In last brief we wrote about how to describe a wine in a way that makes people understand what you mean. We have received some comments from readers that we would like to share with you. A reader from Sweden tells us about an English wine writer who many years ago came to Sweden and was asked to review all the white wines at Systembolaget (the state monopoly). One wine was described like this: “This wine is ideal for serving at a funeral dinner, because it provokes a fitting mood of sorrow and grief.”
Another reader writes about when he visited Domaine de Montille in Volnay. De Montille talked about modern wines and he described them as being “broad” as opposed to his own wines, that he considered being “tout en longeur”, wines that express themselves “lengthwise”. Tout en longeur is something we hear from wine producers quite often. Meaning the wine stays with you a long time. The broad wines attack you full throttle and then they are gone.
Yet another reader, French this time, remembers a Meursault 1972. It was, he recalls, “smelling of something like old leather and sweat” and it inspired him to the following description: “taxi de la Marne, banquette avant” (free translation: Paris taxi, front seat). For another very (too?) old red burgundy: smelling of wilted rose and stale perfume, he came up with this colourful description: “sofa de bordel parisien en velours rouge, fin du XIXe siècle”.
A lively fantasy sometimes helps.
