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Oxymoron: A combination of contradictory or incongruous words. Amusing, thought-provoking, and encountered every day with us not even thinking about the irony of the juxtapositions. When was the last time you used one of these oxymorons?
• Definite maybe
• Working vacation
• Grow smaller
• Only choice
• Same difference
• Random order
• Alone together
• Cruel kindness
• Idle labor
• Civil war
• Old news
• True fiction
• Exact estimate
• Original copies
• Pretty ugly
• Freezer burn
• Jumbo shrimp
• Act naturally
• Seriously funny
• Awfully good
• Small crowd
• Clearly confused
• Plastic glasses
• Plastic silverware
• Open secret
• Paid volunteer
• Boneless ribs
• Organized chaos
• Silent scream
• Advanced beginner
• Comfortable misery
• Perfect imperfection
Test your wine wisdom
WINE WIDSOM ANSWER:
Maceration: After fermentation, the wine rests on grape skins and solids. Alcohol acts as a solvent to extract color, tannins, and aromas. Heat, the amount of skin contact, and length of contact influence the effect of the procedure. Maceration is a common procedure in red wine. Cold maceration (aka “cold soak”) is when the grape juice rests on skins and solids in a temperature-controlled environment prior to fermentation. Cold maceration can be used for rosé wines, where time on skins is 2-20 hours at less than 65 F to control color extraction, preserve delicate flavors (while the cool temperature prevents excessive tannin extraction), and to maintain freshness. Used much less often in white wine, mainly to enhance aromatics; most common in French winemaking. Use of both cold maceration and post-fermentation maceration is common in red wines, especially with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, syrah/shiraz, and tannat. It is not common with pinot noir since it tends to reduce color with that grape variety.
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Links worth exploring
Diary of a Serial Hostess Ins and outs of entertaining; witty anecdotes of life in the stylish lane.
As We Eat Multi-platform storytelling explores how food connects, defines, inspires.
Dave McIntyre’s WineLine Longtime Washington Post wine columnist now on Substack. Entertaining, informative.