Uncorked: Racy, crunchy, brooding and velvety wines

Uncorked

Wine reviews by Kate Le Gallez

There’s nothing inherently special about the words used to describe wine. Take ‘toasty’, ‘earthy’ or ‘meaty’ for example. All normal, everyday words. But when wielded as ‘wine speak’, these same words can drop like a bomb into the conversation, provoking a snigger or eye-roll, especially when someone catches a whiff of petrol, old saddle leather or lead pencil.

The disconnect between our everyday experiences of these words and how they’re used in relation to wine is perhaps what gives wine speak its bad reputation. Most people know the smell of a freshly mown lawn, but it can seem somehow ostentatious to swirl a wine glass, put it to your nose and declare you detect a hint of cut grass in your sav blanc.

But words used to describe wine are just ordinary words. Certain varieties often evoke certain flavours (see: sav blanc and cut grass). While other descriptors describe the sensory experience of the wine in a more precise way. You can already start to imagine the taste and smell of wines described as pretty, zesty or vigorous before you taste a drop.

Here, we wanted to explore four particular terms – racy, crunchy, brooding and velvety – and how four Fleurieu wines bring these descriptors to life. Because tasting wine should be fun and finding the words to describe that feeling is part of sharing the joy.

Racy

Charlotte Dalton 2018 Ærkeengel Semillon Vigourous, lively, spirited – being racy is all about a self-assured zest for life. When it comes to wine, racy usually describes white wines that sparkle with acidity and dazzle with their fresh, food-friendly character. These wines deliver a lively little punch on the palate, often enhanced by hits of citrus.

Charlotte Hardy has created one such bright young thing with her 2018 Ærkeengel Semillon. Named in honour of her late mum’s Danish heritage, the wine is crisp, clean and pure with a tang of lemon curd and added texture coming from time spent in French oak barriques. It’s totally delicious and as stylish as a Danish design fair.

Crunchy

Old Jarvie 2019 The Saviour Grenache Mataro Touriga Crunch is not a characteristic one might usually associate with a liquid – smooth, yes; crunchy, no. Here, a familiar sensory experience is used as shorthand to describe a wine’s acidic balance. It’s not only the snap of the acid that it captures, but also the enjoyment that comes from the tension that precedes any good crunch, like the first bite of a tart granny smith apple.

Crunchy wines are often whites, but reds can also deliver that crackle of acidity. Take The Saviour, produced by Hither & Yon. Their blend of grenache, mataro and touriga balances festively spiced dark berry and plum flavours with an acidic crunch. The result is a delicious medium-bodied wine that will happily pal up with a Mediterranean-inspired meal.

Brooding

Ministry Of Clouds 2020 McLaren Vale Mataro To describe something, or more often someone, as ‘brooding’, you’re invoking a capital-M Mood. The sort of mood that results in angsty poetry or goes well with a walk in the rain. A brooding wine captures this intensity in its dark, rich flavours like blue and black berries and concentrated colour.

Bernice Ong and Julian Forwood’s Mataro delivers a deliciously brooding wine that is all depth of flavour without any of the gloom. Full-flavoured and beautifully balanced, the dark fruits are all aboard the tannin train giving the wine lovely length. Bernice and Julian suggest serving it with meat, we’d drink it with … everything.

Velvety

In Praise of Shadows 2020 Shiraz Like crunchy, ‘velvety’ is a sensory descriptor and while a wine’s crunch relates to acid, describing a wine as velvety is about its tannic structure. Just like the fabric, these wines are soft but rich, supple but strong. They’re wines you want to relax into and enjoy, alone with your feet up or with friends and excellent conversation.

Made with Blewitt Springs fruit, the deep halocene sands over yellow clay and schist introduce tannin and graphite elements into this wine, taking it towards the darker end of the fruit spectrum, with touches of cocoa and spice. A shiraz that’s sleek and smooth, rippling with elegance like the soft flow and fold of – you guessed it – velvet.