Speaking the language of wine fluently requires a study of so many interesting disciplines such as biochemistry, gastronomy, linguistics, foreign languages, art, history and geography, to name a few. Add translation to this rich and complex culture and things get really challenging.
Translating the taste characterisics of wine requires the melding of a scientific mind and an artful spirit. As with any hard science, there is a great deal of objective material that needs to be rendered accurately in the target language — data such as sugar levels, degrees of alcohol, chemical compounds, temperatures, acids, fermentation processes, and the like. This is straightforward enough, albeit technical. But unlike purely scientific translation, wine also has a subjective element: the human factor. This is the sommelier or winemaker’s sensory experience of the wine. And here is where literal translation ends and artistic license begins.
The human factor is very cultural. Each individual taster has stockpiled
a repertory of flavors and smells based on the culinary traditions of
their country. When tasting a Chardonnay from Burgundy, a Frenchman may
describe pâte d’amande (almond paste), brioche (a type of French bread), coing (quince) and
groseilles (gooseberries) — all foods that are less common in the States.
Since most Americans won’t have these elements in their flavor
repertory, they would experience this white wine in a very different way
and may describe macadamia nuts, toast, Granny Smith apples and citrus,
for example. So as a translator, do you find the English equivalent for
these flavors, however obscure they may seem in your target language
and simply provide an apples-to-apples translation of the tasting notes?
Or do you embellish a bit to convey the charm of the wine in a
vocabulary that will be understood?
To further complicate matters, science can’t completely be cast aside
because all tastes and smells within a given wine do have a scientific
makeup. For example, the aroma of cherry and that of almond share a
similar chemical composition; what varies is the concentration of the
compound. So the threshold of the particular taster will determine if
the flavor is perceived as cherry or almond — but both would be
considered "correct". So as tempting as it may be, the translator can’t
just invent fruits, nuts and spices that are common in their target
culture to make a given wine "readable". Though the tasting experience
is still quite subjective (since wine tasters can only draw from tastes
and smells they have already experienced when describing a wine), there
are typical flavor profiles associated with each type of wine, as a
function of grapes, soils, microclimate, region and winemaking
techniques.
Stay tuned as we further explore these intricacies of wine translation in a future blog post.
Photo attribution: Josh Kenzer
