wine glossary

Acidic: Every wine requires some acidity. This quality makes a wine feel fresh, or give it lift. Too much acidity makes a wine taste sour and feel sharp, lean or angular. Not enough acidity will make a wine feel flabby.

Acidity: There are numerous types of acids that are found in all wines. They include citric, tartaric, malic, and lactic. Wine from hot climates, and or hot vintages tend to be lower in acidity. Wines from cooler climates are higher in acidity.

Aeration: What happens to a wine when you add air to help its perfume become more noticeable.

Aftertaste: This is one of the top components to a great wine. The length of time a wine spends in your mouth once you’ve finished tasting it, is much of what you pay for in a good wine. Of course assuming the flavors offer pleasure. Aftertaste means the same thing as length, finish or end note.

Age: Wines that can age, are of high quality as they get better with cellaring. Aged wines, are bottles that have been cellared.

Alcohol: Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, the by product of the fermentation process.

AOC Appellation d’Origine Controllee: French Government certification awarded to select regions for agricultural product that is most often for wine or cheese.

Appellation: Similar to AOC, a specific area where grapes or other agricultural products come from. For example, pomerol in bordeaux, or napa in california.

Aroma: Aroma is used to describe the scent of a wine.

Astringent: Astringent wines taste hard or sharp. This happens because most of the time because the tannins in a wine did not fully ripen.

Attack: The initial taste of a wine in the mouth.

Austere: Austere wines are hard, lacking charm, generosity or roundness. Some wines that taste austere in their young shed that quality when they age. For example, this could happen with some Bordeaux wines. Generally speaking, a wine that is austere young will be austere when its old as well.

Balance: Balance is one of the key traits all great wines share, regardless of where they come from. The term is used to say all the elements that make up the wine, acid,

Barrel or Barrique: A vessel to age wine which is usually made from oak.

Barrel Fermented: Wines that were vinified in barrel instead of vats or tanks. This takes place more often with white wines. However, some producers barrel ferment red wine. This is known as micro vinification.

Batonnage: French term for stirring of the lees.

Biodynamic: Vineyard management techniques based on the writings of Rudolph Steiner that on one side, are the best organic techniques, and on the other side can include moon phases, the alignment of the planets, planting cow horns and more. Scoff at this, fair enough. But it does seem to work and it’s becoming slowly, but surely increasingly popular and accepted.

Blend: When one or more grape varieties is used to produce the wine.

Body: Body is a term used to describe the weight and feel of wine. Full bodied wines are normally high in alcohol.

Bold: Red wine with dark color, high alcohol, with concentration and intensity, that is usually in a forward style.

Bouquet: Different than perfume, this denotes a mature, or maturing wine with secondary characteristics, other than primary fruit scents.

Breathe: When you allow a wine to breathe, you are giving it air, which improves the perfume and the texture of the wine.

Buttery: Usually used for chardonnay that has a butter, or buttered popcorn character. Butter characteristics are found in richer styles of Chardonnay that were often aged in barrel and have finished malolactic fermentation*.

Complex: Complex is an important quality in a great wine. Normally associated with aromatics, the term is used when a myriad of scents or fragrances are found in a wines perfume.

Cooked: A wine that suffered heat damage during storage.

Corked: Corked wines are flawed. They can smell like a wet dog or moldy newspaper. This is caused by a problem with an unclean, or poor cork infected with TCA.

Creamy: When has the rich texture of cream.

Crisp: Similar to bright. Fruit that is crisp is usually high in acidity.

Cru: French term for growth or vineyard that is often used for Classified wines.

Cuvee: This term is most often used to describe a special blend, barrel or bottling of a specific wine.

decanting: Decanting is the practice of pouring wine from a bottle into a larger container. While special decanters for wine can be purchased, even an everyday pitcher will work fine. Decanting is done for two reasons. Removal of sediment from older wines, or to allow air into a young wine, for the purpose of allowing them to soften in texture and display more aromatics.

Delicate: Light wines are delicate. This is not a quality to seek in Bordeaux. It is better suited for some white wines and Pinot Noir.

Depth: Wines with depth has layers of flavor and concentration making the wine feel deep. This is a good quality.

Dessert Wine: Created for tax purposes, dessert wines are wines high in alcohol ranging from 14% to 24% alcohol. Many riper syles of California Cabernet Sauvignon and classified as dessert wine, due to their high alcohol levels.

Dumb: Wines that are dumb have little to offer. They are closed.

Earthy: Earthy wines smell of mushrooms, forest floor or truffles. This is a positive attribute that is experienced in older wines, especially, Bordeaux wines.

Elegant: Wines with elegance are in balance with soft, refined characteristics and textures. They are never heavy.

Elevage: French term for the time a wine spends ageing in barrel.

Feminine: Similar to elegant, but lighter in concentration.

