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THE VERY BASICS OF WINE TERMINOLOGY
Acidity - This provides the freshness and crispness in White Wines and helps balance Red Wines. Without acidity, wines become unbalanced but too much makes the wine difficult to drink. With the proper amount of acidity and balance of fruit and other components any Wine can be very enjoyable to your palate. Aerating - Aerating a wine starts to occur when the bottle is opened. Red Wine benefits from this and helps to mellow Red Wines that are too tannic. (see tannic) To allow a wine to aerate or breathe gives it the chance to complete its evolution, therefore allowing it to become drinkable. Red Wine is best when opened 30 minutes to an hour before consuming. This is not a practice normally used with White Wines.
Aftertaste - This is the taste left on the palate or back of your throat after the wine has been drunk. The depth of the aftertaste can usually let you know the quality of the wine.
Alcoholic Fermentation - This is the natural process that turns the sugars of grapes, and any added sugars, into alcohol through the action of yeast with carbon dioxide as a by-product. The better sparkling wines undergo a second fermentation in the bottle. This happens because developing bubbles are trapped when the carbon dioxide produced during the fermentation process has nowhere to go. The process for wine will stop either when all the sugar has been consumed, or when the increasing alcohol content of the fermenting solution kills the yeast, or when the external temperature drops too low.
Aroma - The aroma of wines is the smell you get on the nose and is described so very differently by everyone that enjoys Wines.
Austere - Often young tannic wines are described as “Austere.” They may have little fruit flavor to them and high acidity. Most of the time, these wines will improve with age. Some good wines that may be described as austere are French Chablis or some Italian wines.
Backward - Wines that are described as backward are usually young undeveloped wines. These types of wines may also be referred to as Austere.
Balance - A wine that has balance is harmonious with a combination of tannin, acidity, texture, and fruit.
Big - This is used to describe wines that have a powerful aroma, flavor and full-body. This is very often used to describe Red Wines.
Body - Glycerin is the component of wine that is most responsible for its body. Body is used to describe the texture and flavor of wine.
Brix - This is the term used to measure the sugar content of grapes prior to harvest.
Buttery - The term Buttery Wine often refers to Chardonnay such as Rombauer and White Burgundies. Buttery Wines will have a lot of flavor, smooth texture and the flavor of butter.
Caramely - Oak and age contribute to this flavor. Wines, usually white, that have been aged for a long time and have a burnt-sugar flavor will be referred to as Caramely Wines, also found in some Australian Tawny Ports
Character -Character is used as a complimentary term to describe Wines that feature distinguishable characteristics from other Wines.
Closed - When Wines are not mature they are often considered closed and have very little aroma or flavor and can sometimes be quite harsh. As wines mature they will normally open up. It’s best to give these wines some time before opening the bottle.
Colheita (pronounced Col- hey-ta) - This is an aged tawny Port from Portugal from a single vintage which will be declared on the label.
Corked - It only takes one bottle of corked wine to understand the meaning of this. A corked bottle of wine may also make you more willing to try a screw cap wine. Corked wine has a very unpleasant musty, moldy, stale smell, not only the wine but the cork will smell horrible and the wine will be absolutely undrinkable.
Crisp - The acidity in White Wine with its brisk, freshness will be considered crisp.
Decanting - Decanting wines will allow them to breathe. Decanters are used to aerate young wines and also separate the wine from the sediment in older wines. If opening an older bottle of wine that has been stored on it’s side, it is best to stand it up 24 hours before opening to give the sediment a chance to settle.
Delicate - A delicate wine has subtle flavors and should be drunk with foods that are not powerful in taste; this will take away from the wine.
Developed - This is a process that happens to wine as it ages in the bottle. This can also happen after a wine has been opened.
Dry - A dry wine is the opposite of a sweet wine but a dry wine still contains sugar. This just means there’s little or no residual sugar left following the fermentation process.
Earthy - European wines are often referred to as earthy. Wines that have these characteristics are said to have the smell or flavor of earth.
Elegant - A well balanced wine that has all the components, flavor, fruit, quality and style, it also isn’t highly tannic or acidic.
Extract - Extracts are the solid compounds found in wine, such as sugars and tannins. The higher level of extract results in more color and body. The extract may increase by leaving the wine in contact with the skins for longer but too long will make for an excessively powerful wine that seems ‘over-extracted’.
Finish - The finish is the final taste of wine as you swallow and as it lingers on your palate. The longer the better if it is a good wine.
Firm - When a wine is firm, it has all the elements of a well structured wine that are tightly wound together and has well integrated flavors.
Flabby - Often used to describe my husband, but also used to describe wines that have too little acid and soft in flavor and body.
Fleshy - Wines that are fleshy are big ripe, plump and fruity on the palate.
Floral/Flowery - Riesling are said to be floral. Floral or Flowery wine describes the floral scents found in some wines.
Fortified Wines - Port and Sherry are best-known for being fortified wines also Madeira and Marsala Wines are wines that have alcohol added.
Forward - A wine that has big fruit components and a Forward wine can also be a wine that develops ahead of similar wines of the same vintage.
