Glossary

Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A	Acidity	Naturally present in wine, acidity should balance with other natural components such as sugar and alcohol. There are several acids in wine — the three most important types are tartaric, malic, and citric.
	Aeration	The process of allowing your wine to "breathe" prior to drinking. This will help soften the tannins, smoothing out the wine, allowing the bouquet and flavors to begin to open up. Decanting the bottle into another container or swirling the wine in a glass accomplishes this.
	Aggressive	A term used in describing a wine with excess tannin, resulting in harsh flavors.
	Aging	Wine can be aged from a few weeks to many decades. Barrel aging is a very slow oxidation, and the barrels can impart flavors to the wine: bottle ageing allows the wines to soften and various components within the wine to balance. After a certain point all wine will decline in the bottle.
	Appellation	Defines the area where a wine's grapes were grown, such as Napa Valley or Sonoma County. Regulations vary from country to country. For Example, to use an appellation on a California wine label, 85 percent of the grapes used to make the wine must be grown in the specified region.
	Aroma	A term used to describe the total bouquet of wine. Aroma specifically refers to the smells that are derived from the grapes, including characteristics from oak aging or changes that occurred in the bottle--good or bad.
	Assemblage	A blending of several wines of different grape-varieties, fermented independently.
	Astringent	Usually associated with red wines, a mouth puckering sensation caused by wines that are high in tannin. Some astringency can be pleasant in a wine and favorably complement food. Astringency can decline with bottle age.
	Attractive	A lighter, easy to drink style of wine
B	Backbone	Wines described to have good acidity and structure.
	Balance	Wine’s components of fruit, acidity, tannins, and alcohol integrated together.
	Barrel Fermented	Wine fermented in, typically, 55-gallon oak barrel. It requires careful cellar attention, but can add complexity and flavor to a wine with notes of spice and vanilla. Most often used in the fermentation of Chardonnay.
	Bite	A degree of acidity or tannin. An acid in the finish should be more like a zestful tang and is tolerable only in a rich, full-bodied wine.
	Bitter	Caused by too much tannin, this is usually not desirable in a wine. However, many Italian red wines have an appealing amount of bitterness that balances perfectly with pasta and rich tomato sauces.
	Body	The weight of the wine in the mouth, such as full-bodied, medium-bodied or light-bodied.
	Bouquet	Can be used interchangeably with the term aroma. The "Bouquet" refers to the scents of a bottle-aged wine, which includes the more complex components than that of the fruit aromas of a young wine.
	Breathing	Allowing a bottle of wine to stand after the cork is removed before serving. It is believed that some wines, particularly young wines, may be improved by air exposure prior to serving. Pouring a small amount out of the bottle, to increase surface area exposed to air, can assist in the "breathing" process.
	Brilliant	A description used for a wine with absolute clarity. Filtration of a wine will give it clarity, but over filtration has been known to strip a wine of much of the full bodied characteristics.
	Brix	A measurement used to determine sugar content of grapes and wine. Each degree of Brix is equivalent to 1 gram of sugar per 100 grams of grape juice.
	Buttery	A wine that has undergone the secondary fermentation process of malolactic fermentation has a buttery taste.
C	Canopy Management	Techniques which include winter pruning, shoot thinning, summer pruning, shoot positioning, leaf removal, and trellis systems, helps to balance the vine for optimal fruit development.
	Cap	Skins of the grape that rise to the top of the tank during the fermentation process. Cap management is very important to the winemaking process to be certain of optimum skin-to-juice ratio.
	Chaptalization	When the grapes have not ripened adequately, sugar is added for the purpose of raising the alcohol level of the wine. Chaptalization is commonly used in northern Europe, where grapes have to struggle to fully ripen. It is legal in some regions (Burgundy) and not allowed in others (California).
	Chewy	A word used to describe the texture of the wine. Mostly related to wines with higher levels of tannin extraction.
	Clean	Wine with no defective aromas or flavors.
	Climate	Climate combines environmental factors of the grape growing region (temperature, moisture, sunlight, and wind). The quality and balance of a grape’s aroma, flavor, texture, and color, is determined by the climate which it is grown in.
	Closed	Describes wines with complex characters, but are shy in flavor or aroma. These wines possibly need aeration.
	Complexity	When a wine is rich, deep and complex, yet has balance and finesse. The finest compliment paid to a wine.
	Cooperage	Including barrels and tanks of all sizes this term is used in general to describe any container used for storing and aging wine.
	Corked	Wines that smell and taste musty or moldy. The cause of the problem is a defective cork.
