If you’ve heard people talking about wine, particularly wine snobs, you may have heard someone describe a wine as flabby. I know when I first heard this as a descriptor I was very confused. Flabby? It doesn’t really sound like something that you should describe anything as, let alone a wine! So what does it mean when to have a flabby wine?
These sorts of wine terms are the sort of terms that get thrown around but make it oh so confusing to understand wine. So by unpacking what on earth people mean when they use this term, it will help you to understand more about the wine. It also means you can choose to not use the term yourself, or do. Personally, I feel like the word flabby is one of those many words that make me feel uncomfortable…like moist. Oh gosh, let’s never repeat that one!
What is a flabby wine?
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When I hear the word flabby, other than feeling uncomfortable, I immediately think of bodies. It conjures up images I don’t really want to think of, which makes me wonder why on Earth we would use a term like this to describe wine. However, people do, so let’s dive into what exactly it means!
Flabby is generally a negative term used to describe a wine with low acidity and a high pH balance. The combination of this leaves the wine with an unbalanced flavour. Acidity gives a wine structure and activates it on your tastebuds. Basically it leaves you with a ‘blah’ feeling in your mouth.
As this is a negative term, it is one to tread lightly around. Probably not something to say as you’re tasting wine at a winery, or in front of a winemaker!
Why does it happen?
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Acidity in wine is so important for giving regular structure to quality and drinkable wines. Flabby wines tend to be caused by overripe grapes being used past the time of their prime ripening. This is particularly a risk in warmer climates where ripening occurs a lot earlier in the grapes, so winemakers need to monitor it closely to get the right balance.
As well as the grapes, flabby wines can also be caused by an imbalance between tannins and acidity and bottling the wine with too much oxygen remaining. Winemakers try to avoid this by adding tartaric acid in fermentation and slowly exposing the air to the bottle over long periods.
How to pick a flabby wine
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So now that you know a flabby wine isn’t really what you’re after (you couldn’t guess it from the word right?), how do you tell if a wine is flabby? Well, the first thing to check is taste. Without acidity, the wine is heavy-tasting and limp. They can also be syrupy or too sweet. Basically, the wine will make you feel ‘blah’ in your mouth.
There are a few other things to look out for that can offer clues. These include a high alcohol content, high tannins, low fruity flavours and a deep brown colour. However, you’ll find taste will be the best indicator!
So there you have it – now you know what a flabby wine is. It isn’t the nicest thing and is certainly something you should try and avoid by drinking good quality wine. But now you know what those wine snobs mean when they call a wine flabby, so you can see for yourself if it actually is!