Wine Terms
Appellation: The geographical term to identify where grapes for a wine were grown.
Aroma: A term for the smell of a wine, generally applied to younger wines, while Bouquet is the term used to describe more aged wines.
Barrique: The name for a French 225 litre Bordeaux style barrel.
Bouquet: A tasting term for the complex aromas of an aged wine. This term is generally not applied to young wines.
Brix: The measure of sugar in the grapes.
Brut: The term for the driest Champagne.
Bung: A stopper used to seal a bottle or barrel. Also a trem used for corks.
Capsule: The plastic or foil that covers the cork and part of the neck of a wine bottle.
Corked: A wine whose quality is tainted by an off-flavor from the cork. It can smell moldy, or like damp cardboard, and will sometimes have a bitter taste. About 3% of all wines worldwide are affected by cork taint.
Cuvee: A term used to refer to a specific blend or batch means “vat” or “tank”.
Decanting: A process where wine is poured from the bottle into special carafe to allow the wine to breathe and sediment to seperate.
Extra Dry: Champagne that is less dry than Bruts.
Fermentation: The conversion of grape sugars to alcohol by yeast.
Finish: A term used when tasting to describe the lingering aftertaste after a wine has been swallowed.
Gamay: Is the red grape used in making Beaujolais wines.
Grape juice: The free-run or pressed juice from grapes. This juice is unfermented and is known as “must.”
Halbtrocken: Is a German term meaning semi dry.
Hard: A term for wine that contains too tannins and therefore is unpleasant. Hard wines can take a long time to mature.
Lees: Sediment that occurs during and after wine fermentation, consisting of grape seeds, dead yeast and other solids. Wine is separated from the lees by a process called racking.
Malolactic Fermentation: Is a bacterial process that changes tart malic acid to the softer latic acid. The process is used in both red and white wines depending on the style.
Must: Unfermented grape juice, including, skins, seeds and stalks.
Nose: A term used to describe the aroma and bouquet of wine.
Oak chips: Small pieces of oak wood used in place of oak barrels for fermenting and/or ageing wine.
Palate: A tasting term for the feel and taste of a wine in the mouth.
Phylloxera: A microscopic underground insect that kills grape vines by attacking their roots.
Pulp: The fleshy part of the grape tha contains most of the sugar, acids, and water in the grape juice.
Racking: The process of drawing wine off the sediment, such as lees, after fermentation and moving it into another vessel.
Reserve: The term given to wine that indicates it is of higher quality than usual.
Residual sugar: The level of sugar that remains unfermented in a wine.
Sulfites: Compounds (typically: potassium metabisulfite or sodium metabisulfite) which occur naturally, and can be added to wine to prevent oxidation and microbial spoilage.
Tartaric acid: The most important acid found in grapes
Thief: A tubular instrument used for removing wine samples from a cask or barrel.
Ullage: A term for the headspace, or unfilled space in a wine bottle, barrel, or tank.
Varietal: The term for a wine made from a single grape, which is usually listed on the label.
Published by admin on July 26th, 2007 | Filed under Wine Terms