There is a language or vocabulary used by most wine lovers to communicate to each other the specifics of a certain wine. Understanding this vocabulary will increase your appreciation. The following are some basic terms.
Acidic – A sharp taste on the palate due to too much acid.
Aftertaste – The taste left on the palate after the wine is spit out or swallowed. A long aftertaste is a sign of quality. (See FINISH)
Alcoholic – The hot, sometimes burning taste of too much alcohol in a wine. More evident in warm-climate wines.
Aroma – The smell of the grapes used to make a wine.
Aromatic – Grape varieties with a fragrant or spicy note.
Astringent – The dry, rasping taste of tannin in young, red wines.
Austere – The dryness in the mouth of a red wine, caused by the tannins.
Back blending-A method used to sweeten wine with grape juice or the blending together of different batches of wine (perhaps treated differently), made from the same grapes, for the final blend.
Baked – A roasted or cooked note perceived on the nose in wines from warm climates.
Backward – A wine that is less developed for its age.
Balanced – A wine in which all components or elements are in sync or harmony.
Barnyard – The smell of a farmyard, horse droppings, or rotting straw found in certain wines like red Burgundy and red Rhônes.
Barrique – A Bordeaux-style barrel of 225 litres.
Baume – The French scale for measuring the sugar in the must (fermenting juice).
Bitter – Usually in the aftertaste, the taste of excessive tannins or young vines.
Black currant – The main aroma of Cabernet grapes.
Bloom – The whitish haze-like covering on the grape skin.
Body – The mouth feel or weight of a wine in the mouth.
Botrytis – A fungus or rot that affects grapes, concentrating the sugars and acids, often making sweet wines.
Bottle-age – The quality that comes from ageing wine in the bottle.
Bottle-sickness – A temporary condition of a wine that smells odd from bottling. It appears when the bottle is opened, and usually disappears after some air.
Bottle-stink – The smell of dank air escaping from an old wine once opened. Usually disappears after some air.
Bouquet – The smell of a wine, evolved through the processes it has been put through (fermentation and ageing). May contain the aroma.
Brix – The North American scale for measuring the sugar in the must (fermenting juice).
Buttery – The smell of butter, especially in oak-aged wines.
Caramel -A burnt-sugar smell in oak-aged wines from hot years.
Carbon dioxide – The gas or bubbles in all sparkling wines. Sometimes noted as a spritz on the tip of the tongue in still wines.
Carbonic maceration – A form of fermentation for light red wines where the grapes are uncrushed. Fermentation takes place within cell walls.
Cat’s pee – The smell of herbaceousness in Sauvignon Blanc.
Cava – Spanish sparkling wine made by the champagne method.
Cedarwood – Part of the bouquet of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Cépage – French term for grape variety.
Chaptalization – The addition of sugar during fermentation to raise the alcohol level.
Character charmât method – The distinctive personality of a wine. A method of making sparkling wine in a large, sealed tank. Often called the tank method. (See CUVÉE CLOSE)
Chocolate – Perceived on the nose of some big, red wines.
Cigar box – Part of the bouquet of Cabernet Sauvignon, especially from the Médoc in Bordeaux.
Citric – The smell of citric fruit (lemon, lime, grapefruit) in the bouquet of wine.
Claret – British term for red Bordeaux.
Clean – A wine free from “off” smells or tastes.
Closed – A young wine whose nose and palate are unyielding or undeveloped and locked in.
Cloying – A wine, often sweet, with too little acid to balance the sugar.
Complex – A wine with many smells and tastes.
Creamy – The texture or smell of some wines that see oak. Often the texture of Champagne.
Crémant – A champagne-method wine with less pressure.
Crisp – A green-apple zestiness in white wines, denoting lively acidity.
Cru – The French term for “growth.”
Cuvée close – A method of making sparkling wine in a large, sealed tank. (See CHARMÂT METHOD)
Decant – To gently pour wine from its bottle into a larger vessel, leaving behind the sediment.
Depth – Used of a multi-dimensional wine.
