3 May 2013

Wine jargon explained!

Like any specialist subject, wine has its own weird and wonderful jargon. A quick look at tasting notes and you'll find wines are described in a very funny way - often as though they were people - precise... serious... focused... playful... feminine... approachable.

So I thought I'd do a handy guide to what one or two of these oddities might mean - to help you sort the Lafite from the Graff, if you will.

My tongue-in-cheek guide to funny wine terms.

  • PRICE POINT - price
  • WINE TRADE - wine business, wine industry
  • FINE - usually 1) great; may sometimes mean 2) not heavy in texture; never means 3) decent, not bad
  • SERIOUS - see FINE, above (antonym: quaffable)
  • CROWD-PLEASER - I can see why people with poor taste like it
  • QUAFFABLE or QUAFFER - nothing fancy but does the job
  • OVERDELIVERS - is good value
  • REFLECTS ITS TERROIR or HAS A SENSE OF PLACE - fits my preconceived idea of how wines from this region should taste
  • GOOD TYPICITY - ignore the bit about terroir; tastes how I expect this grape to taste
  • FOCUSED or PRECISE - a posh quaffer
  • ON THE NOSE I'M GETTING... - it smells like...
  • THIS WINE IS SHOWING WELL - this tastes good today

No comments:

Post a Comment