How many fruits, flowers and adjectives do you want? | New Brief #245

It is quite difficult to describe flavours so that others can understand. Flavours, especially when it comes to wine, are mostly described with similes. The wine smells of strawberries or tastes of black currants. Of course, there is neither fruit nor berries in the wine (except grapes – no, wine is not made with added flavourings).

When you describe wine to yourself, for example to remember, the most important thing is to describe it with words that make sense to you. It can be very personal things; that others don’t understand doesn’t matter.

When you describe wine to others, especially if you write (or podcast) about wine, on the other hand, the most important thing is that it becomes comprehensible to another person, to the reader. Otherwise, the text becomes meaningless. Therefore, more general descriptions must be used. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way. We read many strange descriptions of wine, sometimes completely contradictory. A tight fullness. A fruity minerality. And so on. Then we can’t help but wonder if the writer himself really knows what he/she means.

Some wine descriptions become almost like a tower (Tower of Babel?) of stacked adjectives and fruits. “The aroma is intense and complex, with hints of dark berries, plums, figs, liquorice, spices, dried and fresh herbs, leather and tobacco. The palate is full-bodied, with hints of liquorice cherries, black currants, burnt autumn leaves and ripe red apples, with a silky texture and a long aftertaste with notes of chocolate, coffee, vanilla and minerals.” Admittedly a (only partially) fictitious example. Thanks AI. Do I understand what the wine tastes like? Doubtful.

We, BKWine, are mostly rather restrictive with long, fruity descriptions with lots of words. Maybe because we have a hard time finding all that stuff in the wine, but mostly because we think it’s not that helpful, either for us or for you as a reader.

Instead, we try to give some basic dimensions that can give an idea of what type of wine it is. Is it aromatic? Or a “structure wine”? (A word we made up for a wine that above all gets its quality from the mouthfeel.) How is the acidity, the body, the length? Along with a few dominant adjectives or fruits. And of course supplemented with whether it is good or not. We try to avoid hiding the forest with too many trees.

It is also important – we think – to avoid things that are easily misunderstood or are ambiguous. Sweaty horse or barnyard – how does it smell? Flintlock gun? How many have smelled one, or even seen one? Perhaps worst of all: minerality… To me, as done in the example above, combining minerality with vanilla and chocolate (or fruit or flowers or wet wool) is a contradiction, pointless. So instead of that kind of description, maybe it’s better to go one step further? Better to say what you really mean (in an understandable way); instead of “minerality” say that the wine has high acidity, is very dry, and a bit astringent/harsh. This avoids misunderstandings.

It’s also better to avoid being overly poetic or esoteric. It might mean something to you, but something completely different to another person.

Simpler is usually better, even when it comes to describing wine. But the similes will never leave us.

But not everyone thinks the same. What kind of wine descriptions do you prefer?

Read more

We have extra reading for you in this Brief, around ten longer articles.

• Two new grape profiles
• A couple of texts with exciting wines to try and on biodynamics
• About what “mousy” wine is
• Restaurant tips for the Paris-bound
• A wine importer who is an Italian specialist
• A report on how cava wants to dynamize itself
• And a lot of other things

Look further in the Brief and take the time to read some of the articles.

Wine tours

If you want to join us on this years great adventures to Bordeaux and Champagne, book your places now. You can hardly find a wine tour organiser with more inside knowledge. First time we were in Bordeaux was in 1986. We’ve written twelve wine books, including wine internationally award winning on Champagne. We travel in wine regions…… all the time.

For some very special experiences – once in a life-time wine tours – you can join us next winter on the extended Southern Hemisphere Tours: Chile-Argentina, South Africa and New Zealand.

More info on our wine tours here. “World’s Top Wine Tours“. Tours with the people who know wine and who have an unrivalled experience of wine and tours.

Travel in wine regions with someone you trust.

Wine editors to the national encyclopedia, Forbes.com contributors, award-winning wine book authors, wine tour advisors to the UN and national wine organisations, wine judges … and, above all, passionate wine travellers.

Enjoy the Brief!

Britt & Per

If you appreciate what we do, you can help us: Tell your friends about the Brief or send it to them.

Like us and follow us on social media:

BKWine Magazine on Facebook | Wine Tours on Facebook
Twitter | Instagram | Linkedin | YouTube