A wine drinker's glossary

We have compiled our own wine drinker's glossary.  Click on any of the wine terms below to expand your wine knowledge.

Acid

An essential component of wine, that preserves it, enlivens, shapes it's flavors, and helps prolong it's aftertaste.  There are four major kinds of acids - tartaric, malic, lactic, citric - found in wine. Acid contributes to the crispness and longevity of a wine, particularly white wine.  Acid is identifiable by the crisp, sharp character it imparts to a wine.

Acidic

A term used to describe wines whose total acid is so high that they taste tart or sour and have a sharp edge on the palate.

Aeration

The process of letting a wine 'breathe' in the open air or the swirling of wine in a glass.  It's questionable whether aerating bottled wines, usually reds, improves their quality, as aeration can soften young, tannic wines, but fatigue older ones.

Aggressive

A wine described as unpleasantly harsh in taste or texture, usually due to high levels of tannin or acid.

Alcohol

This integral component of wine is a natural by-product of fermentation, and one of the mainstays of perceived flavor.  Most wines range from 7% to 14% alcohol by volume.

Alsace

Northeastern province of France, bordering the Rhine, known for it's rich dry white wines made from grapes of German heritage, primarily Riesling and Gewurztraminer.  The wines are light to full bodied with great varietal character.

American Oak

Used primarily for aging Cabernet, Merlot and Zinfandel, this alternative to French Oak is becoming increasingly popular for making wine aging barrels. Marked by distinct vanilla, dill and cedar notes.  Used occasionally for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

AVA - American Viticultural Area

In the USA, a delimited, geographical grape-growing area that has officially been given appellation status by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.  See Wine Regions section of our web site for more information on AVA's

Ampelography

the study and identification of grape varieties.

Aperitif

A French word that describes an alcoholic beverage served before dinner to stimulate the appetite. Traditional French examples include kir, Lillet and both sweet and dry vermouth.

Appellation

Defines the area where a certain wine's grapes are grown. Appellations can be small areas (a few hundred acres) or a large area (spanning different counties or states).

AOC - Appellation D'Origine Controlee

The French system of appellations, originated in France in 1935 and is considered the wine world's prototype for legally defined and regulated wine regions.  In this system a wine must follow rules describing the area the grapes are grown in, varieties used, ripeness, alcoholic strength, vineyard yields and methods used in growing the grapes and making the wine.

Appley

The smell or aroma of apples referred to when smelling or tasting a wine.

Aroma

Usually refers to the particular scent of the grape in the wine.  Commonly means the wine's total smell, including changes that occurred from oak aging or in the bottle.

Aromatic

A term for wines with pronounced aroma, particularly those redolent of herbs or spices.

Astringent

The "puckerish" quality of high tannin content, which has the effect of drying out the mouth. Many young red wines are astringent because of tannin.

Austere

Referring to a wine that is somewhat hard, with restrained fruit and character.

Balance

Harmony among the wine's components -- fruit, acidity, tannins, alcohol; a well-balanced wine possesses the various elements in proper proportion to one another.

Big

Refers to a wine that is full bodied and full of aroma and flavor.

Bitter

Considered a fault in almost all wines with the exception of some Italian reds.

Body

Refers to the texture and weight of a wine. Typical ways to express body include: Light-bodied and full-bodied. Often, body refers to the alcohol content of a specific wine.

Botrytis Cinerea

A mold that attacks certain types of grapes that produces sweet wines like Sauternes.

Bouquet

The combined aromas that develop with age in fine wines. Compared to young wines which have aroma but have not developed bouquet yet.

Brix

Terms used to measure the sugar content of grapes, grape juice (called must), or wine.

Brut

Refers to dry Champagne or sparkling wine.

Buttery

Refers to the rich flavor, smooth texture of a wine (similar to the oiliness and flavor of butter).  Most of the time buttery refers to oak-aged white wines (and sometimes reds) such as Chardonnays and white Burgundies.

Chewy

Refers to wines with thickness of texture or tanins that you have to "chew" before swallowing.

Clean

Term used to describe a wine that is fresh, with no apparent defects.  Refers to aroma, appearance and flavor.

Closed

Term used to describe young, undeveloped wines that do not readily reveal their character.  Usually refers to young Cabernet Sauvignon or other "big" red wines.

Coarse

Term used to describe a "rude", harsh or crude wine.

Complete

A wine that is mature and with good follow through on the palate, good mouth feel and a firm aftertaste.

Complex

Refers to a wine with a multifaceted aroma and/or flavor.  Most "great" wines have a combination of flavor and aroma elements.

Cooked

Refers to a heavy, "prunish" flavor or one that is overripe. Typical of hot growing regions.

Corked

A tasting term used to describe wines contaminated by trichloroanisole (a corked wine is not one with bits of cork floating in it). This chemical compound is the product of mould infection in the cork. Said to affect 5% of bottles (some say more, some less) and is one of the main reasons wineries are starting to use screwtops and synthetic "corks". It may result in a wine that simply lacks fruit and can be difficult to spot, or it may be horribly obvious, with cardboardy, musty, mushroomy, dank aromas and flavours, rendering the wine completely undrinkable.

Côte

A côte is a slope or hillside. The term is used in many regions of France - Côte Rôtie (Rhône Valley), Côte d'Or (Burgundy), Côte de Brouilly (Beaujolais).

Coulure

Once a grape vine has flowered, there should develop a small fruit (the grape) in place of each flower. Failure of the fruit to set in this way is coulure. It is often worst when the weather is particularly cold or wet. Some coulure is beneficial as a vine would have difficulty in ripening a full crop, resulting in a reduction in quality.  Heavy coulure will result in a very small crop.

Cru

A term meaning 'growth' which is used in a number of French regions as a means of classifying wines. In Burgundy the best vineyards are Grands Cru, although in Bordeaux the term relates to the châteaux that own the land; they are the Cru Classé estates. In Champagne the term is applied to whole villages.

Cryo-extraction

A process whereby grapes are frozen in order to extract ice, thereby concentrating the sugars and flavour that remains.