Wine words of the day: balsamic, Balthazar, barrique, brut, blend, bouquet.
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Balsamic: since the ancient Greek tradicions, a balsamic touch was given to the wine adding some resins to it.
Like every tradition, the legend says that the use of resins in the wine was born by mistake in Greece.
The amphoras used to ship the wine were closed using the resin of pines as a sealer.
It is not hard to believe that some resins could mixture with the wine and give it a pleasant balsamic aroma.
This is how the traditional greek wine Retsina was born.
Nowadays, speaking of wine, the word balsamic is used to describe scents and aromas like mint, aniseed, eucalyptus, incense and resins.  These are typical scents that are not given from the resin itself, but are very present in those wine refined in oak barrels, or vinificated with certain kind of yeasts.

Balthazar: is the name given to the 12lt wine bottle (corresponding to 16 bottles of 0,75ml) .
Even though all the magnum size bottles got their name from the Bible, there is no sure origin on this one.
The name Balthazar, one of the Three Wise Men, seems to exist thanks to an oral tradition only. But in the Bible there is a Balthazar. He is the king of Babilonia, besieged in the city by Ciro, king of Persia.
Balthazar, instead of defending the city, gives a sumptuous banquet drinking like a fish before the defeat.

Barrique: is a barrel that holds about 225 liters. Usually made of oak, it is used for wine refining or fermentation.

Brut: it is a classification defined by the level of sweetness of sparkling wines. Brut contains no more than 12 grams/liter residual sugar and tastes dry.

Blend: it is the art of blending grapes, wines and must of the same vintage or different harvests, to poduce a unique wine.

Bouquet: it is a positive way to describe a wine’s aromas and scents. It is not associated to a particular kind of aroma and it is very generic.