1. Astringency and bitterness Astringency and bitterness are two different sensations in wine. Astringency is the tactile mouth-puckering effect resultant from tannins derived from either grape skins (and stalks) or oak, or perhaps a combination of both. Astringency can often be expected to soften as a wine matures. Bitterness, on the other hand, is largely an unpleasant aftertaste, often detected at the back of the tongue and frequently derived from excessive extract of polyphenols, possibly from oak casks. 2. Fleshy As we might describe with a cut of meat, a ‘fleshy’ wine is the opposite of a ‘lean’ wine, which refers to a wine without much in the way of richness and generosity of flavour, although it may have good length from the front to the back of the palate. Fleshy wines are also long, but with mouthfilling, perhaps even chewy richness and volume of fruit on the palate. 3. Leafy There are generally two types of wine referred to as ‘leafy’, (i) some wines made from early-harvested or immature fruit and (ii) wines principally made from either cabernet sauvignon or sauvignon blanc (or indeed some cooler-climate semillons). Immature green leafy flavours reduce with increased ripeness, except with the sauvignon varieties as suggested, both of which have the potential, especially when harvested in cool climates such as Tasmania or New Zealand, of producing strongly vegetative or leafy flavours. Often the flavour in question is due to the presence of methoxy pyrazines, molecules which only need to be present in upwards of very small amounts to produce extremely strong flavours, which in extreme cases can resemble asparagus. Up to a point these can be acceptable, but not when they dominate or over-ride the fruit flavours of the wine. 4. Lifted Sometimes a wine’s aroma or bouquet can really grab you by apparently leaping vigorously out of the glass. Although there are better ways of describing this phenomenon, one way is to describe the nose as ‘lifted’. Other terms, such as ‘deep’, ‘intense’, ‘perfumed’, ‘fragrant’ or ‘aromatic’ might be a more accurate way of describing the same thing. 5. Macerated Certain wines owe much to the contact they received either as must or juice with grape skins, known as ‘maceration’. The traditional European technique of red wine making is to keep the fermenting must macerating with the skins until all the natural grape sugar has been fully fermented to alcohol. Since the fermentation produces carbon dioxide as well, the gas will lift the skins to the top of the tank, forming a ‘cap’, unless prevented from doing so. The winemaker then employs one of a variety of cap management techniques to prevent the cap from drying out and becoming acetic, and also to monitor the rate of phenolic extraction taking place. Once fermentation is complete, the wine may then receive ‘extended maceration’ after dryness in order to gain a finer, softer and better-integrated tannin and phenolic extract. 6. Carbonic Maceration Carbonic maceration refers to the anaerobic process of whole bunch fermentation, during which the grape sugars autoferment along the biochemical pathway towards alcohol inside entire and whole berries. The level of skin contact is minimal, and the grapes must be pressed and inoculated with yeast afterwards to complete their fermentation. Consequently, most wines made with carbonic maceration display very low levels of tannin and phenolic extract. The carbonic maceration process also imparts a variety of flavours to the finished wine, ranging from jammy to boiled-lolly confection, to pungent gamey qualities. 7. Porty Some red wines made from very ripe or over-ripe fruit can achieve exceptionally high levels of alcohol, around and above 14% by volume. Some Zinfandels can easy top 15%. At these strengths the alcohol contained in the wine may exert a significantly spirity, warm influence on its character. In such cases a wine may be described as ‘porty’. 8. Stalky Stalky characters are hard, bitter and greenish sensations in wine derived from grape stalks, most frequently seen in red wines. Largely indicative of poor winemaking, they derive from overly long contact with stalks in the winemaking process. 9. Tropical fruit When grown in particular climates and conditions, certain grape varieties can produce flavours immediately reminiscent of tropical and sub-tropical fruits, including passionfruit (some of which is admittedly grown in temperate climates), mango, paw-paw and banana. Examples are sauvignon blanc and chardonnay when grown in moderately cool climates such as Padthaway-Keppoch in South Australia. Additionally, table wines made from the muscat varieties like Muscat of Alexandria (lexia), muscat gordo blanco (gordo) and muscadelle (tokay) usually exhibit ripe tropical fruit flavours as a major component of their varietal characteristics. 10. Vanilla (oak) Vanillin characters in both red and white wine tend to derive from maturation in oak casks. Generally speaking, more obvious vanillin flavours are imparted by new American oak. On occasions, wines that have insufficient depth of fruit flavour to match the degree of oak maturation that they receive, can display vanillin almost concentrated enough to resemble the food flavouring. In addition to this, certain aged brandies can have a distinctly vanillin character to their bouquet. 11. Gunflint A smoky soil-derived character found in certain white wines, largely imparted from chalky subsoils. It is most easily seen in true French Chablis and Pouilly-Fume, the dry white sauvignon blanc wine grown opposite Sancerre on the eastern Loire River. The ‘Fume’ in Pouilly-Fume’s name, which simply means ‘smoky’ is therefore a flavour imparted from the soil, whereas the ‘Fume’ in Fume Blanc is a smoky character originating from maturation in heavily-charred oak casks. Of course many Fume Blancs neglect even to display any smoky character whatsoever.
