I suggest we start using SVD or EVD for wine analysis. Lots of data points will be necessary for meaningful results, but we can go way beyond three dimensions.
Cellartracker care to help?
Michel Fagot Reserve Brut
Lovely wine.
If I had to guess at the meaning in a wine context, I would guess it might mean brightness – the opposite of dense, dark and rich. And Galloni does seem to use it with “energy” a lot, which suggests acidity rather than depth.
But the fact that we each have different interpretations is telling. And, as I said, I don’t know that it has any established meaning in the wine world. Searching dozens of tasting notes in my inbox, I see Suckling used “verticality” just once, and two different Chambers Street employees used in email pitches (for two different rieslings).
Galloni’s use here suggests it means something other than depth – At least, I don’t equate energy with depth:
Although the 2007 does not have the explosive energy or verticality of the profound 2006, it will drink better earlier.
I’m not sure what the meaning is here:
Tannic and austere, the 2016 appears to be going through a closed phase, and yet it has a feeling of verticality and gravitas that is impossible to miss."
Here verticality seems to be something separate from depth but related:
The classic sense of verticality and depth that is such a Trotanoy signature is present…
Bottom line: Go figure.
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…but it’s impossible to miss!!
“Vibrancy” and “energy” are distinct. Discuss.
The 2020 La Dame de Montrose is fabulous. Rich, dense and expansive, the 2020 offers notable vibrancy and a good bit of energy too. Bright acids cut through a core of red/purplish fruit in what is an intense, wonderfully saline Dame. The 2020 finishes with remarkable elegance and sophistication." --Antonio Galloni, 94 points
I think this might be the all-time record for an Allen Meadows run-on sentence.
2021 Samuel Billaud Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu
As is often the case with Mont de Milieu there is a suggestion of the exotic lurking in the background of the naturally spicy aromas of tidal pool, citrus confit and shellfish. Once again outstanding density and volume to the powerful middleweight plus flavors that brim with dry extract that also serves to buffer the firm acid spine shaping the stony, highly complex and bitter lemon-suffused finish. This is really quite impressive and like rolling tiny rocks around in the mouth!
Also, “outstanding density and volume” and “brim[ming] with dry extract” don’t seem entirely consistent with “middleweight plus.”
Actually it strikes me as pretty close to the median
Meadows reminds me of trying to decipher Greek or Latin as an undergrad, in that he hangs huge adjectival or adverbial clauses off every noun he mentions as a wine component (in this case “flavor”, “finish”), often with additional sub clauses hanging off new nouns introduced in those phrases (as in “spine” or “extract” in the review above). As case languages Greek and Latin are designed for these insanely complex constructions but English is a word order language that really isn’t. I’d love for someone who remembers how to diagram sentences to try to diagram one of his.
It makes for a very strange style, like he bet somebody he could fit a comprehensive tasting note in a single sentence. It’s odd because when he writes prose essays he’s fine but his tasting notes are…quite something.
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What, praytell, do tidal pools smell like?
There’s no logic it’s metaphor all the way down. Mountains are vertical, you have to look up at them. Sometimes mountains have volcanos which explode. Mountains also make people think of rocks, as in Rocky Mountains or big cliffs. Hence, rocks equal explosive verticality. Get it?
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Dead shellfish, if you ask me.
I think this was an attempt at visualizing a briny mineral quality. In no way would I term that spicy. No idea what it means in that case.
Very good question. Seaweed, perhaps?
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New to me! I’m not sure if that’s a taste or a texture, though.
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Either is concerning…
Maybe it was a sample right after pressing and the blending in with the chocolate hazelnut mix?
I didn’t know Mega Purple was crunchy.
Moreish? Does that mean over the top? Related to the Moors?
Chateau d’Aiguilhe Castillon Cote de Bordeaux 2020
93 Points Decanter
Violet reflections, great clarity of colour and immediate whoosh of salinity through the redcurrant fruits. Powerful and focused with bright berry flavours, it practically defines the term crunchy fruit, then softens to show creamier black cherry purée as it relaxes in the glass. Really a very tasty d’Aiguilhe from Vignobles Comtes von Neipperg. Extremely moreish.
Moreish: “(of food) having a very pleasant taste and making you want to eat more”
It’s a not-uncommon English word.
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So I learned. I’d never heard the term, and I’ve lived in England.