Need help with Australian

[Serge Birbrair]

Wine is the part of culture and in order to understand the wine better,
I would like to learn more about Australian culture and local slang.

The thread was closed and I didn't have the chance to ask:
what W and D words are?

I can't make reference in American English and I am very puzzled.

I would appreciate your help via PM, as I suspect the words might be offensive.

Not to start any troubles, I just have genuine interest in liguistics.
Please.

[Red Bigot]

Serge, they are well-known and oft-used terms of endearment amongst Aussie mates.

W is what you were doing in Russian.

D is Richard Cranium.

Hope that makes it clear.

[Serge Birbrair]

Thank you, RB.

I thought D was standing for "duffer", the term of endearment taught me by my Brissie friends and was wandering why the use of it would be restricted.

Learning something new every day, thanks, RB for expanding my horizons.

With all this knowledge, I am ready to try Marquis Phillip 9, vintage 2012 and make complete D of myself
(like if I needed any special help)

[n4sir]

It's interesting how the different slang has different meanings and levels of offence in different countries.

I think the W word is a description for a stupid person in the USA rather than the more offensive application here (hence the town "Wanker County" from the classic "Married with Children").

In contrast I think the word "bugger" is particularly offensive over there (I heard somewhere it was actually more offensive than the F word), where in Australia it's used pretty frequently without much of a stir - typically stuff like "silly old bugger", "bugger it", "couldn't be buggered", "bugger off", etc.

Cheers,
Ian

[Serge Birbrair]

Ian,
W, D...etc, are not the problem the way I see it.
There is much bigger issue in different meanings in different countries of the same words.

For example, I'm sure you've seen lots of Americans using the word Cassis in their tasting notes.

Out of 300,000,000 americans how many do you estimate tasted black currants?
Untill recently, there was a federal prohibition on growing black currants in USA. Now this is the states matter and the most states where black currants can grow still have black currants outlawed.

More often than not I see wine descriptors and have no clue
1) what they actualy mean
2) if taster actualy tasted the fruit/substance he compares the wine to.

THIS bothers me much more than use of offensive words which might be or might not be offensive.

[Gary W]

Out of 300,000,000 americans how many do you estimate tasted black currants?

Out of 300,000,000 (anywhere in the world) how many do you think know where Australia is... A dumb/uneducated audience is not a good reason for clever people to be dumb just to make other people happy or feel more comfortable. It is when you are teaching basic concepts but not when talking to a specialised audience.

Australians and English are very familiar with Cassis/Blackcurrant as we have a drink called Ribena which is familiar to (nearly) all. Just because (some) people have a limited experience of what things smell like, there is no reason for wine writers to 'dumb down' to accomodate the masses. Maybe these people will become curious and actually find out what certain things smell like? Smell is one of the great parts of wine enjoyment (and food) and the reason writers use these descriptors is that
a) the wines do smell like this - at least to the one writing
b) they are trying their best to convey smell through the limitations of both language and personal experience.
c) if a wine is described as 'chocolatey' or 'herbal' then it means a great deal to me.
If you want to be simple about wine then good luck. In the end we can just say
'Oh it is red and smells like wine and I like it.'
Good for some but not hugely informative. When you get used to the way someone in particular writes then you get used to their particular set of descriptors (like you would if using colours or style - painting or fashion) and you get a feel for what they mean.
...now pass me that bunch of violets and acacia flowers and I will get back to work....

GW

[Serge Birbrair]

GW,
you misunderstood me completely,
but it's OK.

c) if a wine is described as 'chocolatey' or 'herbal' then it means a great deal to me.

what if the note written by somebody who never tasted chocolate?
Will it still mean a great deal to you?

[Red Bigot]

For example, I'm sure you've seen lots of Americans using the word Cassis in their tasting notes.

Out of 300,000,000 americans how many do you estimate tasted black currants?

Serge, your question should be "How many of the Americans using the word Cassis in their tasting notes have tasted black currants or cassis liqueur?" It still may not be all of them, but they may have learned what the aroma/flavour was by example from someone who has, or just from a Kir Royale drink, or even Ribena as GW says (it's sold in 20 countries). It's immaterial if the reader hasn't tasted the stuff, maybe they taste the same wine and then equate an unfamiliar fragrance/taste (rightly or wrongly) with Cassis.

Why would you use a term if you don't think you know what it smells or tastes like? (That's a rhetorical question, I often wonder what drugs some people are on when I read their tasting notes).

[Serge Birbrair]

Why would you use a term if you don't think you know what it smells or tastes like? (That's a rhetorical question, I often wonder what drugs some people are on when I read their tasting notes).

RB,
if I only could speak decent English...thanks for the translation, this si exactly what I meant.

as for the drugs...
Let me share a few TN's I collected from Cellar Tracker,
just for the kick of it.
Have fun!


"Very good, but my taste may have been compromised due to an impending cold. Nice complex nose, but the taste was lacking. 94 points"
cold penetrating nose...wow!


"quite an enjoyable bottle despite the fact that it was just the napa."


"Nose reflected some tannins when first opened but they disappeared an hour later when the wine was drunk."
call the police! Tha tannins have escaped!

