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I am affectionately referred to or addressed at times,
as a wino by friends and well wishers who feel they are putting me thus,
on a pedestal as a wine lover, connoisseur or aficionado. I generally
smile it off or tell them emphatically that I am not one, if they are
well known to me.
I was surprised to read an article in an Indian wine
magazine once by a known Indian sommelier, who also incorrectly used the
word for wine lovers. I had the urge to comment but I let it pass.
I was anguished when I visited a website www.localwino.com
which is a wine informal portal with a lot of useful information and I
do access it occasionally for some info. I figured the guy who started
the site must be an American and is entitled to twist the slang.
But I felt things going over the top when I received
an email titled 'Gifts for Winos' written by a well-known American writer,
Jennifer Rosen last week.
Now Chotzi, as Jennifer is fondly known in the wine circle,
is not a bottle-by-night wine writer. She is my favourite- a serious writer
and an author with a light-hearted and humorous style of writing that
won her the famous James Beard Award in 2005 and a couple of other recognitions
in wine journalism since then.
That's when I decided to clarify for the discerning and
certainly for those who view wine connoisseurs with some respect. Let
me explain the terms:
Vino: Italian for wine (plural-vini),
says Collins Gem Dictionary. Nothing complex about it. Simple, everyday
used word in the English speaking world of wine too.
Drink Vino- Drink fine vino is our mantra for
good and healthy living .
vino: is also the commonly used word
for cheap wine that is available in bulk or from the wine lakes producing
millions of litres of inexpensive and cheap quality wine. Jancis Robinson
defines it as, 'colloquially and unfairly, English for basic quaffing
wine, or plonk' in the Oxford Companion to Wine, 2007 edition.
Indian market is full of vino-especially the French and
Indian kinds. Chateau Indage has even labelled their cheapest selling
wine as Vino (under Rs.100).
Wino on the other hand is a slang used
for alcoholics one finds metaphorically in the gutter. Winos are human
beings who drink excess amount of alcohol, usually cheap; or even too
much of cheap wine. Naturally, the connotation is negative.
Let me illustrate with a few definitions from various
online dictionaries:
Wino: is an 'informal word for a person
who drinks excessive amounts of cheap wine or other alcohol' as defined
by Oxford online dictionary.
Wino: is a slang term for someone consuming
large amounts of alcohol in wine form, according to Weber open dictionary.
It also defines wino as a wine drinking alcoholic
Wino: Webster's dictionary illustrates
the use of the word in many other languages with different meanings like:
alcoholic, bacchanal, boozer, boozy, drinker, drunkard, inebriate, tippler,
winebag, habitual drinker, habitual drunkard, heavy drinker, lush, dissipated,
intemperate, lush.
In no language does it remotely imply a wine- lover.
Incidentally, for any of the above uses, the words vino,
vino and wino are pronounced as in bambino, casino, chino, cappuccino,
latino and not like wine-o.
Wino: (informal ) a destitute person
who habitually drinks cheap wine , says Collins dictionary
Wino: slang for someone, especially
a down-and-out, addicted to cheap wine; an alcoholic- reads Chambers dictionary.
Do I need to pursue any further?
Wino is a sharaabi
People mistakenly refer to wine as sharaab. I have spoken
and written many times that wine is wine and liquor is sharaab.
Of course there are no dictionaries that define the term only conceptions
and misconceptions.
Wine is not sharaab. Hard liquor is- whisky,
vodka and gin are (distilled alcohols, I believe). Of course, it is my
rendition and may not hold in a court of law.
But everyone would agree that an alcoholic, especially
the one who drinks cheap stuff or is addicted to it can be aptly labelled
as a sharaabi, which does have a negative connotation- of an
alcoholic.
Wino is not a wine lover or a connoisseur, but a mere
sharaabi.
I rest my case.
Palate vs. Palette
Another word that is incorrectly spelt by many people
including the neo wine journalists is palate.
Palate is the roof of the mouth. It is also a person's
ability to distinguish between and appreciate different flavours. One
also defines the palate as a person's taste or liking.
The term is used a lot in defining wine flavours, mouthfeel
and texture etc.
But many people mistakenly spell it as palette instead.
Palette is a thin board on which the artist lays mixes
of colour for his painting. It can also refer to the range of colours
used by the artist. But it should never be used to describe food or wine.
You may drink Vino that your palate appreciates, you
might even drink vino if your palette craves for it, but for Bacchus'
sake, don't be a wino and don't call any wine lover or a connoisseur a
wino; you might offend him!
Subhash Arora
December 24, 2007
(With due apologies to Jennifer 'Chotzi' Rosen www.corkjester.com
)
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