I have written a great deal on wine. And I have never used a word of
“wine language” – except once, when winemakers had gone mad on cold
fermentation, when I described the general taste of it as being rather like
pear drops.
So now, looking at the
descriptions on back labels, gives me great pleasure and much laughter.
I have only been
collecting these comparisons for a month or two and have recorded enough, using
only those that I have actually read on the bottles that we have consumed.
Making wine taste like
various fruits predominate. For instance, these include: ripe berry (very
popular), strawberries, prunes, cherries, peach, melon, pear, yellow and crisp
apple, gooseberries, blueberries, ripe blackcurrants, juicy plum, bulging with
ripe black plum, succulent black cherries - but not one, not a single mention
of grape.
Other flavours
include smoky mocha, chocolate in various forms, liquorice, oak scented,
boxwood, rose flower, sweet and silky tannins, subtle spice, violet character,
round mouth, brooding, approachable, eucalyptus gum, and two that I love: deft
lemon acidity and spicy minerality.
Should anyone ask you
to describe a white wine on offer, you might try one of the last two, and watch
for the reaction.
If I ever do read that
a wine tastes of grape, I will jump for
joy.