Disgorged – A Champagne in which the sediment has been removed after second fermentation in the bottle.
Dosage – The adding of sweet wine to Champagne just before bottling.
Dry – A wine in which the sugar has mostly been fermented out.
Drying out – A wine in which the fruit is fading, giving way to more austere flavours of tannin, acid, and oak.
Dumb – A wine that is unyielding and closed, offering very little nose and palate.
Earthy – The smell of earth and minerals in a wine.
Eiswein – A rare, sweet, German dessert wine made from grapes naturally frozen on the vine.
Elegant – A wine that is well-balanced with finesse.
Eucalyptus – The smell of mint often found in warm-climate Cabernet Sauvignon.
Fat – A wine that is rich, full, and well-extracted.
Finish – What’s left on the palate after a wine is swallowed. The aftertaste.
Flabby – A wine that lacks acidity on the palate.
Fleshy – A well-extracted, concentrated wine, especially in reds.
Flinty – The smell of struck flint or stone in some wines.
Floral – The smell of fragrant flowers in some wines, especially fruity whites.
Forward – A wine that is very yielding, showing more maturity than its age.
Foxy – The characteristic, grapey smell of “labrusca” grapes.
Fresh – A wine with good acidity, making it lively.
Free-run juice – The juice that runs from crushed grapes that haven’t been pressed.
Fruity – A wine with good, fruity smells and flavours from ripe grapes.
Full-bodied – A wine with a rich mouth feel from concentrated grape extract, higher alcohol, or oak contact.
Glycerol – A bi-product of fermentation that adds richness and sweetness to a wine, especially observed in its beading and legs.
Gooseberry – The characteristic smell in Sauvignon Blanc.
Grapey – The smell of fresh grapes in wine.
Green – A wine that is young or made from unripe grapes.
Hard – A wine that is tannic and acidic, masking the fruit.
Harmonious – A wine that is well-balanced and integrated.
Harsh – A wine with excessive tannin.
Herbaceous – A wine with a grassy, vegetal character.
Hock – British term for all Rhine wines from Germany.
Hollow – A wine where the middle palate drops out. There is a good front and back end in the mouth but nothing in the middle.
Honeyed – The sweet characteristic of many dessert and late-harvest wines.
Hot – The impression of heat on the palate from high alcohol content.
Hybrid – A cross of two varieties of vines.
Icewine – A “New World” term for rare, sweet dessert wine made from grapes naturally frozen on the vine.
Lactic acid – A mild acid found in milk.
Lanolin – The smell of wet wool in some wines.
Lean – A wine with not a lot of stuffing, that is, body or mouth-filling flavour.
Lees – Dead yeast cell and grape particles that settle at the bottom of fermentation containers.
Legs – The small droplets or tears that ooze down the side of a wine glass after swirling.
Length – The duration of time the flavour of a wine stays on the palate after you swallow it or spit it out.
Light – A wine with little body.
Lively – A wine with good acidity, making it fresh.
Luminescence – The way the light plays off a wine when you examine it visually.
Luscious – The unctuous, mouthwatering characteristic of many sweet, dessert wines.
Malic acid – An apple-flavoured acid found in grapes.
Malolactic fermentation – A secondary fermentation that converts harder malic acid into softer lactic acid.
Meaty – A red wine that is chewy and full-bodied. A wine with firm tannins, and which is mouth-filling.
Medium-dry – A wine that is “off-dry” containing some residual sugar.
Méthode champenoise – A method of making sparkling wine in which the second fermentation takes place in the same bottle.
Minty – Often found in the smell of warm-climate Cabernet Sauvignon.
Must – The mixture of grapes juice, pulp, and skins prior to fermentation.
Noble rot – A fungus (botrytis) that eats out the pulp of some grapes, concentrating the sugars and acid in the dried-up pulp, and resulting in a sweet wine.
Nose – The bouquet of a wine.
Nouveau – A new wine, fermented and bottled a few weeks after harvest for immediate drinking.
Nutty – The smell of nuts in some white wines from barrel fermentation or ageing.
