Wine Logic for Everyday Use

One of the confusing things about shopping for wines is the lack of good solid information based on down-to-earth everyday talk. I want to change all that. My goal is to help all levels of wine drinkers (enologists is the fancy name if you want to impress your friends) find the wines they’d like to know more about. And understanding basic wine lingo can be a helpful tool in selecting a wine you like. Take keywords like acidity, tannin and body - although complete books have been written on each subject, lets just go for the simple explanation.

Acidity. If my wine is acidic, is that bad? Think of a wine’s acidity as sharpness in your mouth, particularly around the front sides of your tongue. It is what makes wine lively and provides a refreshing sensation in white wines and a balance in reds. This sharpness is a good thing. Without acidity a wine could taste dull and flat. An example of an acidic wine would be a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

Tannin. What the heck is tannin?  Tannins taste a little bitter – they have that astringent taste we experience when biting into unripe fruit. They cause a dry and puckery feeling on your palate. Tannin is the component of wine that pulls your tongue to the roof of your mouth after you swallow. It gives a wine roughness when young but is a natural ingredient in age-worthy red wines that can result in its structure and complexity. An example of a tannic wine would be a young Australian Shiraz.

Body or “Mouth Feel”. When you talk about a wine’s body, you are describing how thick or thin the wine feels on your palate. Almost everyone has tasted milk and cream. When you think of a light-bodied wine you can compare it to skim milk. There’s a bit of substance – but it’s very light. Medium-bodied wine is more like whole milk – substance but not really thick. Full-bodied wines feel more like cream. An example of a light-bodied wine would be and inexpensive Italian Pinot Grigio, and a full-bodied wine would be evidenced in a pricey Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

Trying different wines is the best way to understand these 3 key wine terms. And remember; wine like food is very personal and subjective. It’s what you like that counts!