Hang out with wine people and it seems like they speak a whole new language. Wine writers and judges use phrases and words that can leave you wondering if they're talking about wine at all, with terms like 'armpit' and 'pencil' being bandied about. Winemakers generally tend to grunt, not because they're unable to speak, but because they're preoccupied with what they do 24/7. And because some of them can't speak. Anyway, below are a few of the terms you might come across when wine is being talked about, along with a simple translation into good ol' kiwi. After all, when all's said and done, Spade Oak wine is there to be drunk and enjoyed, not talked about! Today we want to introduce you to some wine terms. There are too many to cover in one post, so we'll break these up a bit for ya, and we'll stat with the easy ones.
Savoury - similar to what you would expect in food. Generally means the wine is well made and nice to drink.
Luscious - soft, velvety, fruity, rich wines. A Bond Girl in a glass.Every layout comes with the latest social features built in. Readers can easily share posts on social networks like Facebook and Twitter and view how many people have liked a post, made comments and more.
Noble - funny one this. Noble means rotten. Yep, good old noble rot, botrytis cinerea, is a benevolent grey fungus that brings out the best in sweet wines. Hard to describe, wonderful to taste. Our Noble Viognier is a stunning example.
Buttery - just what it says. A big buttery wine is a big buttery wine and you'll know it when you drink it. Chardonnay and Syrah often have this characteristic.
Rustic - old style. Funky. Unpretentious. A wine that's grown and made the way wines are supposed to be grown and made. Honest table wine. Lovely stuff.
Tannin - Wine tannins come from grape skins, stems and seeds, and their extraction depends on how the wine is made. Sometimes tannins also come from barrels, especially new ones, if these are used to age the wine in. All in all, it's a really complicated thing, that has led to all sorts of other jargon such as cofermenting and copigmentation. If you drink a badly made red wine and your mouth puckers up, that's too much tannin right there.
That's it for today. We'll let you digest that, as it were. Cheers!