Mouthfeel

The tactile impression of a wine in your mouth. Like clothing, wine can feel soft, rough, velvety, and so on.

What is hairy grenache?

A. The name for a diseased grenache vine that develops a coating on the leaves, making it look like it’s covered in hair

B. A nickname for the feeling of tannin on the palate that comes after drinking grenache

C. A mutation of grenache that has leaves that appear to be covered in fur

D. An idiom in northeast Spain for a hangover that comes from drinking too much red wine

Hairy grenache, or garnacha peluda in Spain and lledoner pelut in the Languedoc Roussillon region of France, is a clone of grenache that has particularly hairy leaves. Like the furry fuzz found on rosemary and other Mediterranean plants, the “fur” evolved as a defense mechanism to protect the vine from heat and conserve moisture. The clone is native to the Spanish region of Catalonia. Wines made from hairy grenache often have a lower alcohol content, but the clone is customarily blended with regular (non-hairy) clones of grenache.

Who Wouldn’t Want to Be the Baby?

In Spain, cava (Spanish sparkling wine made by the Champagne method) is most definitely a middle class drink. No fancy occasions needed. Barcelona alone has dozens of xampanyeria, wine bars specializing in cava. In fact,… Continue reading

Get WineSpeed