"All I taste is hay and barnyard."
if the note was written by a cow, I could understand it and beleive it

"In the mouth it has sharp, steely acidity"
I wonder if steely acidity is sold in 20 countries too.

Vigorously decanted for three hours. Lighter, bright cab. Bright, abundant red fruit on top, Slightly riper black fruit below. Lots of acid that will settle overnight (and with bottle age). Chunky tannins on the medium finish. I predict that this will be much better tomorrow.
this note is just mystical

Simple, playful nose shows currant, dark strawberry fruit with tar and animal fur hints. Maintains a pinot-like delicate profile but for the dominant tannins on the finish. Not complicated, but quite and enjoyable wine.
have you smelled animal fur latley? Was it wet dog or skunk?

Aerated the wine by pouringit violently into my decanter and drank right away.
why do americans preoccupied with violence? I wonder if firearms were involved in opening and disposing of the bottle


It's not Huet Vouvray, but it doesn't try to be. This Montlouis was dry, but tender, with a gossamer clarity that evoked Katherine Hepburn at her best: great bone structure, beautifully delineated, plenty of depth and a long finish edged with a trace of sad bitterness. Not Steven Crane bitterness, not Ari-gets-dropped by Terence bitterness, more like Drama being dropped by his agent bitterness.
I wonder if heroin was used before or after the bottle was finished


Tasty but not particularly complex. Hedonistic but not intellectual. Classical CA pinot.
reading this note one should be masochistic but not intellectual OR hedonistic



I have a few dozens more....

[winetastic]

Clearly these subspecies of humanity should not be allowed to write their own tasting notes on cellar tracker, how dare they sully the intellectual world of wine.

[Wine Girl]

I am more concerned about those volatile tannins myself.

[Craig(NZ)]

You guys are all idiots.

Who cares what it tastes like, who cares whether it is described well or uses terms that we can relate to or not. I just skip right to the bottom and look at the score out of one hundred. thats all i care about.

what else does a man need??

I like this one...

"An unusual "Rough-as-Guts" aperitif that has the distinctive bouquet of horse-shit and old tram tickets. it is best drunk with teeth clenched to avoid foreign bodies. Connoisseurs often drink this strange brew in conjunction with other beverages which complement, or mask, the delicate flavour of Purple Death. "

http://www.sapich.co.nz/purpledeath.html

[Serge Birbrair]

"2000 Clos Pegase Cabernet Sauvignon Hommage (USA, California, Napa Valley) 4/30/2006 Loved this wine. Did not taste this wine at winery during visit earlier in the month. Wish I had. May not have enjoyed it there though because the woman pouring wine at the winery had gas. Bad gas... but good wine."

[Craig(NZ)]

love it!!

[Serge Birbrair]

I swear, this one hasn't come from the porn boards:

"On the finish, a mere whisper of the steely/petrolly/minerally finish I like in the Germans."

[geo t.]

I swear, this one hasn't come from the porn boards:

"On the finish, a mere whisper of the steely/petrolly/minerally finish I like in the Germans."

Sounds like a so-so German to me; I'd like a lot more of the steely/petrolly/minerally stuff personally. As usual, you fail to get it.

[Serge Birbrair]

Dear Mr. George Heritier,
this is NOT your usual American Wine Chat board.

Folks here are mostly polite, gentlemen & ladies, and for the life of me I don't get WHY should you come over to pick the fight with me.

The buck stops here and I am announcing to everybody:

George Heritier knows wines better than anybody.

George Heritier drinks more wines than anybody and posts magnificent tasting notes we all should study and learn how to write them.

George Heritier taught me and 120,000 other wine drinkers in USA and Australia everything we know about wine.

George Heritier doesn't like so-so Germans.

Gang of Pour is my hero and the subject of my daily worship and prayers.

If I missed anything,
please feel free adding to the list.

[simm]

GW,
you misunderstood me completely,
but it's OK.

c) if a wine is described as 'chocolatey' or 'herbal' then it means a great deal to me.

what if the note written by somebody who never tasted chocolate?
Will it still mean a great deal to you?

What the? Why would they say it, you dingbat? And even if they hadn't tasted it, it would still mean what it means until you tasted the wine in question and in turn questioned the descriptor....


TROLL! Again

[Serge Birbrair]

"Q: Do the tasting notes tell the truth?
A: Sometimes; but frequently it is flatulent rhetoric that reeks of floral bovine manure."

[Red Bigot]

I swear, this one hasn't come from the porn boards:

"On the finish, a mere whisper of the steely/petrolly/minerally finish I like in the Germans."

Sounds like a so-so German to me; I'd like a lot more of the steely/petrolly/minerally stuff personally. As usual, you fail to get it.

Shock, horror, for this one I'm on Serge's side. George, you failed to notice or chose to ignore that Serge was just reporting something he saw posted somewhere, not espousing it as his own opinion of a wine.

Can you two please keep you childish sniping back in the good old US of A.

[Craig(NZ)]

oh dear, thats funny in a way. i wonder if anyone else around here will collect a "you are lame.com" suffix

i might be first in line!