Fermentation: The process of turning sugars into alcohol, also known as alcoholic fermentation.

Field Blend: Multiple grape varieties planted in the same vineyard that are usually harvested and vinified at the same time.

Filtered: Filtering is the process of removing solid particles by having the wine move through a filter.

Fine Lees: Following fermentation, some wines are aged on their fine lees. This is also known as aging sur lie. Fine lees, which are primarily dead yeast cells are created during the fermentation process and are used to add more richness, complexity and aromatics to a wine.

Finish: The finish, which is similar to end note, is the sensation of flavors your palate experiences long after you have already enjoyed and swallowed the wine.

Fleshy: Fleshy wines are full bodied concentrated and round or opulent textures.

Flight: When more than one wine is poured at the same time.

Floral: Red and white wines can be floral. For example Bordeaux wine.

Fortified Wine: Fortified wine is produced by the addition of brandy or other spirits.

Fresh: Freshness is a good quality. It comes from acidity. Wine with ample freshness have lift.

Fruity: Fruity wines are often simple wines. This is not a positive attribute because good wines near more than fruit.

Full-bodied: Full bodied wines are most often high in alcohol, glycerin and concentration.

Green: Green wines are produced from unripe grapes. They display vegatal characteristics. This is not a positive term.

Herbaceous: Herbaceous is like hot chili peppers. Herbaceous wines smell of herbs. A little is nice, too much and the wine is taken over by the herbal qualities and loses its sense of fruit.

Honeyed: A common trait in sweet wine whites which have a honey character.

Intensity: Intensity in wine is a good thing that takes place when ample flavor keeps the taster focused.

Irrigation: Adding water to vines. This is not legal in most areas of Europe for vines that are more than 3 years of age.

Jammy: Jammy wines are extremely ripe at their best, and over ripe at their worst. they taste and smell of scents of jam and can contain hints of raisins or prunes.

Late Harvest: Late Harvest wines are sweet wines produced from grapes that are allowed to over ripen on the vine.

Leafy: Leafy wines are vegetal.

Lees: The by production of the fermentation that is created from the seeds, stems, pulp, yeast cells and tartrates.

Lively: Similar to lift, showing freshness in its character.

Long: A positive trait. The longer the flavors and aromatics remain in your senses, the better the wine.

Maceration: Time during vinification when the grapes, seeds, skins, pulp and stems allow their materials to be extracted, adding color, flavor, tannins and raw material to the wine.

Malolactic Fermentation: Also seen as malo, this is the process where hard, malic acids which are natural in a wine are transformed into softer, lactic acids.

Masculine: Strong, powerful, concentrated, tannic wines.

Mature: A mature wine has aged to the point in time that all its elements come together; tannins, fruit and acid. At this time, the wine has also taken on secondary aromas and flavors.

Medium Bodied: Term for wines lacking the same level of concentration found in full bodied wines.

Microclimate: Climate conditions that take place is small, localized, specific areas, for example a single vineyard in a larger region or appellation.

Mid-Palate: The mid-palate is the middle of the wine tasting sensation that takes place after the initial taste and the finish. This is the point in time where the majority of the flavors are released and experienced.

Minerality: This aroma or flavor comes from grapes gown in intense, rocky, mineral laden soils. The sensation is of crushed rocks, stone or cement. This is a unique and desirable quality. This term can be used instead of stone.

Must: Freshly pressed juice, seeds, stems, skins and sometimes stems.

Nose: This common term is used in the same way as perfume or aromatics.

Nutty: Most often used to describe oxidized wines. But it can also be a useful descriptor for sweet wines made from grapes attacked by Botrytis.

Oaky: Wines that are too oaky, often smell of vanilla. Those wines usually spent time in French oak barrels. Wines that are oaky that resided in America oak, often smell of dill pickle.

Off: Off wines are bottles that have been known to display correct aromatics and flavors, but for some reason, that specific bottle is not at the same level. This could be due to the seal of the cork, storage, exposure to heat or various other reasons.

Old Vines: Grapes from old vines have a minimum of 35 years of age. Old vines can producer better, more concentrated fruit, with naturally lower yields. Vines in some regions can be more than 100 years of age.

Open: Open refers to young wines that display their character and flavors early. The opposite of closed.

Overripe: Overripe is a misused term. This is because people’s perceptions of ripeness seem to vary. Overripe wines smell of prunes, raisins, cola and other scents.

Oxidized: Oxidized wines have experienced too much air. They can become brown or bricky in color and taste like Sherry.

Peppery: A peppery wine is just that, the wine can smell of fresh black or white pepper. Peppery wines often come from Rhone.

Perfume: All wines have perfume. Wines with bottle age develop secondary, non fruit aromas.

Port: Rich, alcoholic, sweet, fortified wine produced in the Oporto region of Portugal.

Powerful: Powerful wines are concentrated with raw material, flavor and tannin.

