Wine, a drink with a rich culture and a long history, always has a lot of interesting and even weird terms, such as “Angel Tax”, “Girl’s Sigh”, “Wine Tears”, “Wine Legs” and so on. Today, we’re going to talk about the meaning behind these terms and contribute to the conversation at the wine table.
Tears and Legs – revealing alcohol and sugar content
If you don’t like the “tears” of wine, then you can’t love its “beautiful legs” either. The words “legs” and “tears” refer to the same phenomenon: the marks the wine leaves on the side of the glass. In order to observe these phenomena, you only need to shake the wine glass twice, you can appreciate the slender “legs” of the wine. Of course, provided it has.
Tears (also known as wine legs) reveal the alcohol and sugar content of wine. The more tears, the higher the alcohol and sugar content of the wine. However, that doesn’t mean you can definitely feel the alcohol level in your mouth.
High-quality wines with an ABV above 14% can release ample acidity and rich tannin structure. This wine will not burn the throat, but will appear extra balanced. However, it is worth noting that the quality of the wine is not directly proportional to the alcohol content of the wine.
In addition, dirty wine glasses with stains can also cause more “wine tears” in the wine. Conversely, if there is residual soap in the glass, the wine will “run away” without leaving a trace.
Water level – an important indicator for judging the state of old wine
During the aging process of wine, with the passage of time, the wine will naturally volatilize. An important indicator for detecting old wine is the “fill level”, which refers to the highest position of the liquid level of the wine in the bottle. The height of this position can be compared and measured from the distance between the sealing mouth and the wine.
There is another concept here: Ullage. In general, the gap refers to the gap between the water level and the cork, but it can also represent the evaporation of some old wines over time (or part of the evaporation of wines aged in oak barrels) .
The deficiency is due to the permeability of the cork, which allows a small amount of oxygen to enter to promote the ripening of the wine. However, during the long aging process in the bottle, some of the liquid will also evaporate through the cork during the long aging process, resulting in a shortage.
For wines suitable for drinking at a young age, the water level has little significance, but for high-quality mature wines, the water level is an important indicator for judging the state of the wine. Generally speaking, for the same wine in the same year, the lower the water level, the higher the degree of oxidation of the wine, and the more “older” it will appear.
Angel tax, what tax?
During the long aging period of wine, the water level will decrease to a certain extent. The reasons for this change are often complicated, such as the sealing condition of the cork, the temperature when the wine is bottled, and the storage environment.
As for this kind of objective change, people may be too fond of wine and do not want to believe that these precious drops of wine have disappeared without a trace, but they would rather believe that this is because angels are also fascinated by this fine wine in the world. Attract, sneak down to the world to drink wine. Therefore, the aged fine wine will always have a certain degree of shortage, which will cause the water level to drop.
And this is the tax that the angels who have been given a mission by God come to the world to draw. How about it? Will this kind of story make you feel more beautiful when you drink a glass of old wine? Also cherish the wine in the glass more.
Girl’s sigh
Champagne is often the wine to celebrate victory, so it’s often mistaken for a champagne to be opened like a winning race car driver, with the cork soaring and the wine overflowing. In fact, the best sommeliers often open champagne without making any sound, only need to hear the sound of bubbles rising, which champagne people call “the sigh of a girl”.
According to legend, the origin of the “maiden’s sigh” is related to Marie Antoinette, the queen of King Louis XVI of France. Mary, who was still a young girl, went to Paris with champagne to marry the king. When she left her hometown, she opened a bottle of champagne with a “bang” and was very excited. Later, the situation changed. During the French Revolution, Queen Marie was arrested when she fled to the Arc de Triomphe. Facing the Arc de Triomphe, Queen Mary was touched and opened the champagne again, but what people heard was a sigh from Queen Mary.
For more than 200 years since then, in addition to grand celebrations, the Champagne area usually does not make a sound when opening the champagne. When people unscrew the cap and let out a “hiss” sound, they say it’s Queen Mary’s sigh.
So, next time you open champagne, remember to pay attention to the sighs of the reverie girls.