As anyone who has ever read wine reviews can attest, wines are often described in terms of feminine or masculine. Some are even referred to as both feminine and masculine – more on that later. Here are a few examples where wines are referred to as either male or female.

Wine Enthusiast, Nov 15, 2006
Excellent with the essence of Maipo fruit. Licorice and black fruit carry the masculine bouquet, and next up is a palate of ripe berries that explode in a fireball of flavor.

Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, December 2008
Stylistically faithful to the vintage, it is more monolithic and muscular as well as less expressive aromatically, but substantial in size, and somewhat masculine.

Adams Bench Winery, Describing their 2006 Red Wine Reckoning
Masculine, Cab dominant steak wine: black cherry, tobacco and spice.

Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, April 2009
The 2006 Pongelli (Montepulciano, Sangiovese) is a gorgeous, floral wine with a pretty core of perfumed red cherries and sweet spices. This delicate, feminine wine is best paired with …

Alyssa J. Rapp, Founder & CEO of Bottlenotes, Inc., as appeared on Snooth.com May 8, 2009
Rosa Regale is superbly feminine and wonderfully sweet without being cloying, offers flavors of juicy, ripe raspberries and strawberries.

This is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the use of masculine and feminine language when describing wines.  But is there anything wrong with it?  I know there are some out there who are very troubled, if not down right mad, about this subject.  As one person passionately explained to me, (and I’m paraphrasing here) “The use of sexual descriptors is outdated and brings up stereotypes that don’t truly provide us with an adequate explanation about the wine.” Are they right, wrong or simply making too much out of some colorful language?

Most of the masculine terms are used to describe big, brawny and powerful red wines while feminine often accompanies soft, delicate, perfumed laced white wines.  You see there, now I have just done the same thing.  I must be a sexist pig living in the dark ages.  But when you read that sentence you knew exactly what I was inferring.

OK, fine, but what about a Pinot Noir?  This world famous grape can lead to all sorts of problems when trying to explain the bouquet, flavors and tasting experience  to someone.  I have talked with many people I consider to be wine industry experts that say the Pinot Noir manages to be both feminine and masculine with dark, bold muscular strands of fruit tamed by genteel nuances of soft floral notes and having a light, smooth silky mouth-feel. Wow, there’s alot going on that bottle.  So what are we to make of the Pinot Noir?  Is it male, female or both?  I know, Pinot Noir is a hermaphrodite.

Do you ever think of a wine as feminine or masculine?  If so, what wines are feminine and what wines are masculine?  Is it correct or proper to use these terms when referring to wines? Do you care?  As for me, I’m just going to keep enjoying wines and not worry about the sexual orientation of this wine or that, especially Pinot.  I’ve got my own issues to worry about. Cheers.