I’m new to wines in that I’m only now educating myself on terms, the language, how wine is made, the different wine producing countries and their varietals, how to store wine, serve wine…etc.
Was in the little wine shop in my neighbourhood grocery…asked the clerk “What producers do you have?”. I meant which “wine producers” (e.g. Frog’s Leap, Cakebread…etc.). Brands. She told me they carry “…many origins”.
When we’re talking about coffee beens there is a term coffee connoisseurs use…“single origin”. Referring to the single geographical region, or single farm…from where the varietal is from. Is it the same when we’re talking about wines? In this case referring to the country or vineyard from where the varietal is from?
First you used producers correctly, so no worries there.
Origin is tricker since it varies. In general, in European wines you’ll have an indication or outright statement of the region on the label. Sometimes, but not always, the vineyard. Almost never, the grape variety. For example, Brunello di Montalcino is a Sangiovese wine made near Montalcino. Brunello doesn’t mean the vineyard though, it’s a colloquial term for the grape (‘little brown one’, literally, referring to the appearance of the clone of Sangiovese used). A Burgundy will have much more structured information down to the classification.
If you’re just diving in and want general information I’d grab a book like the Oxford Enclyopedia of wine and read or use it as a reference. And, of course, ask here.
Good to know. She got what I was referring to (the vineyard). Just wondered how the word “origin” is used speaking vino. I do realize that all wine bottle labels will name the appellation. And I did buy the book you’re probably referring to by Jancis Robinson called The Oxford Companion to Wine. Unless you’re referring to another book.
I bought a few books actually. Also included is The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil. Great wine made Simple by Andrea Immer. Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2011, Food & Wine’s Wine Guide 2011 by Anthony Giglio and The World Atlas Of Wine by Jancis Robinson/Hugh Johnson.
All good books. And the term origin isn’t really defined - people speak of the region or the vineyard or, in the case of Burgundy, the commune (village) e.g. Puligny-Montrachet, Savigny les Beaune, etc. but origin isn’t used as it is in the coffee world. I’m not certain why she conflated the terms producer and origin…
That’s interesting Rick. Maybe she just meant loosely speaking…she was Russian so perhaps she was translating (sometimes it doesn’t work). Plus, this was a tiny wine shop in a supermarket…wines for people who just want to drink without any desire for wine appreciation. Education.
Any how, got another question for you or any one else who’d like to comment. I know Tannins are from grape skin, seed and stem (sometimes oak barrels). Gives us that urge to pucker up. Yet I read reviews http://www.winehouse.com/product.php?sku=856640&d=ALL) that say a particular wine is “high in tannins” but is not astringent. How can that be?
Leroy,
You asked about “single origin”. In the wine world this would be a wine that comes from a single vineyard or a particular terroir. In France there is a whole set of rules and regulations on the labelling of the origin of the wine but in the New World, it’s generally down to the producer to specify if the wine is from a single vineyard.
Regarding tannins, you can think about them both in terms of amount and in termes of texture. I like to imagine textured items in my mouth. Like a piece of marble, of silk, or polished oak or rough-cut pine. When we say lots of tannins we mean they are quite obviously there. Little tannin generally means the wine is lacking something. But in either case, the nature of those tannins can have different levels of texture.
Red Burgundy is a good, if expensive, way to learn these differences but I would also suggest southern Rhone wines. Grenache seems to present tannins in a more obvious way that,say, Cabernet or Syrah.
Another good book I recommend is: Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World- Complete Wine Course
It’ll run you $11 at Amazon.
I read it some time ago just to get a better understanding of regions I wanted to know more about and I thought it was great. Of course, once I was done reading that I immediately bought a book just on French wines to dig deeper.
For terms, you may want to visit a previous thread entitled “Common Abbreviations on the Board.” [from 2/11] which includes:
For folks new to the board, I figured we could compile a list of common abbreviations and acronyms. I’ve been on the site and really into wine fairly recently, and have found myself confused by a lot of acronyms.
Berserkers/wino Specific Lingo:
ITB - In The Business
OWC - Original Wooden Case
LOS = Lotus of Siam
WTB/T/S - Want to Buy/Trade/Sell
PEPSI - unholy sugar juice.
