It Tasted Like What?

Southern White is a white wine made from muscadine grapes grown in Florida by Lakeridge Winery in Clermont, Florida and it delivers a true muscadine nose and taste.  I particularly enjoyed the description of the wine on the bottle.

“Mingling spicy flavor with striking bouquet, this distinctive wine finishes semi-dry, light and elegant”.

It gave me enough information to want to purchase it without trying to lead me on what tastes I should be looking for, and it went well the gruyere and pears I had for dinner.  Spicy Flavor, Striking Bouquet, Light and Elegant are terms to get me started; I found my own fruit and other flavors and relished that as part of the experience.

Too often wine descriptions try to give information that needs to be discovered by the user.  Consider the wine description excerpts below and decide if they attract you to make the purchase or make you wonder why the contents were bottled.

Smoky and inky notes, along with licorice

With a long, minty, medicinal finish

With tobacco, herbs and smoked meat

Giving me too much information on what I’m supposed to be tasting with my buds (Caliculus gustatorius), would be like telling me how to feel when I read my favorite R. Crumb inspirational pieces.  Do I really care that someone finds a medicinal or smoked meat finish to a wine? Maybe, if I’m going to send a sympathy note.

Let’s have less detailed descriptions up front and then charge the experience with filling in the blanks.  A good wine experience includes teasing your brain with the information from your mouth and waiting to see what you discover.  It’s a game and we love it.  Don’t let too much information stop you from being in the game.

Visit Florida Wineries Here:

http://www.florida-agriculture.com/consumers/wineries.htm

Today’s Quote:

“I wonder how many tastes are on my tongue and in my mouth. I suppose if I proceed with an open mind I could learn to enjoy more than that which I already know”.

Me, 2008