Flavour

Taste, aroma, mouthfeel

Strictly, taste is what the tongue detects: sweet on the tip, sour on the sides, bitter at the back, umami across the middle, with salt on the edges. Aroma is what the nose detects, including the retro-olfactory effect, the smell sensed when you swallow and breathe out. Mouthfeel is everything else: the weight, the texture, the warmth, the astringency, the fizz.

Flavour is the sum of these three. A high-acid English Bacchus might taste sour on its own, but the elderflower and grapefruit aroma and the crisp, light body combine to give an impression of freshness and complexity. The same wine, drunk while holding your nose, would taste only of acid.

UK flavour vocabulary

English wine writing uses a distinctive vocabulary that reflects the cool climate and the local varieties. Common descriptors include elderflower, gooseberry, blackcurrant leaf, hedgerow, freshly cut grass, red apple, white peach, bramble, cherry, raspberry, plum, mineral, saline, briny, smoky, flinty, brioche, sourdough, buttered toast, honey and beeswax.

These words are not just decoration. They tell the consumer what to expect, and they help the winemaker describe the intent of the wine. A back label that says "elderflower and grapefruit" sets a clear expectation for a Bacchus. A tasting note that says "smoky, brambly fruit" prepares the drinker for a Pinot Noir from a ripe vintage.

Building flavour in the cellar

Flavour is not just a function of the grape. It is shaped by every step in the winemaking process. Cool fermentations preserve primary fruit aromas. Lees ageing adds bready, yeasty complexity. Oak adds vanilla, spice and toast. Malolactic conversion adds buttery softness. Acidity adds freshness and lift. Tannin adds structure and grip.

The winemaker's job is to balance all of these, choosing the ferment temperature, the oak regime, the lees ageing time, the malolactic plan and the final blend to produce a coherent wine. Two vintages from the same vineyard can taste quite different, depending on these decisions.

What UK consumers taste

The English palate has shifted. Twenty years ago, the average UK wine drinker expected red wines to be big and oaky, whites to be crisp and lean, sparkling to be Champagne. Today, the same drinker is open to lighter reds, more aromatic whites, and English sparkling as a category in its own right. The WineGB consumer research shows a steady increase in the willingness to pay over 25 pounds for a bottle of English sparkling, particularly among 25 to 45 year olds.

This is partly the work of the English sparkling industry itself, which has done an excellent job of blind-tasting and winning credibility, and partly the work of a generation of wine buyers and sommeliers who are happy to put English wines on the same list as Champagne and Prosecco.