"T" in wine glossary

T budding

A technique that permits grafting of different grape varieties onto existing rootstocks in a vineyard.

T.B.A.

An abbreviation for the German wine Trockenbeerenauslese.

Table wine

Generally any wine that is not sparkling or fortified. In the US these wines must also be between 7% and 14% alcohol by volume.

Tannin

Polyphenolic compounds that give wine a bitter, dry, or puckery feeling in the mouth.

Tart

A tasting term describing a wine high in acidity. Often displayed by young, unripe wines.

Tartaric acid

The most important acid found in grapes.

Tasting flight

Refers to a selection of wines, usually between three and eight glasses, but sometimes as many as fifty, presented for the purpose of sampling and comparison.

Tears

See "legs".

Terroir

French for "soil", the physical and geographical characteristics of a particular vineyard site that give the resultant wine its unique properties.

Texture

A tasting term for the mouthfeel of wine on the palate.

Thief

A tubular instrument for removing a sample from a cask or barrel. Also called a pipe.

Toast

The charcoal that is burned into the inside of wine casks. To toast refers to that process. It also refers to the practice of drinking an alcohol beverage along with wishing good health or other good fortune.

Trocken

German for "dry".

Trockenbeerenauslese

German for "dry berry selected". A type of German wine made from vine-dried grapes. Such grapes can be so rare that it can take a skilled picker a day to gather enough for just one bottle.

Tun

A wine cask that holds approximately, two butts, or 252 U.S. gallons.

Typicity

A wine tasting term used to describe how much a wine expresses the typical characteristics of the varietal.