Mauzac (mao-ZAHK)

In the Languedoc Roussillon, in France, the grape used to make sparkling Crémant de Limoux.

When critics describe a wine, they refer to all of these except for its:

A. Head

B. Legs

C. Nose

D. Body

A wine’s “nose” is its aroma. Wine pros will say, for example, that a given wine has a nose of apricots and peaches. Similarly, a wine’s “legs” are the rivulets of wine that inch up the inside surface of the glass above the wine, then run slowly back down. It’s often said (erroneously) that the thicker the legs, the better the wine. Legs are a complex phenomenon related to the amount of glycerol and alcohol in the wine, plus the rate of evaporation of the alcohol. A wine’s “body” is its weight on the palate. Light-bodied wines feel about as heavy as skim milk on the palate, while full-bodied wines feel like half-and-half or even cream. Medium-bodied wines are somewhere in the middle. Head? Um, that falls in the beer department.

Banished Then Reborn

The idea that we all have wine preferences is axiomatic and indisputable. You may prefer, say, cabernet sauvignon over zinfandel. But what if someone were to designate themselves as a sort of grape police? What… Continue reading

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