I heard a weather forecaster this morning using the expression a ‘nagging wind’, and I confess that I had to stop for a moment to think about what she actually meant by it. Of course I know what the expression nagging wife means, and so my guess was that she was implying that the wind was persistent and perhaps even annoying! It reminded me that only yesterday I had been reading some wine descriptions on Snooth.com which had had the same effect – I had to stop and think exactly what the taster meant by the words he had chosen.

I am very familiar with Beaujolais, and more especially the wines of Georges Duboeuf, as my former company was the UK importer for this well known producer. In one of the descriptions I was reading the taster described a Fleurie as having ‘bright thistle’ and being a ‘little pasty in the mouth’, and I was left trying to work out exactly what he meant by this. To be honest I have never described any wine as tasting or smelling of thistle, simply because it is not an aroma that I have registered in my memory banks – I will now have to find one, have a good whiff, and then perhaps everything will fall into place.

As for the wine being ‘pasty’ in the mouth, well, again it is not an expression that I have used, but at least I think I know what the author meant by it. Indeed, an expression that I use quite a lot myself is describing a wine as having ‘good grip’, which to many people might be completely meaningless. However, as I have always said, this is why tasting and tasting descriptions are actually quite a personal thing. If you are trying to remember a wine simply use vocabulary that works for you (even if it makes no sense to others), and try to commit your ideas to memory. That’s how we end up with wines being described as being sweaty or having an odour of cat’s pee.

Anyway, I have to finish this post now and get back to the nagging wife!

I heard a weather forecaster this morning using the expression a ‘nagging wind’, and I confess that I had to stop for a moment to think about what she actually meant by it. Of course I know what the expression nagging wife means, and so my guess was that she was implying that the wind was persistent and perhaps even annoying! It reminded me that only yesterday I had been reading some wine descriptions on Snooth.com which had had the same effect – I had to stop and think exactly what the taster meant by the words he had chosen.

I am very familiar with Beaujolais, and more especially the wines of Georges Duboeuf, as my former company was the UK importer for this well known producer. In one of the descriptions I was reading the taster described a Fleurie as having ‘bright thistle’ and being a ‘little pasty in the mouth’, and I was left trying to work out exactly what he meant by this. To be honest I have never described any wine as tasting or smelling of thistle, simply because it is not an aroma that I have registered in my memory banks – I will now have to find one, have a good whiff, and then perhaps everything will fall into place.

As for the wine being ‘pasty’ in the mouth, well, again it is not an expression that I have used, but at least I think I know what the author meant by it. Indeed, an expression that I use quite a lot myself is describing a wine as having ‘good grip’, which to many people might be completely meaningless. However, as I have always said, this is why tasting and tasting descriptions are actually quite a personal thing. If you are trying to remember a wine simply use vocabulary that works for you (even if it makes no sense to others), and try to commit your ideas to memory. That’s how we end up with wines being described as being sweaty or having an odour of cat’s pee.

Anyway, I have to finish this post now and get back to the nagging wife!