Wine lovers are often heard sonneting about mouth-filling sensations. Some crude and harsh, aggressive even, others soft, as smooth as silk, velvety, furry or fleshy. These are all wine speak adjectives to describe the effect of tannins in red wine.
Whereas not too long ago, any serious wine lover would give a wide berth to russet-coloured, amber wines (especially those suspects drawn straight out of demijohns and carboys), tinged wines made from white wine grapes strangely enough have recently found a cult following.
Once upon a time, people drunk just ‘wine’. But it wasn’t long before they took in masses to Chardonnay and generic Chablis (unless they wanted Bordeaux or lighter red Burgundy). Soon enough white wine simply became known by the C-word. Chardonnay’s following spread fast like a wildfire, from aristocratic, double-barrelled Corton-Charlemagne to hip California on … Read More
In the appreciation of wine, it’s often difficult to convey the pleasure it gives us because we find it hard to analyse all the different sensations that make up the composite experience we call flavour. Perhaps it is worthwhile to explore how we identify taste to understand better what we like (and possibly dislike) in … Read More
While in Malta and the rest of the northern hemisphere vines are winter dormant, some antipodean vignerons are busy slapping on sunblock on their ripening grape crop as the summer heat flares up.