No doubt most of our readers have noticed the exponential growth in the use of initialism in recent years. Condensing whole words into an alphabet soup of first letters may save time for writers and calories for speakers but may leave the recipient with a less than perfect understanding of what is being communicated. Let us consider “ESG.” Your interlocutor uses this, and you may be wondering if he is referencing “environmental, social, and corporate governance” or “ethical, social, and corporate governance,” as defined by Wiktionary. You could risk being perceived as a pedant and ask him to explain himself, but most likely you will just let it pass. But what about that missing “C”? Shouldn’t it be “ESCG”? Whatever…just don’t forget your PIN number!
We would like to add another acronym—ah, the pedants will catch that one—to the lexicon: “MBA,” which in this case stands for “Muscat Bailey A.” We have written about MBA many times. It is a Japanese hybrid created by the venerable Zenbei Kawakami in 1927. This is a black grape that is capable of producing excellent wines. Recently, we had the opportunity to taste Suntory’s MBA offering—“From Farm,” 2019. We ordered a bottle at a yakiniku restaurant. Ruby colored, spicy with cassis notes, a hint of sweetness, medium bodied with 12% abv., Suntory’s MBA graduated close to the top of its class. Our only concern involved the pairing. Yakiniku can, depending on the sauce and seasonings used, be rather strong and, therefore, better paired with a full-bodied wine. Nevertheless, “From Farm” is A-okay.
Drinking Japan 