TN - tasting note
TNR - Request for a tasting note
QPR - Quality to price ratio
WA - Wine Advocate
RP - Robert Parker
WS - Wine Spectator (World Series in The Asylum)
BH - Burghound (Meadows)
CC - Commerce Corner
IWC - International Wine Cellar (Tanzer)
FTLOP - For the Love of Port
CT - Cellartracker (Some random guy on the board)
SVD - Single Vineyard Designate
WTSO - Wine til Sold Out
VT = Vendange Tardive or “late harvest”
PSA - Public Service announcement
WOTN = Wine of the Night
WOTY = Wine of the Year
WOTF = Wine of the Flight
AFE - Anti Flavor Elite
SC - Screw Cap
Italian Wine
BdM - Brunello di Montalcino
B&B - Barolo and Barbaresco
PG - Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio
California Wines:
SQN - Sine Qua Non Winery
TRB - Thomas Rivers Brown, CA winemaker
French Wines:
DP - Dom Perignon
CdM - Clos du Mesnil
SWC - Sir Winston Churchill
CRR - Collina Rionda Riserva
CdC - Comtes de Champagne
VV - Vieilles Vignes
DRC - Domaine Romanee Conti
CdlR - Clos de la Roche
BdB - Blanc de Blancs
BdN - Blanc de Noirs
NV - Non-vintage
MV - Multi-vintage
LT - La Tache
DRC - Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
GC - Gevrey-Chambertin (sometimes Grand Cru)
CM - Chambolle-Musigny (less often Chevalier-Montrachet)
MSD - Morey-St-Denis
BdM - Bonneau du Martray
RSV - Romanee St. Vivant
RB - Richebourg
CdT - Clos de Tart
CdL - Clos des Lambrays
CP - Cros Parantoux
Monty - Montrachet
Chevy - Chevalier
CC - Corton Charlemagne
VR - Vosne-Romanee
PM - Puligny-Montrachet
NSG - Nuits St George
SGN - Sélection de Grains Nobles (“selection of noble berries”, wines made from grapes affected by noble rot (Botrytis cinerea). Sweet dessert wines like Sauternes.)
CdP or C9dP - Châteauneuf-du-Pape
CdR - Côtes du Rhône
LMHB- La Mission Haut Brion
HB- Haut Brion
LLC - Leoville Las Cases
TVV - Tres Vieilles Vignes
CdG - Clos des Goisses
Moose - Musigny
German Wines:
GG - Grosses Gewächs
ZH - Zind-Humbrecht.
Kab - Kabinet
Spat - Spatlese
Aus - Auslese
GK - Gold Cap
GKA - Gold Cap Auslese
LGKA - Long Gold Cap Auslese
BA - Beerenauslese
TBA - Trockenbeerenauslese
Wine Descriptors/Chemistry:
RO - Reverse Osmosis
RS - Residual Sugar
VA - Volatile Acidity.
Premox - Premature oxidation
DNPIM - Do not put in mouth
Brett - Brettanomyces
Internet Lingo:
OP - Original post
NSFW - DO NOT CLICK IN THE WORKPLACE IF YOU VALUE YOUR JOB (Not safe for work)
PSA- Public service announcement
FTW/L - For the win/loss
FWIW - For what it’s worth
IMHO - In my humble/honest opinion
TIA - Thanks in advance
OTOH - On the other hand
YMMV - Your mileage may vary
OMG - Oh my gosh
WTF - What the (insert f-word of choice)
TMI - Too Much Information
EFA - Edited For Accuracy
<3 - Heart/Love
Also included is The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil. Great wine made Simple by Andrea Immer. Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2011, Food & Wine’s Wine Guide 2011 by Anthony Giglio and The World Atlas Of Wine by Jancis Robinson/Hugh Johnson. 
Maybe she just meant loosely speaking…she was Russian so perhaps she was translating (sometimes it doesn’t work). Plus, this was a tiny wine shop in a supermarket…wines for people who just want to drink without any desire for wine appreciation. Education.