Written on 07/10/2020
The language of wine
Wine has its own language. It is discussed as much as it is tasted. From the erotic to the scientific, the wine lexicon is vast and sometimes mysterious. We've heard the terms a thousand times without ever admitting we don't understand them. Here's a selection of words you need to know and master to talk about "wine" without getting your feet stuck in the vine...
AN AMPLE WINE
This is a quality appreciated when tasting wine. It defines a wine that has multiple and different aromas, which you can smell long after you've smelled or tasted it. Whether you're a connoisseur or an amateur, it's always interesting to discuss this with other guests, without judgment or snobbery about the words used by one or other to define what they feel. One can't help but be surprised by the exotic words used by some!
A PIQUÉ WINE
This time, we're talking about a defect. It's an unpleasant smell of vinegar, due to too much ascetic acid. A piquant wine is piquette!
LE MARC
This is the residue of grape pips and skins. Marc is pressed to extract the juice and make wine. It can also be distilled to produce marc de Bourgogne, which can be used as a digestive or to refine Epoisses. Some bon vivants also fill the small well formed by the rind of Langres, to flambé the marc and then taste the cheese...
In Champagne, it's also the name given to a certain volume of grapes purchased by a merchant: 4,000 kg.
TANNIN
It's a substance found in the pips and stalks (déjà vu, eh?) which, once the wine is made, helps preserve it. It's found mainly in red wines, and helps preserve them. It constantly evolves and changes the taste over time.
Here are a few dog-eared pages in the never-ending dictionary of wine. We could still have talked about biodynamics, complete wine or bâtonnage... but that's only part of the story!
