Doing research for a novel set around the wine industry I came across some terms that intrigued me. They are used (accurately and inaccurately according to which expert you speak to or book you read) to describe the 'dimensions' of wine and its taste. I thought I'd share some with you. Beside some you will note a letter 'B' (negative) or 'G' (positive) - no letter is neither good nor bad. Just so as you know what the basic terms are Fruit defines the flavor and body that comes from the grape not the wine making process or aging. Body is an important characteristic determined mainly by the alcoholic strength and its extract (wine solids i.e what is left after boiling the wine). Tannic describes the tannins (phenolic preservative) found mainly in red wine and comes from the dark skins, seeds and stems and is a key management factor for the red wine maker.
- Chewy - a wine contains some but not obtrusive tannins
- Closed - not very aromatic - said to be due to its maturity
- Dumb - no aroma/smell at all
- Firm - the tannins are perceptible (G)
- Flabby - too low in acid (B - no brainer here)
- Hollow -lacking fruit (B)
- Hard - too tannic (B)
- Hot - too alcoholic (B)
- Legs/Tears - colorless streams left on the inside of a glass after a relatively alcoholic wine has been swirled ( nothing to do with sugar/glycerol)
- Lean - lacking fruit not acid (B)
- Mature - aged to its full potential (G)
- Horizontial Tasting - a comparative tasting of different but related wines of the same year
- Vertical Tasting - comparative tasting of different vintages from the same provenance
- Blind Tasting - an attempt to identify and assess wines with covered labels.
Next week - I'll post 13 steps to help develop your palate.
(Ref: Jancis Robinson's Wine Course, BBC Books, 1995)
16 comments:
Wow, I didn't know all of that. But then again, I don't drink alcohol! Interesting list nevertheless!
My TT is a list of things I do on my computer.
Man, I had no idea. Thanks for the TT on wine. My TT list is about Cincinnati, OH.
Number 3 son is at Johnson & Wales in Miami and told me a few months ago after his "wine" class that chefs consider sniffing the cork tacky and uncouth. Who knew. My son wasn't sure how he was gonna break it to his dad who considers himself a wine affecianado (however the hell you spell that).
Me - i like my wine with ice in it. I'm a barbarian.
Holy crud, I didn't know there was anything more to wine tasting than swishing, smelling, tasting and spitting. :)
Great list, HappyTT!!!!
Think I'll print this list and use as a reference when I drink my next glass. Thanks for the great info!
Yeah, I sound like an idiot when I talk about wine, all right. :(
I shall copy this list and try to master some of it.
Happy TT! Thanks for stopping by!
Very interesting list! I'm clueless about wine because I don't drink, but I love learning new things and new terminology about various subjects!
Happy TT, and thanks for visiting my blog!
I've always wondered what some of those meant! My husband is the wine afficionado of the family, I just drink whatever he sets in front of me LOL.
Happy TT, and thanks for stopping by my blog.
mmmm, vertical tasting...I've done that after prolonged horizontal tasting :-)
I cannot even express to you how confusing these terms are to a life-long tee-totaller. =) I think there's a whole element of the tongue's ability to taste that I must be missing.
(I still get totally confused by people referring to dry martinis. How can a liquid possibly be dry?)
Another awesome TT from you Robyn! And I loved your NaNo novel. The characters were fun to read. :)
Describing wine has a sort of poetry to it. All I know about it is what I learned from the movie Sideways.
As for your question. I do freelance stories usually with photos to our local paper, which are done in the narrative journalism style.
sounds like you're enjoying your research! happy thursday!
Sooo cool! I've always wondered about those terms!
I should copy this list for the next wine tasting that I attend. (I have attended two within 2 months and had never gone to one before).
We did visit Wineries on our Honeymoon, but that was over 20 years ago.
Interesting list!
This is a great list! Usually, I don't bother to look cool. I just chug it until I'm horizontal. Not really, but it's good to know a few things about it. I'll probably forget and call the wine crunchy and fat or something.
Shelly
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