Foxy

July 16, 2020

An odd descriptive term (having nothing to do with foxes, or sex appeal, for that matter) for the wild, candylike aroma and flavor associated with wines that come from native American grapes of the Vitis labrusca species, such as Concord. The flavor is derived from an ester, methyl anthranilate.

Can Wine Be Masculine?

“Every season is likeable . . . red wine and white; company and solitude. Even sleep, that deplorable curtailment of the joy of life, can be full of dreams; and the most common actions—a walk, a talk, solitude in one’s own orchard—can be enhanced and lit up by the association of the mind. Beauty is everywhere, and beauty is only two finger’s-breadth from goodness.”

—Virginia Woolf, “Montaigne” in The Common Reader.

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