"B" in wine glossary
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 225 litre Bordeaux style barrel.
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 Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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.
Another name for Brandy, a liquor made from distilled wine. It is often the source of additional alcohol in fortified wines.
An old English unit of wine casks, equivalent to about 477 litres (126 US gallons/105 imperial gallons).