Chemins Vignerons

This idea of sight affecting flavor is not hard to grasp if one thinks of some food which looks unappetizing, but then tastes very good. The reverse is also true. How often is an item selected from a cafeteria line that appears very tasty but turns out to be bland or worse? This expectation based on appearance often psychologically sets up our taste buds. In wine, this sight prejudice leads us to expect that transparent and bright wines will be good-tasting, and wines that are cloudy or dull in color will not. Although this does not necessarily hold, still our sense of sight sets us up psychologically for gustatory enjoyment or disappointment.
Color can be an indicator of what the nose and the mouth might expect. Clues as to the grape varietal identity and the age of wine can be revealed by its hue and transparency or opacity. White varietal wines may appear from very pale greenish and brightly clear: suspect youth and bone dryness, to deep golden brownish and approaching translucence: probably well-aged, possibly nectar-like. Red varietals run from brickish red and nearly transparent and may be older, mellow, to deep opaque bluish-purple, expect young, brash, tannic). Bright pink rosé or blush wines are often youthful, while orangey-bricky ones are usually past their point of prime drinkability.
Although they may appear to be in a range of either red-purples or green-yellows, wine grapes are referred to as black or white, depending on the color of their skins at ripeness.
Grenache and Mourvedre tend towards a garnet or brickish tone. Syrah, Carignan can make wines so inky-purple they could refill fountain pens. The hues of the black grapes are consistent but they become nearly transparent when made into rosé or blush-style wines. Most unnamed varietals fall in between these color ranges.
Sight may set up initial expectations in the other senses, or serve as confirmation after smelling, tasting, and feeling a wine’s properties. When aromas of spices and red fruits, bouquet of garrigue, lovely tannins, a texture of velvet, and flavour of black cherries and currant all lead to suspicions of blending syrah/grenache from Languedoc.