658582 Sat Oct 10 21:52:54 -0700 2009 2 34 Wine 0 5094409 Let's face it, getting older has it perks. With aging comes wisdom or so I'd like to think. So forking $20 to $30 for a bottle of wine is fine as long as I know what I'm getting for my buck. Wine terminology is somewhat baffling to say the least. While reading the descriptive of wine products I'm unsure as to what some of the terms really mean. Please enlighten me. Here are some terms which I would like explained in more mundane terms. round finish tightly knit fat leathery woody begins to show some complexity volatile Emphatic typicity. One dimensional and short I'm also curious about the rating system. Isn't this really subjective because of personal taste? Sat Oct 10 21:52:54 -0700 2009 1110393 CHEFINTHECLOSET 1 5094544 i'm running a bit late for dinner as is but i thought i'd get the ball rolling... first off, all those terms are based on the premise that the taster has a reasonably well-developed palette. that means pretty well what it sounds like -- much like a painter's palette, you develop a sense of nuance and an eye for colour, textures, mixture and technique over time. or in this case, the tongue for it. :) it's genuinely an art and all such terms should be treated with a grain of salt since of course you're right, taste is highly subjective. not to the point that such terms are meaningless but they can seem that way when you're starting out, and truthfully some of them would be difficult for even an expert to communicate effectively to someone who has yet to experience a lot of wines in a wide variety of contexts. anyway, tightly knit, for example, generally indicates quite a young wine that has yet to grow into its full potential range of flavours. sometimes it will taste what some folks describe as a bit 'green' but really it just means that it lacks the complexity/depth of flavours that more mature or 'open' wines usually have. it's kind of the equivalent of saying the wine's a bit closed-minded. in terms of approaching these terms i found it really helped to look at it from the perspective of taste being far more multi-faceted than one would normally think of it. wines taste different depending on how you drink them, what stage of your mouth they're at, etc. so they usually have a front, middle and back component -- all of which open up new possibilities for dominant and background 'notes' as they are referred to. (hints of flavour) so a long wine will extend in flavour through the whole tasting process and continue to be quite pungent/aromatic/linger in your sensory experience beyond a standard drop. ok, must dash but i'm sure there will be plenty of 'hounds happy to add their perspectives. p.s. sometimes the terminology that's used on labels really is just hype. i find it's often easier to listen to the tone of the overall description, unless you have something very specific in mind. Sun Oct 11 02:09:43 -0700 2009 5094409 288056 CatKid 1 5094637 Hi: Since we have two threads on this subject, we're going to lock this one, and ask that posters continue the discussion on the other one: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/658580 Thank you. Sun Oct 11 05:28:42 -0700 2009 5094409 2 The Chowhound Team