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The language of wine description struggles with différance, particularly with the deferral part. We are often told that a particular wine has hints of lemon, an after-taste of chocolate. The obvious question is, But which lemon? Which chocolate? Are we talking a ripe Sicilian 1. Columbian or Brazilian? Eager to emphasise the complexity of the wine palate, wine tasters necessarily oversimplify all the other tastes.

If it’s enough to tell me that my wine tastes of chocolate then why wasn’t it enough to let me assume that it tastes of wine and leave it at that?

Not to be outdone, with the increasing fetishisation of chocolate, varietals of chocolate are frequently described in the manner borrowed from wine. There must be a chocolatier’s catalogue somewhere that says one of their chocolates has top-notes of wine. But which wine?