A Practical Guide to Wine Descriptions
Photo by Zachariah Hagy on Unsplash
We’ve all run into this situation – the wine store we’re at doesn’t have the insert wine name here that we’re looking for. Or maybe you want to move on from the tried and true and look for something else to try – variety is the spice of life, after all. So, now what?
Here’s where you can help your friendly wine specialist help you.
Just a little bit of information can go a long way to pairing you with your next favorite wine. As a first cut, it’s all about style.
These questions are probably the first you’ll hear:
Is it a gift? Are you looking to pair it with a certain food? How much do you want to spend? Red or white? Or rosé? Still or sparkling?
Which wines do you like to drink? If you like a certain wine, it is likely that you will also like wines made from similar grapes from the same area. It also provides a guideline as to what wines you may want to explore from other wine regions around the world – different grapes, different region, but similar in style.
Once you’ve nailed those questions down, then you can also start thinking about some additional things that will help focus your choices as well.
How big is it? In wine lingo, big refers to the body – is it rich, mouth-filling, plush in the mouth, or is it cleaner, lighter in body?
How bold is it? You can think of boldness in terms of intensity of flavor. Does it really ‘pop’ in your mouth, or is it more restrained and elegant?
Is it ripe? In wine lingo, this refers to the fruit character. Is the fruit ripe or jammy, or have a pie filling character? Or maybe it’s tart or fresh fruit?
Do you like sweet or dry? Reasonably obvious question, but it is easy to confuse sweetness with a wine that has lots of fruity character to it. A wine can be fruity and dry, or fruity and sweet. The key is to try and separate the ‘fruit’ component from the sweetness component.
How much oak do you like? In reds, this will come out as notes of vanilla, chocolate, coconut, baking spice etc. You can also get tannins from oak (in addition to grapes). In whites, oak shows toasty wood flavors and a richer mouth texture.
Is there something else you’ve noticed that you like (or dislike) about the wine you’re drinking? For instance, red fruits, dark fruits, butter, black pepper, white pepper, flowers, spice, citrus, tropical fruit, acidity?
If you know the answers to at least a few of these questions, you’re definitely on your way! All these questions are designed to lead you to a wine that’s made in the style that you like.
If you don’t know the answer, never fear – if you want to explore, here are a few wines to try that are good examples of different styles.
Pull Cabernet Sauvignon – good example of an oaky, ripe, bold wine with tannins and dark fruits.
Goy Nebbiolo – good example of a lighter bodied red wine with lots of fresh and tart red fruits and tannins.
Ramos Red Blend – good example of a soft, medium bodied red wine with dark fruit and a round mouth feel.
Krems Gruner Veltliner – good example of a clean, refreshing white wine with tart citrus fruit and a little white pepper spice. Lighter bodied and crisp.
Li Veli Verdeca – good example of a refreshing white wine with a round mouth feel and medium body.
Blue Quail Sauvignon Blanc – good example of a fruity, softer white wine (slightly lower acid), yet still dry.
Villa Rosa Moscato d’Asti – good example of a fruity, yet sweet white wine with ripe peach and tropical fruits.