Reduction: A wine that has just completed fermentation requires finished oxygen to develop correctly. Oak barrels are the perfect vessel, as they allow the correct amount of oxygen to enter the wine. When the wine does not receive ample oxygen, it becomes reduced. The lack of oxygen allows sulfur into the wine, resulting in a wine that smells dirty, like rotten vegetables or worse.

Reserve: Over used term that can have different meanings, depending on the producer. Most of the time, it refers to a producers higher quality wine.

Residual Sugar: Residual Sugar or RS is the unfermented sugar that remains in a finished wine.

Rich: Wines that are rich display ample texture, body and flavor, along with a long finish.

Ripe: A ripe wine is one that is produced wine is ripe when its grapes have reached the optimum level of maturity.

Round: Round wines feel opulent in your mouth. This trait can come from low acid wines and wines produced from fruit when the tannins were allowed to fully ripen.

Rustic: Generally speaking, rustic wines are rough textured, old school wines that are often austere and stern. However, rustic can be more of a simple, country wine with character as well. The term can take on slightly different meanings, depending on the appellation.

Second Frementation: The term for on the positive side, what takes place to change still wine into Champagne or sparkling wine On the negative side, this can also take place in the bottle due to remaining sugars and will ruin the wine.

Secondary Aromas: This is what happens to the scent of wine once it matures. It develops tertiary, non fruit aromatics like truffles, tobacco, leather, tar, cedar and spice. This is a positive term.

Sediment: Natural occurrence as wines age that is formed with the tannins, pigments and other materials bond together. This is the mark of a wine that is maturing. Sediment will not harm you, but its bitter taste is not going to help your wine. You should remove the sediment by decanting.

Silky: Similar to velvety, but perhaps a little lighter. Silky wines feel polished in your mouth.

Single Vineyard: Wines produced from grapes grown in one single vineyard, instead of multiple vineyard sites.

Smoky: Some wines offer scents of smoke, fire, char or burnt aromas. This happens either because of the char in the barrels, the soil or the grapes.

Smooth: Wines that are smooth, feel soft on your palate. They transition from the beginning to the middle through to the end, with that a smooth texture. This is a positive attribute.

Soft: Soft wines are round, elegantly textured and can be low in acidity.

Spicy: Wines often smell like different spices ranging from pepper, to cinnamon, to 5 spice or cloves.

Sur Lie: French term for a wine that is aged on its fine lees, meaning seeds, skins and other grape solids along with yeast cells.

Structure: Structure is created by all the components that go into a wine, fruit, acid, tannin, sugar and alcohol.

Sweet Wine: Sweet wines are red or white wines which have varying degrees of residual sugar remaining.

Table Wine: Table wines do not denote quality, or a lack thereof. It is a degree of measurement for all wines that range from 11% to 14% alcohol.

Tank: A vessel for fermentaion that is most often made of stainless steel, cement or oak. This is the same as a vat.

Tannin: Tannins which are extracted from the grape skins and stems, coupled with acidity and alcohol, are the backbone of a wine and one of the key components to a long life. Tannins need to be ripe for a wine to feel good in your mouth, Unripe tannins can make your mouth feel dry or make the wine seem hard.

Tart: Tart wines are produced from unripe fruit and, or fruit that is overly acidic.

Tartaric Acid: The small, harmless crystals found at the bottom of a wine bottle. The crystals are harmless, odorless and lack flavor. They occur naturally when some wines age.

Terroir: A sense of place created from numerous environmental factors ranging from soil types, exposure, climate, topography and various other elements specific to the unique location. Those factors have a real effect on the vine and its expression of character on the vines and in the grapes. Terroir can be effected severely by the choices the winemaker makes in the cellars and in the vineyards.

Tight: Tight is similar to closed in that the wine is holding its personality and positive traits in reserve.

Vegetal: An undesirable quality that is noted in wines produced from unripe grapes.

Velvety: This term can be exchanged with silk, lush or plush to describe wines with opulent texture.

Vintage: The specific year the grapes were harvested in.

Viscous: Viscous wines are thick, rich and concentrated and display an unctuous quality.

Viticulture: The study and, or act of grape growing.

Volcanic: Type of soil and terroir, often found in Napa Valley that comes from rocks, stones, lava, ash and pumice, that were created through volcanic eruptions.

Whole Bunch Vinification: Method of fermenting the grapes with the stems still attached.

Woody: Woody wines are oaky. They feature strong, often overwhelming scents of vanilla, coffee or smoke. They can also feel dry in the mouth. This is a flaw.

Yeast: Yeast helps the process of converting sugar to alcohol during the fermentation process.

Yield: The term of measurement for the quantity of grapes collected in a harvest. In Europe, it is measured in hectoliters per hectare. Low yields are often seen as having the potential to produce better wine due to increased concentration and selection.