The International New
York Times, in its Food section, on June 11, 2015, included the headline,
‘Tapping Into the Potential of Falanghina.’ What does ‘tapping into’ mean?
Falanghina is a grape
variety from the Campania region of southern Italy, with two genetically
distinct varieties: falanghina
beneventana and falanghina flegrea.
The article continues to describe these varieties and a wine panel tasting
session.
MacMillion Dictionary
online defines ‘tap into’ as ‘to understand and express something such as
people’s beliefs or attitudes.’ The Free Dictionary online defines ‘tapping’ as
‘the act of a person or thing that taps or strikes lightly’ but the idiom (a
phrase or expression) ‘tapping into’ is ‘to gain access to some resource.’
In the wine industry,
wine kegs (barrels) are also known as wine taps. This is where the phrase,
‘wine on tap’ or ‘beer on tap’ comes from – bar tenders pour the beverage from
a tap (a faucet) from a stainless steel (metal) keg instead of from a bottle. In
the metal kegs, the aging process does not occur. To age wine (to improve the
quality by enhancing flavour and texture) it is stored in oak barrels. A barrel
maker is called a cooper. The barrels have a cork plug, or a tap, to access the
wine. For example, falanghina is fermented in wooden barrels.
Lord Horatio Nelson of
the British navy died during the Battle of Trafalgar in Spain in 1805. To preserve
the admiral’s body so that it could be transported back to England on the ship,
Victory, it was immersed in a barrel
of alcohol (brandy). When the barrel was opened, there was less than half the
amount of brandy remaining, leading some to say that the sailors drank it
(despite the dead body in the barrel). This resulted in the phrase ‘tapping the
admiral’ to mean getting unauthorized drink from a container (such as siphoning
off the alcohol).
The article is about
wine and understanding more about the varieties of falanghina.
Scorecard for the
International New York Times headline is 95% - it is a relevant headline that is true to
its meaning – gaining understanding about something – as well as being related
to the wine industry. However, it is an exceptionally common phrase, even if
the wine being reviewed is not.
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