How tasting notes play conjuring tricks with our expectations
From ‘massive fruitiness’ to a ‘touch of spice’, what do wine tasting notes really tell us about the glass we are about to drink?The Guardian’s journalism is independent.We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link.Learn more.Remy Farbras Ventoux, Rhône, France 2022 (£7.99 down from £9.
99 until 11 March, Waitrose) Whether the writer is being impossibly specific (Meyer lemon; kumquat) or maddeningly generic (“big’ or “massive fruitiness”), it’s rare to find a wine tasting note that doesn’t contain some kind of reference to fruits.Indeed, the basic formula for most examples of these fussy little descriptive texts is “fruit + enthusiastic adjectives”, and reading them, you could be forgiven for thinking that wine’s chief value is as an intoxicating version of the Jelly Belly; that the grape is effectively the Rory Bremner of the fruit world, known above all for its ability to do impressions of other fruits.I don’t really have a problem with that: pinning down the fruit associations is a helpful way of remembering what you liked about a wine.But I am much fonder of words and phrases that go beyond the merely fruity, such as the “sprinkle of spice” I noted down as I tasted Waitrose’s “succulent” red from Mont Ventoux in the southern Rhône.The Guardian’s journalism is independent.
We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link,Learn more,Tesco Finest Fino, Jerez, Spain NV (£7,50, 37,5cl, Tesco) What do I mean by spice? Most often it’s a reference to freshly milled pepper, which is not merely a poetic flourish: the culprit, in tiny quantities, is a potent compound known as rotundone, which is found in certain grape varieties, notably one of the ingredients in Rhône reds, syrah (aka shiraz), and the Austrian white variety grüner veltliner (which often smells and tastes of, specifically, white pepper).
Other spices I routinely find in wine such as vanilla and cinnamon have come from the vanillin found in oak barrels; while ginger is a consistent note in gewurztraminer thanks, apparently, to the presence of the flavour compound citral.But if it’s sometimes gratifying to discover that what you’re tasting is not always a figment of your imagination, I’m loathe to do away with comparisons that have no such scientific underpinning.There is no umami in fino sherry for example.But, in subtly Marmitey, salty-nutty, sourdough-bready wines such as Tesco’s example it certainly feels like it.William Fèvre Chablis, Burgundy, France 2022 (from £27.
46, laywheeler.com; bcfw.co.uk) Another increasingly popular wine-tasting term that I love, but which cannot be traced back to some actually existing compound found in the wines it’s used to describe, is “mineral”.Indeed, for a phrase that is generally used to describe something infinitesimally subtle, mineral inspires some surprisingly powerful feelings.
Many winemakers argue, with justification, that there is something inherently anti-scientific, or at least scientifically illiterate, about the whole concept of “minerality” in wine and the way it seems to imply that we can taste what are in fact flavourless traces of minerals in wine that have been transmitted directly to the grapes by the soil.As with savoury or umami, however, I find mineral very useful.It’s the best way of gesturing towards a certain kind of sensation that goes beyond fruit, spice, sweet or savoury, and which can be found amid the citrus and the steeliness, raciness and fluency of William Fèvre’s immaculate chardonnay.
Anthony Albanese denounces US tariffs as ‘not a friendly act’ after Donald Trump refuses exemption for Australia
Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium is “entirely unjustified” and “not a friendly act”, Anthony Albanese says, after the Labor government failed to receive the exemption the US president had dangled in a call last month.The Australian prime minister said his government would continue pushing for an exemption to the 25% tariffs, calling the trade barriers favoured by Trump “a form of economic self-harm”, in his strongest criticism of the American president since he returned to office.“This is against the spirit of our two nations’ enduring friendship and fundamentally at odds with the benefit of our economic partnership that has delivered over more than 70 years,” Albanese said in Sydney on Wednesday.The Trump administration announced it had rejected Australia’s plea for an exemption from US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, due to come into effect on Wednesday. Albanese stressed in his press conference that no nation, including Australia, had received a carve-out
New name but same old struggles for Boohoo
“Debenhams is back,” proclaimed the online retailing group formerly known as Boohoo. Unfortunately, its fast-fashion brands – not just Boohoo itself but also Pretty Little Thing and MAN – haven’t gone away. All are struggling badly.Since the latter collection still represents three-quarters of group revenues, new chief executive Dan Finley’s upbeat talk about an exciting future feels more than a little premature. The main market-moving news in the strategy rejig and trading update was another downgrade to the City’s profit expectations alongside a thumping £40m charge for writing down surplus stock at what are now badged as the “youth brands”
The making of Elon Musk: how did his childhood in apartheid South Africa shape him?
The billionaire and now Trump adviser grew up amid the collapse of white rule, attending an all-white school and then a more liberal oneWith an imposing double-winged redbrick main building, and school songs lifted directly from Harrow’s songbook, Pretoria boys high school is every inch the South African mirror of the English private schools it was founded in 1901 to imitate.Elon Musk, who has rapidly become one of the most powerful people in US politics, spent his final school years in the 1980s as a day pupil on the lush, tree-filled campus in South Africa’s capital, close to his father’s large detached home in Waterkloof, a wealthy Pretoria suburb shaded by purple jacaranda blossoms in spring.South Africa was rocked by uprisings as apartheid entered its dying years. In 1984, black townships across the country revolted. By 1986, the white minority government had imposed a state of emergency
Skype shutdown surfaces sweet memories: ‘I proposed marriage’
Microsoft announced on the last day of February that it would sunset Skype. By the time the death knell tolled, the video chatting software that once revolutionized communications had become a ghost of its former self. Experts chimed in with half-hearted eulogies for the platform that Microsoft spent years neglecting, yet few were surprised, and even fewer shed tears.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link
Eagles will visit White House to celebrate Super Bowl win after 2018 absence
The Philadelphia Eagles have confirmed they will visit the White House to celebrate their victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in this year’s Super Bowl.The news was announced by the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, on Tuesday, and later confirmed by an Eagles spokesperson.“I know there was a lot of fake news about an invitation that wasn’t sent or was sent, we want to correct the record: we sent an invitation, they enthusiastically accepted, and you will see them here on 28 April,” Leavitt said.The Eagles were disinvited to the White House in 2018, the last time they won the Super Bowl, after a number of players said they would drop out amid tensions over the anthem protests that had swept the NFL. Donald Trump, then in his first term as president, had attacked players who knelt during the anthem to protest against racial inequality
Tiger Woods all but certain to miss Masters after rupturing achilles at home
Tiger Woods is a near certainty to miss the Masters for just the fifth time since his debut in 1995 after confirming emergency surgery on a ruptured achilles, sustained while training at home.Woods has not played an individual event since missing the cut at the Open Championship last summer. He is a notable absentee from the Players Championship this week, with a lack of appearances in the early part of this year partly due to the death of his mother in early February.The assumption was that the 15-time major champion would tee up at Augusta National in April. However, Woods all but ruled that out with a surprising social media post on Tuesday
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