What's Going On in the World of French Wines

Lately there has been a lot of discussion in the blogging and tweeting world about the language that we use to talk about wine and the value of wine criticism (a topic that gets hot every few months or so). One prominent wine writer has suggested that we boil down our descriptors to two categories – sweet and savory. I find this to be a very interesting argument, as I have always found the language that we use to describe wines limiting, but not an easy solution to the current system.

I find that the problem is, and in some ways it is a good problem to have as it points to our diversity, we don’t all speak the same language when it comes to food. Not only are our palates unique, but our frames of reference can differ widely – and since the wine world is so large, it can also differ depending on where in the world you are. One of my favorite descriptors is “cat’s pee on a gooseberry bush” – a phrase that is considered a classic descriptor for Sauvignon Blanc and more popular in the UK than the US, but still one we all love to toss around. But I have to ask – how many of us really truly understand what it means? Most Americans aren’t that familiar with gooseberries and the idea of a wine smelling like your cat’s litter box – well, let’s just say that isn’t a really appealing idea.

But when it comes down to it, what other language can we use? Our food vocabulary is probably the best option we have for communicating to others what we smell and taste in a glass of wine. I tend to think of it a little bit like color – although we all can probably agree that the sky is “blue” and bananas turn from “green” to “yellow” and strawberries are “red” when they are ripe, what about all the colors in between? My husband and I disagree about various shades of pink and purple – we’ve never seen eye to eye about what constitutes the color “violet.” So when it comes to wine, does it matter that my strawberries are your cherries?

Well, to a certain degree it does, and it doesn’t. I think one of the biggest problems is that we tend to toss around descriptors without truly understanding what they mean. Most of us have grown up buying our food at the grocery store, where the issue of what’s in season doesn’t usually give us pause. But when you start buying your fruits and vegetables at a farmers’ market according to what is available, it can change your frame of reference. Smelling really ripe, just picked strawberries or different types of apples or tasting the peel and pith of a grapefruit can give you a more solid frame of reference so that when you are trying to identify a smell or a taste in a wine you have a stronger food vocabulary to work with. But the other issue, and I think that this is the more important issue, is that it is easy to go off on the wrong track when it comes to writing a wine description because we think more is better.

Personally, I’m a fan of a systematic approach to tasting that goes through the same list of features each time. I smell, then taste and when I taste, I think about body, acidity, alcohol and tannin and then I consider length and finish. As I think about length and finish I consider the aromatics – on both the nose and the palate. I then think of the broad categories (earthy, spicy, floral, fruity) and then the specific aromas and flavors I am encountering in the glass. Overall, I prefer a more technical note to one that waxes poetical. I think that giving a food pairing suggestion can also be helpful as it puts the wine within a context – even if that isn’t what you end up having the wine with, it helps you to imagine the style of the wine.

But I’m curious – I’ve told you what I think – what do you all think? Are tasting notes difficult for you to understand? What descriptors most appeal to you when you are reading about a wine? Would you prefer longer or shorter tasting notes? Leave me a comment below and tell me what you think – I’d love to know!