Words here, words, there, words words everywhere!
Weird as it may sound, I am a huge fan of new words and am obsessed with the word of the day emails I receive in my inbox. Not in the sense of the etymology of a word, it’s origin or its singular or plural variants. I’m simply a word nerd. Growing up with an English teacher for a mother, having a broad vocabulary could come in handy. Or, it could drive your friends nuts. Useful regardless of how it was used.
Rumor has it, according to my mom, the first word I ever spelled was “dictionary.” I guess I was an odd toddler because I seemingly loved the newspaper and spelling. While I don’t remember any of it, I’ll take mom’s word for it (Ha! Pardon the pun!). Seems like an innocent obsession and it has become one I indulge in even today.
Having grown up in Missouri and choosing to go to college in Texas, long road trips became a regular occurrence. Back in the dark ages before cell phones were smart, or even readily available – at least not in my budgeted allowance – driving 10 hours could be mind-numbing if you didn’t have a way to keep yourself entertained. So what do two goofy sorority girls come up with for fun? Dictionary dissection! Yep, that’s right. My friend and I packed a big ole dictionary on our roadtrips and whomever wasn’t driving was responsible for scouring the antiquated pages of the book for new words, funny words, strange words or just words we liked to say. One of my all time favorites is “gimcrack”. I’m not going to define it for you, that’s your homework, but take it from me it comes in handy in a great deal of situations where other words might get you in trouble!
The language of wine.
Just like many industries, the wine industry has a language of it’s own. Whether associated with viniculture (yep, there’s one) or viticulture (there’s another), one could fill an entire dictionary with wine specific words and terms only those who’ve invested years of their life can define at the drop of a hat. Even some wine terms used as descriptors for flavors or aromas are well outside the common English language or frame of reference. Good News! Wine speak can still be translatable by even those who just want to drink it and don’t care about phylloxera or botrytis, bretanomyces or lees.
Even with my freakish obsession with words and dictionaries, I find myself rolling my eyes when I read many reviews or wine descriptions written by the elite of wine professionals. I must confess I read nearly every review or descriptor of wines that fill my email inbox on a daily basis. Sometimes there are 10s of them, other times 100s of them. I use them to test my knowledge of location, varietal, blend, etc… but have nowhere near the palette, or apparently the wine vocabulary, most of the reviewers must have. Warning – when a wine has tomato leaf in the descriptor, DO NOT try them yourself – some things are meant to be smelled, not eaten! Quoting a friend on that…
How to break it down.
I’m a simple Missouri girl. With wine, I am more than happy to stick with the basics and go from there. What does that mean to you? Or anyone else for that matter? Don’t get tripped up and freaked out by the complexity of the wine world. Embrace the fact wine comes from a grape and grapes are a fruit! Never tasted a Meyer Lemon or a Kefir Lime? So what! You know what citrus fruits taste like, right? Well there you go, you have already built a great basis for your wine vocabulary. Many white wines have citrus fruit flavors! Done! Excellent! You rock! And, unlike my insanely large, 20 lb dictionary sitting on my shelf, you didn’t even need to crack a book. Prefer your white wine to taste creamy and rich but have no clue what technical term or process causes it? Who cares! I can candidly say not knowing the definition of Malolactic Fermentation will not prevent you from enjoying your favorite style of wine or asking for it at a wine shop or restaurant. Embrace simplicity my friend!
If my dictionary or vocabulary obsession has, however, inspired you to discover a little bit more about wine styles, wine terminology or wine tasting, I’ve got your back there too. Within DOMSOM’s wine education course, everyone enrolled has access to the DOMSOM Dictionary of Terms where we make wine definitions simple and understandable. No need to pack a dictionary on your next wine trip or date nite. We’re mobile. Embrace your passions, learn something new and stay tuned for more adventures and confessions.
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