Wine Speak

“When one has partaken an abundant amount of wine and no longer controls what comes out of their mouth. The wine does the talking for them.”

This feature is our way of adding a little lightness to the weighty subject of wine. The terminology of the wine industry is both complicated and colorful. In and of itself, “wine speak” can be as entertaining as it is enlightening. Far too often, the terminology is bandied about in an effort to discriminate between the wine expert and the wine beginner. We don’t approve of any mode of communication that separates the consumer from the wine.

BUT knowledge is a powerful tool in the exploration of wine and we wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from taking it seriously. Each month we will be defining and redefining wine terms in an effort to demystify and have fun with wine.

Word of the Month - Wine Legs

As irreverently defined by the Bitches of Bacchus
The dancing limbs produced after many glasses of wine. You feel you can dance better than anyone on the dance floor. It is an illusion.

As academically defined by Karen MacNeil -
Also known as tears in Spain and cathedral windows in Germany, legs are the rivulets of wine that have inched up the inside surface of the glass above the wine, then run slowly back down. Myth has it that the fatter the legs, the better the wine. That is not true. The width of the legs is determined by the interrelationship of a number complex factors, including the amount of alcohol, the amount of glycerol, and the rate of evaporation of the alcohol. But the most important point is this: Legs have nothing to do with quality. It is irresistible to point out that wines - like women - should not be judged by their legs.

Taken from "The Wine Bible" by Karen MacNeil
http://www.erobertparker.com/kmacneil/new_wine_culture_home.asp