Matt Kramer, True Taste; The Seven Essential Wine Words

Matt Kramer, True Taste; The Seven Essential Wine Words, Cider Mill Press, Kennebunkport 2015

The common denominator was (and still is) that each of the vineyards cited as “best” represents a consolidation of attributes rather than an exemplar of one or another. In Gevrey-Chambertin, for example, there are seven grand crus, which is a remarkable number for one small village. Each of these grand crus has its signature quality. For example, Grotte-Chambertin is notable for an intense wild cherry scent and taste, hence griotte (wild cherr). Mazi-Chambertin is considered to be the most sauvage or wild-tasting; Ruchottes-Chambertinis thought the most stony-tasting. / Yet Chambertin was and still is collectively seen by the producers in Gevrey-Chambertin as their single best vineyard. Why? Because it consolidates more attributes in one wine than any of the others. (46-7)

Take the French word sève for example. Literally, it translates to sap. But the definition hardly captures the quality that this significant term is trying to convey. The idea of sève is identifying textural density in wine—or its absence. The very existence of such a word signals how important French tasters thought that texture is in fine wine. A wine lacking sève is always considered lesser; one marks it down as “dilute” or “watery”. It’s a critical feature in fine wine everywhere. / For our part, we might choose simply to say “texture.” However, the idea of sève is more than just texture, which is—for me, anyway—a broader, if still important, word. Keep in mind that texture can be enhanced in the winemaking process by various techniques. (62)

Cosmetic complexity is more common than one might imagine thanks to a variety of winemaking techniques designed to give shallow wines an illusion of depth. You have, for example, various oak treatments that flavor a wine (different oaks, different degrees of toast…); barrel fermentation (which creates a thicker “mouth feel”); lees stirring (which imports flavor from the enzymatic breakdown of the yeasts); the use of vacuum concentrators (which removes water to make the wine more concentrated)” (71)