Fruity - Fruity is a very widely used term to describe different types of flavors on the palate. It may be considered jammy, berry, fruit-bomb, and a host of other fruity terms that can be used to describe Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Syrah/Shiraz. An Australian Shiraz may be referred to as a big fruit forward jammy fruit –bomb with a long finish.
Full-Bodied - Flavorful, rich and intense. Full-bodied wines go with full flavored foods, such as Steaks and Italian foods.
Heady - A fairly high concentration of alcohol and other components make for a sturdy aromatic wine.
Herbaceous - Notes of herbs mint, sage and eucalyptus often detected in an herbaceous wine. Wines with herbal undertones are considered herbaceous.
Integrated - When the tannins, oak & acidity fade as the wine develops, they are said to have integrated.
Legs - Wines with the least amount of alcohol, sugar and glycerin leave traces of oiliness in the glass. The more alcohol, sugar and glycerin the bigger the legs, you can see them as they creates tracks that runs down the inside of your glass after it has been swirled.
Lightstruck - A term used when very delicate wines are over-exposed to ultra-violet light. The wine has a taste and smell of wet cardboard.
Malolactic fermentation - This is a bacterial process that results in conversion of the sharp tasting malic acid to the softer lactic acid. It is the second fermentation of some wines where and the acidity becomes milder. Red Wines as well as White Wines (depending on the style) go through malolactic fermentation.
Mature - Many wines, especially Estate Wines need more time to mature some more than a decade. Mature wines are fully developed and ideally aged to maturity and ready to drink.
Mellow - A Well-made merlot is said to be mellow. Saying the Wine is mellow, generally denotes a low-acid wine that is smooth & soft, rather than uneven and rough.
Must - This is the combination of crushed grapes, skins, and pips which red wine is drawn. An indicator of the sugar content of the fermenting wine.
Nose - The smell of the wine is described as “the nose”.
Oak - Wines that have been aged in Oak barrels gather the taste and smell. Oak is the most popular barrel but sometimes other woods such as cherry have been and sometimes are still used. Occasionally Oak chips are added to the vat to give a vanilla flavor to the wine.
Oxidation - Some exposure to oxygen isn’t a bad thing and may be good for the wine and its flavors. However, too much oxygen is not good for the wine and once a bottle has been opened for an extended period, an oxidized wine will taste lousy.
Peppery - Zinfandel & Cabernet Sauvignon are often referred to as peppery. As you taste a red wine, there will be hints of black pepper flavor.
Pips - Pips are the seeds in grapes and are a source of the tannin in Red Wine.
Reserve - Wineries use the term Reserve Wine to give the impression that the wines are aged longer and have superior qualities but there is no specific legal definition in the United States.
Sediment - This is found at the bottom of a bottle of Red wine and it actually comes from the wine itself.
Silky - Silky wines are smooth and velvety with a good mouth feel.
Smoky - Pinot Noir is considered to have smoky notes, Sauvignon Blanc’s are also described with these characteristics.
Spicy - Wines that are said to be spicy like a Gewurztraminer and Zinfandel, which are noted for their spiciness, will have notes or aromas of clove, mint, cinnamon, or pepper.
Structure - Wines must have a good solid structure to support the framework of the overall content of the acid, alcohol and tannin of the wine. Great wines have a wonderful mouth-feel and the elements to support the other components of the structure of the wine such as fruitiness
Sulfites - Sulfites are used to defend against oxidation and occur naturally or can be added to wine.
Tannin - Tannins are found in grape skins, pips (seeds) and stems of grapes, tannins can leave a dry puckering sensation in your mouth. Tannins are found mostly in Red Wine, more so in young red wines. Tannins mellow with aging and then polymerize to form sediment with time.
Terroir - There isn’t a simple translation for this French term that refers to the influence of soil and climate, including exposure to sun and wind, water table, and other external influences on ripening grapes.
Tired - A tired wine is one that should have been opened before it got tired or at an earlier time. This refers to a wine that is past its peak and won’t have much flavor or body left.
Toasty - Toasty reflects the smell or taste of toast or the toasting around a toasty campfire.
Tobacco - As with the term smoky, tobacco notes are used when describing a Cabernet Sauvignon. Most wine drinkers will consider this a benefit and not a disadvantage.
Unctuous - Wines with rich, thick, substantial and glycerin-laden and also have an equally rich aroma will be called “unctuous wines.”
Varietal - A wine varietal is made from on certain type of grape and is labeled as that varietal of wine
Vintage - The vintage, is the year on the bottle and when the wine was harvested.
Yeast - It may make you think of bread and sometimes detected in wines that have undergone secondary fermentation. Yeast is present naturally in the vineyard; harvested grapes will begin to ferment inside to the yeasts which reside on the grape skins. Some winemakers add cultured yeasts rather than rely on the natural. This gives the winemaker more control over fermentation but may alter the style or quality of the wine by not producing the same flavors found in the vineyard. Sorry, this yeast story has nothing to do with homemade cinnamon buns. |
