Ancient Magic Summoned by Wine

Featuring Bruno Mars, ROSÉ has dropped her  first single “Apt.” To give her fans a taste of her first solo studio album, Rosie. The song was inspired by her favorite Korean drinking game, Apartment. This duet between the former BLACKPINK member and the American pop star has rocked the music world.

Before we get drunk with this K-pop sensation, shouldn’t we equip ourselves with the basic knowledge of alcohol? Not only will it improve our sense of alcohol awareness, it will make us a more sophisticated drinker. Let’s begin with the structural components of wine, which is popular with the old and new world.

(1) Tannins (單寧)

This chemical substance derives from grape skin, seed, stem, and the process of oak aging. When we hold the wine in our mouth, a taste of dry and astringent would probably float among our mid-palate and the front part of our mouth cavity. The more powerful the tannins, the stronger the feeling. Yet, it would be softened via wine aeration or the high protein food.

(2) Wine Body (酒體)

It depends on the gravity of the wine, which can be classified into three basic categories: from light-bodied, medium-bodied, to full-bodied. In general, people compare them to the mouthfeel distinction among water, skimmed milk, and whole milk. It can be determined by various factors, such as grape variety, winemaking process, as well as the alcohol level.

(3) Alcohol (酒精)

In exchange for a generous dose of sugar, yeasts award us the gift of alcohol. Determined by climate and winemaking decisions, alcohol contributes to the body. As it is more viscous and thicker than water, the more the alcohol, the fuller the wine body. We measure it via alcohol by volume (abbreviated as “abv”), indicating the percentage of liquid contained in the bottle.

(4) Sweetness (甜味)

Yeasts convert sugars found in the grapes into alcohol during fermentation. The percentage of “residual sugar” can be classified from sweet, medium sweet, medium dry, off-dry, fry to bone dry. Yet, dry does not mean there is no sugar at all. It means there is no detectable sugar. When the acidity is soaring, sugar results in a more weighty and enriched viscosity on our palate.

(5) Acidity (酸味)

The extent of acidity is a combination of three factors: climate, grape variety and winemaking decisions. Wines from cool regions display higher acidity, while lower acidity will emerge in warm and hot wine regions. By picking early, the acidity of the wine will be higher. Similar to tannins, it plays a vital role as a natural preservative, and balances the fruit aromas.

Remarks: The Classification of French Wine

As France is one of the renowned wine making countries, the map indicates 11 French wine regions. In 1930s, the French government created the AOC (i.e. Appellation d'origine contrôlée) and AOVDQS (i.e. Appellation d'origine vin de qualité supérieure) system to classify the highest quality wine, while vin de pays and vin de table are excluded from the AOC regulations.

“Wine is bottled poetry.” This is a quote by Robert Louis Stevenson, a famous Scottish novelist in the 19th century. Savor the poetry via these five structural components. Cheers!

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