The words we use to describe wine are often ephemeral, with many of the adjectives we call on to express the characteristics of a given wine vague and/or abstract. Take the word “elegant” for example.
The best dictionary definition that I’ve come up with so far describes elegance as “restrained beauty of style.” In mathematics, an elegant proof is one that is both simple and effective. All of this suggests that something elegant is characterized by complexity without flamboyance. Certain kinds of wine inevitably lend themselves to being described as “elegant” more than others, Champagne being the most notable example. Other white wines–great Burgundies, the best Rieslings—are undoubtedly elegant. Fabulous Pinot Noir can be elegant, Zinfandel not so much (while elegant examples certainly exist, elegance is not an attribute one really looks for in Zin).
Of course the perception of elegance in fashion, or people, or wine, is somewhat subjective; one man’s “elegance” may be another person’s meh. Wine lovers will never agree 100% on which wines are truly elegant, but most of us feel that we know it when we see it (or more accurately, taste it). Certainly we who write about wine believe that the word conveys meaning, as a random glance at past Wine Review Online reviews indicates. Not surprisingly top Champagnes are most frequently singled out but we are not immune to identifying elegance in Malbec, Shiraz and other less obvious candidates. “It is the epitome of elegance and finesse…” wrote Robert Whitley describing Gosset Champagne. “…fresh, elegant and light on the palate,” said Ed McCarthy about Ayala Brut Nature Champagne. But when Michael Apstein tasted Michel Torino’s “Don David” Malbec he noted: “It’s more elegant than most Malbec.” Paul Lukacs described The Yard Shiraz as “Graceful, even elegant…” and Michael Franz said that Leeuwin Estate Shiraz has “Elegant notes of dark berries and black cherries.” Gerald Boyd wrote that “the finish is long and elegant,” when he reviewed Clarendon Hills Syrah,” and I found Alamos Chardonnay to be “Elegant and satisfyingly complex”.
Of course there are plenty of other equally maddening abstract terms used to describe wine. Finesse. Balance. Suppleness. These are among the acceptable, much-used descriptors that every wine connoisseur understands, or at least sort-of-understands, but they aren’t concrete, measurable entities such as tannins, acidity, sweetness. They reflect the attempt to describe the less tangible characteristics of fine wine. Perhaps we are reaching for that mysterious component which the poet Charles Baudelaire called “the soul of wine.”
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