Oaky – The smell of vanilla, toast, coconut, or biscuit in a wine that has seen much oak.
Oechsle – The German scale for measuring the sugar in the must.
Passito – An Italian term in wine, indicating that the grapes were air-dried to concentrate the sugars prior to fermentation.
Pétulant – A wine with a naturally, light sparkle or crackle.
pH – A measure of the intensity of acid a wine contains.
Phylloxera – A pest or louse that attacks vine roots.
Pommace – The pulp remaining in the fermentation tank after the free-run juice has been drawn off.
Press wine – Wine made from the must after it is pressed.
Racking – Pouring wine from one container, tank, or barrel to another, leaving behind the sediment.
Rae – A wine with lively acidity.
Rancio – A Spanish term for the smell of sweet, nutty, decay from wine long wood-aged and open to the air.
Reflectiveness – The mirror effect of a wine as seen on its surface. This is a sign of stability.
Remuage – The process of rotating and tilting Champagne bottles in riddling racks to prevent the sediment from sticking to the sides, after the second fermentation.
Residual sugar – Sugar that remains in a wine after fermentation and processing.
Ripasso – An Italian term, describing wine that is placed on the lees of Recioto grapes to give it more body, flavour, and alcohol.
Schaumwein – German term for sparkling wine.
Sekt – German term for quality sparkling wine.
Sharp – A wine with excessive acidity.
Short – A wine with little aftertaste or finish.
Sinewy – A wine with good alcohol and acid, but less fruit.
Smoky – The smell of smoke in some wines from oak, soil, or grapes.
Soft – A wine that is round and mellow.
Spätburgunder – German name for Pinot Noir.
Spicy – The smell of spice in some wines.
Spritzig – A German term for a wine with a natural, slight sparkle on the tongue.
Spumante – An Italian term for sparkling wine.
Stalky – A wine with a green, raw taste from young vines, unripe grapes, or the use of some grape stems in fermentation.
Sulphur – A natural bi-product of fermentation. Also used as an antioxidant and antibacterial agent in winemaking. The smell of a burnt match in wine.
Supple – Soft, round, and smooth on the palate.
Sur lie – A wine that is left resting on its spent yeast cells (lees) and grape particles after fermentation.
Süssreserve – Unfermented grape juice used to sweeten the must or wine.
Sweaty saddle – The smell of leather and sweat in some red wines, usually older ones.
Sweet – The presence of sugar in a wine, either unfermented or back-blended.
Tafelwein – A German term for table wine.
Tannin – The astringent, puckery mouth feel from the skins, stalks, and pits of red grapes or from oak barrels.
Tart – A wine with sharp acidity.
Tartaric acid – The main acid in wine.
Tastevin – A small, shallow, silver cup used by winemakers and wine professionals to taste wine.
Terroir – The French term for climate, soil, and landscape in a vineyard, which give a region’s wines their character.
Toasty – The smell and taste of a white wine fermented or aged in barrel.
Tonne – A measure of grapes producing approximately a thousand bottles.
Transfer method – A method of making sparkling wine where the wine is transferred to a large tank for cleanup after the second fermentation in bottle.
Ullage – The air pocket in a bottle between the surface of the wine and the cork.
Unbalanced – A wine in which one or more components or elements is excessive.
Vanilla – The smell of new oak in some wines.
Varietal – A single grape variety, sometimes shown on the wine label
Vin de paille – The French term for a sweet wine whose grapes have been dried on straw mats prior to fermentation.
Vins de pays – The French term for “country wines.”
Vin doux naturel – Sweet, French fortified wines.
Vin gris – The French term for a pale, rosé wine.
Vino novello – The Italian term for a new wine, fermented and bottled shortly after fermentation for immediate drinking. (See NOUVEAU)
Vinous – A wine with good fruit extract.
Vitis vinifera – A species of European vine that produces most wine, worldwide.
Volatile acidity – Excessive acidity that can produce acetone smells like nail polish or vinegar.
Well balanced – A wine in which all the components or elements are in harmony.
Yeasty – The smell of bread in some wines, especially those made in the champagne method.