Earthy wine II

[Sidney]

This is a popular description among wine writers of some wines.I do not eat dirt what do they mean?Recently I came upon the same terminology on a pack of reblochon cheese,trying very hard I could not detect anything other than a pleasant slightly acidic creamy cheese flavour.Should I go outside and start savouring the ground?I have binned many a glass of unpleasant wine with off flavours but due to my inexperience I could not say if they tasted of earth.

[Alcuin]

This is a very overused wine term in my opinion. It is still useful though in the right contexts.

Wine/spirits tasting terms are often more evocative than descriptive. When someone talks about wet cement notes in tequila, they're not suggesting that wet cement is delicious even if it is a positive component in a tequila.

If you want to taste a classically earthy wine to see what you can see about it, check out a Chinon from the Loire valley. Chinon's (100% cabernet franc) tend to be earthy. That is, to my palate, there's a taste that's reminiscent of dust or dustiness typically on the finish. The palate tends to be nice red fruit, so you might have to concentrate on looking for the earthiness towards the end of the taste but it will likely be there if you go with a Chinon (they're not cheap though...).

Many people use the term "earthy" as a kind of catchall, which isn't really helpful. It's a good descriptor though, when you find a wine that actually exhibit's the quality. But if you can't taste it, it either isn't there or it doesn't matter. See if you can find a good winestasting in your area: if you really want to get into it, the best way to learn is to taste a lot of wines, ideally several at a time (and if you can taste say several different bottles of the same kind of wine at one time, even better). But always just drink the wines you like, and like what you like about them.

[KD1191]

If you want to taste a classically earthy wine to see what you can see about it, check out a Chinon from the Loire valley. Chinon's (100% cabernet franc) tend to be earthy. That is, to my palate, there's a taste that's reminiscent of dust or dustiness typically on the finish. The palate tends to be nice red fruit, so you might have to concentrate on looking for the earthiness towards the end of the taste but it will likely be there if you go with a Chinon (they're not cheap though...).

I'll second the recommendation for Chinon (or Bourgueil, which is generally cheaper) as frequently producing excellent examples of "earthy," and add that there are quite a few that have a vegetal palate (many reference green peppers) to go with that dusty clay finish. The combination of the two is pretty much textbook "earthiness," for me.

Edited December 11, 2011 by KD1191 (log)

[patrickamory]

A lot of red Burgundy, especially from the Cote de Nuits, has this characteristic. More specifically, it can be called barnyard or even manure-y. A famous British wine write, Anthony Hanson, reportedly wrote, "Great Burgundy smells like shit," though I haven't been able to find this quotation in any of his books that I own.

[Sidney]

Thankyou for confirming what I thought it is just a term used by wine writers with a limited vocabulary.I know the vegetal and manury flavours of some burgundy well.Loire wine I tend to avoid finding most of it to acid for my palate,if I tasted a wine that was 'dusty'I would probably reject it as coming from a dirty bottle,not an unusual fault in french wine thirty years ago.Thankfully the present generation of vignerons seem to be more careful in their technique.

[budrichard]

I gave up reading wine reviews at least a decade ago. Now I just look at the pretty labels and read the nice words on the bottle and pick one!

Seriously, wine reviews are written to garner attention and differentiate oneself from the plethora of reviewers. Where they obtain these tastes and characteristics is beyond me and I'm convinced much of it is made up attributes and prose. Don't pay any attention to it.-Dick