THURSTQUEEN PRESENTS: WINE SPEAK EXPLAINED (CUZ THREE’S A CHARM)
Let’s talk all things wine, Thurstqueen! If you’ve already read Wine Speak Explained and Wine Speak Explained Pt Deux, check out the latest list of terms to level up your wine lexicon!
ALLOCATED: A word that refers to the amount of wine a customer is allowed to buy. If a wine is allocated, demand is usually high (and sometimes, the cost may be even higher.) Wines that are “allocated,” may have limits as to how many a customer can buy. If someone feels the need to tell you that their bottle of wine was “highly allocated,” feel free to politely roll your eyes and ask them if they have any Grey Poupon.
BOTRYTIS: A fungus nicknamed “the noble rot,” that infects white grapes like Chenin Blanc and Semillion, giving them honeyed characteristics and making wines taste extra delish. Sauternes is a great example of a botyrized dessert wine. That shit literally tastes like a luscious creme brulée.
BRUT: A French term for “dry.” If a Champagne is labeled, “brut,” that means it’s going to be the opposite of sweet.
BUDBREAK: The first stage in a vine’s growth cycle that happens in Spring. This is when green little buds appear on the vine — pretty self explanatory, but you’ll hear winemakers use this term a lot.
CRUNCHY: No, this doesn’t refer to your hippie friend who only wears Birkenstocks. Crunchy is a wine term that is used to describe wines with a zippy acidity, that literally taste like dipping into slightly ripe red fruit you’d find at a farmer’s market. I see this term used a lot more for red wines. Basically it’s a wine that has the characteristics of biting into a ripe apple.
Not that kind of crunchy…
ESTERS: Aromatic compounds from organic acids that occur during the fermentation process in wine. Esters typically yield fruity and floral aroma qualities.
LEGS: Also referred to as “tears” in a wine. Legs are simply an indicator of how much alcohol is present in a wine, and have nothing - I REPEAT NOTHING - to do with the quality of a wine. They literally have no significance other than the fact that they look pretty going down the sides of the glass. Some folks think they can read the legs of a wine and interpret the wine’s quality, but this is literally the same thing as sniffing the cork… Just don’t do it. It makes you look silly.
MERITAGE: Another word for “red blend,” that features Bordeaux grapes. Essentially it’s any wine with a combination of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Carménère or…. get this, an esoteric grape called St. Macaire and Gros Verdot.
MINERALITY: A polarizing and nebulous term with a lot of hullabaloo surrounding it in the wine world. Wines with minerality basically taste like… well… they have minerals in them. They’re like licking rocks - in a good way - essentially. Any wine (white or red) can have a quality of minerality.
MUST: Freshly crushed grapes that are a mixture of the seed, skins, stems and juice.
NÉGOCIANT: A merchant who buys grapes from growers - or juice - then bottles the wine themselves under their own label. Typically négociants get shafted in favor of “estate grown” wines, but with climate change and the rising cost of land, more and more négociants are starting to pop up. Négociants are also a great way to try wines from a “fancy” winemaker at a more affordable price.
NEW WORLD WINE: An “old school” wine term deeply rooted in Colonialism, referring to wines in the Americas, Africa, Southern Hemisphere and now China. In layman’s terms, New World wines typically have higher alcohol, bigger and broader textures, and fruitier flavors. Keep in mind, there are always exceptions to the rule, like portions of Chile that have very cool climate and produce high-acid wines.
OLD WORLD WINE: Another old school, Colonialism-rooted wine term used to refer to wines in Europe from places like France, Portugal and Italy. Typically, Old World wines have higher acid, secondary characteristics (like herb, earth and mineral aromas) and lower alcohol.
OXIDATIVE: A type of winemaking style where a winemaker deliberately exposes their wine to a small amount of oxygen - such as when using open top fermenters. Slight amounts of oxidation can yield unique textures to a wine, and more savory flavors. Lightly oxidized wines may have dried fruit aromas, nutty aromas, and toasty flavors.
PHYLLOXERA: A small insect - similar to an aphid - that feeds on the rootstock of vitis vinifera vines and either stunts their growth or kills them. There was a global phylloxera crisis that started in the late 1800s in Europe and took out nearly 70% of the grape vines in France.
PORCH POUNDER: NOT an X-rated movie. : ) A porch pounder is a colloquial term for a wine you can chug on the porch - ideally with your BFF.
QVEVRI: A large, round, earthenware vessel that originates from the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia used for fermenting wine. Qvevris are often partially buried in the ground or set into floors of a winery’s cellar. Right now qvevris are extremely popular in winemaking, especially within the natural wine scene - so you may encounter some qvevri wines on your own in the wild!
REDUCTIVE: A style of winemaking where the wine is made with an absence of oxygen. Some varietals need to be made in this a reductive style - like Sauvignon Blanc - in order to express their tropical fruit characteristics because of their chemical makeup. Sometimes, reduction can lead to faults however. If a wine is flawed and has too many reductive characteristics, it may smell like sulfur, rotten eggs, or farts.
SALTY: Wines that have salt characteristics - not ‘tude - like Muscdet.
UNICORN WINE: A rare, limited production - possibly allocated - wine made from a winemaker who is usually deceased. Hence the term “unicorn,” wine, because finding it is like finding, well, a unicorn.
VIN DE SOIF: A Franglais term (French and English) that literally means, “wine of thirst.” Vin de Soif is typically used to describe a wine that has glou glou characteristics, or is a porch pounder.
VINTAGE: The year in which the wine was made.
WAXY: Can be used as either an aroma descriptor - for wines that smell like beeswax - or a textural descriptor. If a wine has a grippier texture, you can call it “waxy.” This usually applies to white and orange wines. I use “waxy” to describe texture over aroma.
ZERO/ZERO: A wine that has no additives - especially sulfur - whatsoever. Zero Zero wines don’t have any manipulation (including temperature manipulation) of any kind. An entirely hands off approach to making wine.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Iruai Shasta Cascade Red $27.00 @ Stanley’s Wet Goods
I’d heard about Iruai through my work with Domestique a couple months ago. For folks who haven’t checked out Domestique, it’s literally a wonderland of natural wines with plenty of stories to tell and was ranked one of the top five natural wine shops in America.
Anyway, they started carrying Iruai and when I began researching these wines for a write up, I kind of lost my shit. Iruai is situated in the Shasta Cascade AVA up in Northern California. And let me tell you - they straight up be wildin’. They literally taste like a party and conjure up memories of really good mushroom trips.
As for the terroir of the region, the Shasta Cascade AVA is one of the newer - and weird in a good way - AVAs, right by the Siskiyou wilderness in Southern Oregon near, well, obviously Mt. Shasta. The terroir here is crazy, and it’s similar to the Côtes du Jura and Montana of all places.
This wine is a blend of Trousseau, Mondeuse, Blaufrankisch, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris from vines sourced from this high elevation range. And honestly? It friggin’ SLAPS.
Picture aromas of strawberry jam and smoke, followed by juicy fruity drinkable goodness. There’s definitely some Mezcal vibes to this wine, and by that I mean a fruity earthiness that’s difficult to describe. Serve this ruby-hued beauty chilled, and get ready to fall hard.