You know the deal, the more some folks learn about a topic, the more shortcuts/slang/acronyms/initials/technical jargon can be tossed around.  I’m here to help you understand those sometimes mysterious words and phrases, thus – Wine Words Demystified!

This week’s word/phrase is Typicity

According to Karen MacNeil‘s The Wine Bible:

A quality that a wine possesses if it is typical of its region and reflects characteristics of the grape variety from which it came…It has nothing to do with how good the wine tastes.  A wine can be quite delicious and nonetheless show no typicity. 

Typicity, which the venerable Jancis Robinson refers to as “typicality” is a controversial topic in the world of wine.  Proponents argue that a Pinot Noir should “Taste like a Pinot Noir”.  You may be thinking…um…why wouldn’t Pinot taste like Pinot.  An example might be if a significant amount of say Syrah we added for color, or other reasons.  And typicity can go beyond just taste.  For example, is that same Pinot, and inky color rather than a shade of ruby, or other color “typical” to Pinot?  Is it full-bodied, whereas Pinots tend toward being light, or medium-bodied?

On the other side of the coin, some would argue that a delicious well-crafted wine is a delicious wine regardless of whether it takes like someone’s subjective definition of what it should taste like given its origin and the variety of grape.  In fact, some would argue what makes a wine great is that it is atypical.

Does typicity matter to you?

Other articles you might like:

• Wine Words Demystified: Field Blend (enofylzwineblog.com)
• Wine Words Demystified: Meritage (enofylzwineblog.com)