Phenolic ripeness
Phenolic ripeness
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What exactly is phenolic ripeness? Justin Howard-Sneyd MW answers that question for Decanter.

Ask Decanter: Phenolic ripeness

Justin Howard-Sneyd MW, for Decanter, replies: As grapes ripen, sugar levels increase, and acidity levels decrease. Fruits in the wild spread their genes by persuading animals or birds to eat their fruit; they then excrete the seeds, hopefully in a favourable spot. The fruit must taste delicious, so flavour molecules build up as the grape approaches ripeness.

Winemakers often use potential alcohol as a guide to when the grapes should be picked. But the ideal level of potential alcohol for a particular wine, say 13%, does not always correspond to either the flavour ripeness (when the grapes taste great) or phenolic ripeness. Phenols are complex molecules, including tannins, in the skins of the grape that can contribute bitter flavours. As the grape approaches ripeness, they change from green and bitter to pleasantly astringent, to soft and ripe-tasting.

If noticeably bitter flavours dominate the palate, then the wine is not considered to have achieved phenolic ripeness. If, however, the tannins of a red wine are supple and rounded, then the grapes used were phenolically ripe when picked.

Justin Howard-Sneyd MW is global wine consultant to Direct Wines and a winemaker.

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Justin Howard Sneyd MW
Justin Howard Sneyd MW
Regional Chair

Justin Howard-Sneyd MW’s career in the wine trade began in retail, running education courses and working six vintages in South Africa, Hungary, Romania and France.

He then settled down in England to become a buyer for Safeway supermarkets, and became a Master of Wine in 1999, winning the Tim Derrouet Award as the outstanding student of his year.

A year later, Howard-Sneyd joined Sainsbury’s where he was a buyer until 2005, when he moved to Waitrose to head up its wine team for five years. Howard-Sneyd is now global wine consultant to Direct Wines and founder of The Hive Wine Consulting.

In addition to his day job, he and his family make 4,000 bottles a year of Domaine of the Bee, a blend of Grenache and Carignan from the Roussillon.