	Crisp	A term used for fresh, young wine with good acidity.
	Crush	Several months, usually September thru November in the Northern Hemisphere, when grapes are harvested and processed.
D	Decanting	Pouring a wine directly from the bottle into a container with ample surface space. This is done to separate it from sediment and to oxygenate the wine and open its bouquet.
	Delicate	Describes light to medium bodied wines with good flavors. Pinot Noir is a good example of a delicate wine.
	Dense	Describes a wine with a concentrated bouquet and mouthfeel. Especially favorable in young wines.
	Depth	Describes a wine with complex and intense flavors.
	Dry	No recognizable sugar taste.
E	Earthy	Can be used to describe both positive and negative qualities in wine. An example of a good attribute would be a pleasant, clean aroma and flavor that adds complexity to the wine. As a negative attribute, a funky, horse sweat, barnyard character that is reminiscent of dirtiness.
	Elegant	Describes wines with balance, beauty and grace.
	Enology	The science of winemaking; also spelled oenology.
	Enophile	Someone who enjoys and appreciates fine wine; also spelled oenophile.
	Estate-Bottled	A label designation indicating that the producing winery has itself grown the grapes on land owned or leased by the winery. A regulated term in the U.S.
F	Fermentation	A natural process where yeasts convert sugar into alcohol with a bi-product of CO2 gasses.
	Filtering	Clarifying wine by passing it through inert material.
	Fining	Clarifying wines by adding egg whites or bentonite (clay) to wine; the eggs collect particles and sediment and slowly sink to the bottom. The wine is then racked leaving the solids behind.
	Finish	The aftertaste and how those flavors linger and how long they linger on the palate.
	Floral	Flavors or aromas reminiscent of flowers.
	Fortified Wine	A process of adding a spirit to a wine to increase the alcohol level. Well known fortified wines are port, sherry, and Madeira.
	Free-run Juice	The grape juice that drains without pressing. It is usually lower in tannins than pressed juice due to less contact with the grapes’ seeds, skins and stems.
G	Grassy	Taste or aroma reminiscent of grass or fresh hay; most often used in describing the characteristics of a Sauvignon Blanc.
H	Hang Time	The length of time grape clusters stay on the vine, before picking.
	Hot	A term used while tasting high alcohol wines that have a burning flavor sensation on the finish.
	Hue	Shade, color or tint of the wine.
L	Late Harvest	Wines made from grapes picked later in the season with much higher Brix, generally used to produce dessert wines. Late Harvest wines contain higher residual sugar.
	Lean	A term used to describe wine that is lacking in mouth-filling flavors.
	Lees	Yeast and sediment found in the barrel or tank during and after fermentation. More New World winemakers are using this old technique of aging the wine on the lees to increase complexities in the aromas and flavors. "Sur Lie" is the French term for a wine left on the lees.
M	Maceration	A steeping process done during fermentation, where alcohol acts as a solvent to extract color, tannin and aroma from of the grape skins and solids in the wine.
	Malolactic Fermentation	A secondary fermentation which converts the malic acid in a wine to lactic acid, which reduces the total acidity of the wine. This softens and adds complexity to most red wines, and can produce buttery richness in white wines such as Chardonnay. Not all wines go through malolactic fermentation.
	Meritage	A name made up by California wineries, for Bordeaux-style blended wines that have certain requirements to use the name. Meritage rhymes with Heritage and routes from Merit of our Heritage. You must be a part of the Meritage Society. Red Meritage wines must use three of the five major Bordeaux varietals; Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petite Verdot and Malbec. The wine must have less than 75% of any of those varietals. And the label must include the phrase Table Wine. Meritage wines are usually a winery's highest-end blended dry wine.
	Microclimate	A climate within a larger climate. The area immediately surrounding the canopy of the grape vines.
	Mouthfeel	Term for the texture of a wine. Example: thick, rich, creamy
	Must	Juice, skins, and seeds of the grapes combined in a tank. Grape juice is called "must" before it is wine.
N	Noble Rot	A mold or fungus that causes grapes to shrivel and become very concentrated. Noble Rot is also known as Botrytis.
	Non-Vintage	Wine blended from multiple harvests; nonvintage wines are very common in Ports and Sherries, Champagne and sparkling wines.
	North Coast	The portion of Northern California that includes Sonoma County and portions of Lake, Marin, Mendocino and Napa counties.
	Nose	A term often used to describe the bouquet and the aromas of the wine.
O	Oaky	A term to describe wines that have been aged in oak barrels.
