Balanced
Definition - What does Balanced mean?
A wine is identified as balanced when all the individual components of the wine work together in harmony so that a single characteristic does not stick out in an awkward manner. The most important components that should be in balanced include: alcohol, acidity, tannin, sweetness and fruit concentration. A balanced wine ages gracefully and is the most desired trait in a wine.
WineFrog explains Balanced
The right quantity of every component in a wine helps produce a well-balanced wine that is pleasant to drink, refreshing in taste and generally the best type of wine available. Balanced wine ensures sweetness, acidity, fruit flavors, tannins and alcohol concentration are in check.
It is important to note that acidity balances the sweetness of wine. The lack of acidity in a sweet wine can create an excessively sweet and consequently distasteful wine. By the extension of this logic, conversely, sweetness balances acidity. Wines that contain too much acidity have an extremely sweet taste and are not enjoyable to drink. Likewise, high levels of tannins need to be kept in check or balanced with enough fruit concentration so that when the tannins dissolve, the fruit flavor is not lost. Last but not the least, alcohol is also an essential component that needs to be in balance, because it can cause a burning sensation if it is too strong, or it can be too bland if the alcohol level is too low.
