A
Acidity
The quality of wine that
gives it its crispiness and vitality. A proper balance of acidity must be struck with
the other elements of a wine, or else the wine may be said to be too sharp -
having disproportionately high levels of acidity - or too flat - having
disproportionately low levels of acidity.
A tasting
term for the taste left on the palate after wine has been swallowed.
A barrel used to age wine or distilled spirits.
Generally refers to ethanol, a chemical
compound found in alcoholic beverages. It is also commonly used to
refer to alcoholic beverages in general.
The wine used by the Catholic
Church in celebrations of the Eucharist.
Various substitutes used in the wine industry for
sealing wine
bottles in place of traditional cork
closures.
A type of ceramic vase, used for
transporting and storing wine in ancient times.
The portion of a wine in an aging
barrel that is lost to evaporation.
Phenolic pigments that
give red wine its colour.
A.O.C.
Abbreviation for Appellation d'Origine
Contrôlée, the government agency that controls
wine production in France.
A.P. number
Abbreviation for Amtliche
Prüfnummer, the official testing number
displayed on a German wine label that shows that the wine was
tasted and passed government quality
control standards.
A geographical based term to identify where the
grapes for a wine were grown.
The smell of a wine. The term is generally applied to younger
wines, while the term Bouquet is reserved for more aged wines.
Abbreviation for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms, a
[edit] B
Barrels
Balance
The harmonious
relationship of the components of wine - acids, fruit, tannins, alcohol, etc. -
resulting in a well proportioned, or well balanced, wine.
A hollow cylindrical
container, traditionally made of wood staves, used for fermenting and aging wine. Sometimes called a cask.
The French name for a
A measure of the sugar concentration
in the juice or wine.
A light sediment, chiefly mucilage, found
in Port.
Bentonite in its unprocessed form
A type of clay used in wine clarification.
Commissioned by French
Ministry of Agriculture to better position the wine industry for the future.
Wines produced by the principles of biodynamic agriculture.
Blanc de Blancs
A white wine made from white grapes.
Blanc de Noirs
A white wine made from red grapes.
Blending
The mixing of two or
more different parcels of wine together by winemakers to
produce a consistent finished wine that is ready for bottling. Laws generally dictate what wines can be
blended together, and what is subsequently printed on the wine label.
a red wine grape of
Tasting and evaluating wine without knowing what it
is.
A Spanish wine cellar. Also refers to a seller of alcoholic
beverage.
Body
The sense of weight
imparted by a wine to the mouth of a taster. A wine may be light- or full-bodied.
See Noble rot.
An empty wine bottle.
A bottle is a small container with a neck that is
narrower than the body and a "mouth." Modern wine bottles are nearly
always made of glass because it is nonporous, strong, and aesthetically
pleasing.
Also known as bottle-sickness, a temporary
condition of wine characterized by muted or disjointed fruit flavors. It often
occurs immediately after bottling or when wines (usually fragile wines) are
shaken in travel. After several days the condition usually disappears.
The degree to which bottled wine of the same style
and vintage
can vary.
A tasting
term for the complex aromas of an aged wine. The term is generally not applied to young wines.
Wine packaged in a bag usually made of flexible
plastic and protected by a box, usually made of cardboard. The bag is sealed by
a simple plastic tap.
See "Burnt wine".
A wine spoilage yeast
that produces taints in wine commonly described as barnyard or band-aids.Describes a wine that has high clarity, very low
levels of suspended solids.
A measurement of the dissolved sucrose level in a wine.
A French term for a very dry champagne or sparkling wine. Drier than extra dry.
A stopper used to seal a bottle or barrel. Commonly used term for corks.
[edit] C
The plastic or foil that covers the cork and part of the neck of a wine bottle.
A winemaking practice of fermenting
whole grapes that have not been crushed.
A piece of stemware having a long stem with a tall,
narrow bowl on top.
A type of wine, one of the "noble" white varietals.
In
A mixture of red and white sparkling wine that has a
high sugar content.
A wine bottle stopper made from the thick outer bark of
the cork oak tree.
A tasting term for a wine that has cork taint.
A tool, comprising a pointed metallic helix attached to a handle, for drawing Corks from bottles.
Semi-sparkling wine; slightly effervescent. Also called frizzante.
French sparkling wine not made in
Sediment, generally potassium bitartrate, that adheres to the inside of a wine bottle.
A large vat used for fermentation.
The pressing, or a blending of several wines.
[edit] D
The process of pouring wine from its
bottle into a decanter to separate the sediment from the
wine.
The disgorging or removal of sediment from bottles that
results from secondary fermentation.
Moderately sweet to medium sweet sparkling wines.
The process
of separeting red must from pomace,
which can happen before or after fermentation.
The degree of temperature variation that occurs in a wine region from daytime to night.
The French word for sweet. Usually
refers to the sweetest category of sparkling wines.
[edit] E
German for ice wine, a dessert wine made from frozen grapes.
American English spelling of oenology, the study of wine.