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Wine language – daft phrases

Julia Harding
Julia Harding MW
Wednesday, 26 February 2025 • 13 min read
daft wine words - wordcloud

Last year I wrote about another aspect of wine language: false friends and confusing terms. Today it’s the turn of those vague or meaningless phrases that litter back labels and wine technical sheets (the sort wineries helpfully send importers and journalists): those that are simply daft (or barmy, or potty).

Daft is a particularly British, informal and only affectionately critical word meaning ‘silly’ or ‘foolish’ and perfectly describes the sort of phrases that have become so well worn as to be meaningless even if they were coined with good intentions. (I love the equally endearing British idiom used to...