	Off-Dry	A wine that has small amounts of residual sugar.
	Oxidized	A term used while tasting wine to describe a stale or 'off' wine caused by to much air exposure. These wines generally have developed a brown hue and smell flat.
P	Palate	A term used while tasting wine to describe the flavor and mouthfeel of a wine.
	Perfumed	A term use while tasting wine to describe the bouquet of the wine.
	pH	A chemical measurement of the intensity of the acidity in a wine; the lower the pH, the more intense the acid. pH is really a much more important factor to winemaking than to most consumers.
	Phylloxera	A microscopic insect that attacks only the grape vine, killing the roots. Phylloxera can be controlled by grafting onto resistant rootstocks.
	Pomace	Pomace is the stems, skin and pips of the grapes after they have been crushed.
	Private Reserve	A label that was once used to indicate a producer's finest bottlings. Private Reserve has no legal definition and is now applied to everything from high end to inexpensive wines.
	Punch Downs	Pushing down the grape skins (or cap) back into the juice.
	Pump-overs	Pumping juice from the middle or bottom of the tank to wet the cap on the top.
	Punt	The name of the indentation found in the bottom of most wine bottles.
R	Racking	Removing the wine from the solids and yeast cells that have settled in the tank or barrel and putting it into a clean tank or barrel.
	Residual Sugar	A measurement, usually expressed in degrees of Brix, of the amount of grape sugar remaining in a wine after fermentation is completed.
	Rich	A term used to described the fullness of a wine.
	Ripeness	When the berries reach optimal flavors depending on the wine styles.
	Robust	A tasting term describing a wine being rich and full-bodied.
	Round	A term used to describe a smooth wine.
S	Smokey	A term used when tasting wine to describe a subtle wood-smoke aroma that comes from toasting the barrels. Some wines also seem to pick up a steely or smoky aroma from the earth where they were grown.
	Sonoma County	A region located 60 miles north of San Francisco. Because of its location near the Pacific Ocean and San Pablo Bay, this area has cool breezes and fog in the morning and evenings, and brilliant sunny afternoons — the ideal climate required for growing high-quality fine-wine grapes in California.
	Spicy	A descriptive term used while tasting wine that indicates the presence of spicy flavors such as cinnamon, cloves, licorice, mint and black or white pepper.
	Spritzy	A tasting term that describes a light sparkling sensation caused by a secondary fermentation, or the addition of carbon dioxide.
	Still Wine	A wine that is not sparkling.
	Structure	The framework of wine, made up of acid, tannin, and alcohol content.
	Sulfites	Sulfites are derived from sulfur and are a natural by-product of fermentation. Most wines contain very low levels of sulfites even when the winemaker doesn't utilize the use of sulfur. Sulfites have been used for hundreds of years by winemakers to clean and sterilize equipment and barrels; to kill off bacteria and to prevent premature oxidization and possible spoilage. Sulfur is also sometimes sprayed in the vineyards to prevent pests and disease.
	Sur Lie Aging	Aging process in which wine is left on the lees
T	Table wine	In the U.S. this term is used to describe wines of less than 14% alcohol.
	Tannins	Natural preservative found in the seeds, skin, and stems of grapes. Most prominent in red wines, where it creates a dry mouth-puckering sensation. A result of grape to seed/skin/stem contact. Tannins structure can improve the aging potential of a wine.
	Tart	A tasting term used to describe a wine that has a sharp tasting flavor due to under-ripe fruit or too high in acid.
	Tartaric Acid	A natural acid, found in grape juice and can be added to wine. Tartaric acid is important for providing acid balance in wine.
	Tartrates	Natural crystals that are often found in the cask, in the sediment and on the corks of naturally made wines. These deposits come from the tartaric acids that are found in wines.
	Thin	A tasting term that means the lacking of body and depth.
	Tinny	A tasting term used to describe a wine that tastes like metal.
	Toasty	A tasting term used to describe a wine that has been barrel aged.
V	Varietal wines	Wines named after a particular grape variety. In order to name the variety on the label, the wine must have at least 75% of that variety.
	Vegetal	A wine tasting term used to describe a wine that smells or tastes like green vegetables. Examples are: green beans and bell pepper
	Velvety	A wine tasting term that describes a wine having a silky smooth texture.
	Vintage	The year in which the grapes were harvested.
	Viticulture	The science and art of grape growing.
	Vitis Vinifera	The species of grapevines most responsible for producing the world's best wines, including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernets, etc.
Y	Yeast	Micro-organisms that converts sugar to alcohol called fermentation.