This article originally appeared at Mo’ Vino Journey. Please follow them on Facebook and Twitter for more great wine content.
Wine, like other alcoholic beverages, have unique and complex processes that go into it coming to fruition. Unlike other drinks though, wine is the only beverage that we get hung up on terms like we do. If you look at beer, there are many complex terms and names that set them apart, but we give little thought to them when we order a beer. Lager, porter, Stout and IPA are all types of beer and drinkers can taste the difference but we choose what we like and don’t worry about it. If you hear it has high gravity, you are likely to say ok and keep it moving but with wine we get so bogged down in terms, styles and types.
So why do we worry so much about terms? It can likely be traced back to the French tradition and the wine masters. It bothers me though, that we have all of these terms in wine and as a result, it can often deter folks from digging too deep into wine because they feel like you need to have the knowledge before you can drink it or be a part of the world. To me, the terms are necessary to use to describe the wine because, as a writer, how else am I going to communicate with the reader, what the experience is like? I try to use as few as possible because I want the novice to feel the wine is accessible, but terms are a part of it so they will always be hanging around.
I like a wine that is full bodied and I understand what it means but it isn’t necessary that you understand it to enjoy wine and to dive headlong into this world. It can be complex and there are more grape varieties in this world than you could probably put an exact number on, but that is no reason not to experience this lovely beverage. Don’t feel like you need to understand it all to feel accepted or that you belong. Wine is about acceptance and you will learn as you go. If you are looking for information, there is a wonderful post from missourwines.org about terminology and you can check it out here: http://missouriwine.org/blog_21-wine-tasting-terms/.
Wine is beautiful and it is elegant but it is also inviting and delicious. Wine isn’t that complex if you get to the root of it, we just make it complicated.
