Wine made easy: The definitive series of...

Robert Mondavi Said: " Wine to me is passion.It's family and friends. Its warmth of heart and generosity of spirit.Wine is Art.It's the essence of civilization and the art of living."

Well said I believe. And Such as art as he describes wines also have alot of character. This carachter is found mostly in the body.

In this defination I will talk about the most common terms for red wine bodies. and all corelate to obesity? Now hold on obesity and wine you say? here me out.

BIG

Yes Big is term often used for Red wines. you can also say its full bodied but that is way to general. Big is a descriptive used for a wine that has full and rich flavours. For the most part it is a positive descriptor but in some wines it can be a sign of clumsiness on the vintner. to explain that would also to explain what an Elegant wine is and that is the antithisis of big. Svelt and delicate well proportioned I would say a good example of this is comparing a bold cabernet with an elegant 2000 first growth Bourdeaux. both are complex BUT the Elegant wine is smooth where big is just that...big.

FAT

See more obesity. ANd this is also where you find bold and sometimes abrassive wines. Fat is a wine that is Bold, ripe, very rich with high-alchohol and low in acidity. This are the wines that linger on your palate that feels like forever.

FLABBY

Aha! another term for obesity. told ya so :) Flabby is the term most frequently used to describe soft and flacid feeble wines that fall apart early on your tongue.this is caused by not balancing acidity are a very immature wine. When using the Gamay grape where virtually no tannins are present makes a flacid wine but it still maintains "shape" and flavour where a flabby wine does not. I don't recommend flabby wines but I have met some who has enjoyed them. that what makes wine great so many eclactic choices for everyone.

Hope this helps, while yes obesity is a problem in our country its a welcomed trend in wine for the most part.

happy sipping!

Comments: 18

Johann Von Aurend Jan 23, 2006, 2:44pm EST

You are correct hannah, flacid and feeble wines are never a good choice and usually a frustrating occurance when it happens. Although I have met a few people who enjoy that experience.

reply to this comment

Jesse Streb Jan 23, 2006, 2:50pm EST

I agree with Hannah, as well as your thoughts. thanks again for posting

reply to this comment

Jim Bostick Jan 23, 2006, 3:08pm EST

Nice info Shaun, I'm learning something.

reply to this comment

Johann Von Aurend Jan 23, 2006, 3:12pm EST

I am glad. I really hope my these articles well help everyone find the passion of wine I do. thanks jim!

reply to this comment

Johann Von Aurend Jan 23, 2006, 3:24pm EST

hahah well a when can be svelt and rigid as well

reply to this comment

Melissa F. Jan 23, 2006, 3:32pm EST

I know what you are saying, and I have heard the terms big, fat and flabby related to wine. While I can see how one might think "obesity" with those terms, I still don't want to think about obesity while sipping a BIG, FAT wine. :)

reply to this comment

Jennifer Hodge Jan 23, 2006, 4:03pm EST

Shaun, Thanks for your Mourvedre recommendation in response to my inquiry on David Crowley's wine article. It is greatly appreciated. I am now on a mission!

reply to this comment

Cat Givens Jan 23, 2006, 6:33pm EST

Big fat bold and strong....... now that's my kind of red!
No flacidity on this tongue; I'm with Hannah!
Thanks for a splendid article, Shaun.

reply to this comment

Cecilia Tan Jan 23, 2006, 7:53pm EST

Shaun, it might be a pointless exeercise as there are so many wines to choose from, but could you give some examples of flabby and fat wines? I feel I've had plenty of big reds, but I wonder if 've ever had the other two...

reply to this comment

Myfanwy Collins Jan 24, 2006, 10:49am EST

Am learning a lot from these articles, Shaun. Thank you!

reply to this comment

Lee Hereford Jan 24, 2006, 11:30pm EST

Typically terms like "big", and "fat" are applied to wines that were picked when the grapes were very ripe and the wines have both lots of fruit and the capacity to make lots of alchohol. Sugars translate to alcohol at about a 55% conversion factor, so if you pick the grapes at 25% sugar, you will yield a wine of around 13-13.5% alcohol. "Flabby" usually describes a wine with low acidity. "Watery" is another way to describe them. They are usually low end; 3-4L jugs, or giant producers more interested in quantity than quality. Most of the time, wine is like anything else, you get what you pay for. Some of the better value wines that I have found are produced by Wente Vineyards, from Livermore, CA and Arbor Crest Winery, from Spokane, WA.

reply to this comment

Jeremy leeds Jan 25, 2006, 5:20pm EST

Lee, I believe Shaun's idea was to have a fun and easy guide for those who aren't as knowledgable on the subject of wine. If he added your thoughts it would have been much more confusing.

thanks for making wine learning easy and fun!

reply to this comment

Russ Beebe Feb 5, 2006, 5:37pm EST

I entirely agree with Lee, who should know - he's spent 20 years in the wine industry. As for me, I regularly organize and/or attend comparative blind tastings, in which we don't know the labels of the wines, but the 6 or 7 wines we taste are typically the same varietal (read: grape). Some of us, when attempting to characterize a wine's acidity, have sometimes used the words "flabby," "insipid," or "vinegary" to denote low acidity.

Many of us wine lovers simply love big, fat wines! I even use the word "opulent" to describe some of my favorite big Zinfandels. But oh boy - to me, there's not much worse than a flabby wine.

reply to this comment

Wine made easy: The definitive series of definitions 2: Obesity is good for you!

Comments: 18

Join the Conversation

You might also like

More by Johann Von Aurend