typicality if the sensation of softness were dominant, such as Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc.
In mass consumption, however, softness still has a decisive appeal for sales purposes. This characteristic is well known to certain producers who, in this sense, sacrifice the real character of a wine with the sole purpose of satisfying certain market trends and the taste of certain consumers.
And you who, beyond the objective of balance, what do you prefer, softer wines or more free-range wines?