Food: What's up with wines?

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What's up with wines?
Sunday, October 01, 2006

Have you gone to the bar and just talking to somebody whom you know goes to the bar frequently. You want to start the chitchat just by noticing his wine and asking about it? You want to be hip, sassy at the same time sophisticated just by saying what most people say inside the bar. So you started the conversation just by asking how the wine tastes and all of the sudden you don't seem to understand what he says. Here's the thing, inside the bar there is a type of lingo only few know.

Let say he started saying, "Is your wine dry?" All of the sudden you ask yourself, what? What does he mean by dry? Of course, for some would think maliciously, ignorant to what he just meant.

If you want to get the edge and indulge into conversation like this; here's a thing, these words cannot be found in the dictionary. It is like a street talk and in this matter it is a bar talk. Inside the bar, words formed to describe a certain taste, type and degree of alcoholism these wines have.
I will get a run down of what the usual words spoken inside the bar. When somebody tells you that his wine is dry; obviously, you will think of its literal meaning that is untrue for in that case the wine is still in the glass. He meant by that, his wine has no taste of sweetness in it or lack of sweetness. Another opposite of that is off-dry. This mean that his wine doesn't taste anything, one cannot distinguish if it is sweet or it has totally no sweet in it. For in this case, the person might be just too drunk to taste anything as logically as it seems.

Another thing, the word cat-pee, from the literal meaning which is the cat's urine; ironically as it seems but some wines do smell and taste like cat-pee. Other term it as leather, wet-dog or worst juicy fruit gum. We sometimes have to admit that some wines if not for their well-sounded brand names we will never think that they are good. Other wines do even taste like cockroach at the time you open their cork.

When drinking the wine, sometimes we just try to savor the thickness of the liquid and its effect on us after taste. We even try to sense its grain or quality of the wine in our tongue. By relishing the taste, just say it simple and suave the word "mouth-feel". Like anybody who says how is the mouth-feel of the wine. It is easy to remember since the word can be easily described as it is.

Some weird words that do not seem to fit with wine are "Astringent". It is used when the red wine in particular is mouth drying. Usually wines have the element of tannin that in fact determines the clarity and darkness of the wine. This kind of substance reduces with time that makes the wine softer. Tannin equates with the word astringent as most wine drinkers synonymously tag it to be. Another description used in tasting is the acidity of the wine that is in wine lingo as crisp. Acidity of the wine is actually the natural component that is tartaric acid.

When you cannot determine easily the taste of the wine, if it is acidic or filled with too much tannin then it is called balanced. Alternatively, if the wine has no dominating taste of astringency or acidity then it is balanced. However, if the acidity, sweetness and astringency no to mention the aromas that it causes it is hereby called complex. In the time you just able to know the after taste of the wine, it is called finish. So when a friend asks you what is the finish of the drink, it is either you say balanced or complex.

But when you are typical person, who just don't ask about the clarity or the taste of the wine, and dwell more into the marketing style; some lingo you should be able to have understood.

If the wine produced around the same owner of the land or vineyard is being distributed by the same company who produced it then they call it estate-bottled. Most wines are estate bottled. We know most of the wines are remained in the winery for a possible period since it brings out the different kind of taste. This kind of wine are often called reserve. Lastly, the kind of presentation of the wine also rated as stylish.

The next time you are all of the sudden caught around the wine elites and experts, do not just sit and listen; you might as well use these key words to function as a wine elite too. However, knowing the specific kind of brand and best wines in town should be the plus points of all.

But here's a thing, most wines as we all know are corked and we prejudice on the other wines having screw caps and synthetic corks. We like opening the cork caps of the wine because culture has it with wines having corks are the best wines. Little do we know that the cork caps need to be corked each year to eliminate the corkiness of the wine; what do we mean by corkiness? Corkiness is a substance produced like a mold around the mouth of the bottle. The cork cap is susceptible to mold. The tip here is to buy a wine having screw caps and synthetic corks because of the less chances of creating a mold when preserved longer. Wines even tastes the same even without cork caps and replaced other caps so never label a wine by its caps alone.

Wines, just like any material being sold, have different qualities. If you have difficulties finding an excellent wine consider the following steps in choosing the right wine for you. First is the ability to taste that is perfect for you. We sometimes wonder why wine drinkers smell the wine before tasting it. There is an inkling thought for that and it is what you smell is what you expect it to taste. Second is regard the less expensive ones might even taste better. Some wines actually taste better that other wines it is just that they are not that popular but when it comes to quality, they are equally the same. Wines are much better when they are paired with food especially meat because it serves its purpose. Others pair it with pasta. Lastly, red wines are better if preserve with time and white wines taste better if not preserve that long.

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