Presenting a glossary of the most common terms used in the wine industry
These terms may seem confusing to the beginner but our definitions and descriptions below will help those starting out in wine and serve as a refresher for the connoisseur.
We hope this will be a helpful tool for you to reference.
ACID Naturally present in grapes and essential to wine, providing the refreshing tang in white wines and the appetizing “grip” in reds. Principal wine acids are acetic (vinegary), carbonic, citric, malic, tannic and tartaric.
AGING Alternative term for maturation.
ALCOHOL CONTENT The strength of alcohol in wine, normally expressed as a percentage of the total wine.
AUSLESE Normally a sweet German wine, meaning “selected,” referring to a QmP wine made from specific fully-ripe grapes.
BARREL AGING This is the time wine is spent maturing in wood, typically oak. Wine will take on flavors from the wood, a practice for many winemakers throughout the world.
BLANC DE BLANCS Still or sparkling wine made from white grapes.
BLANC DE NOIRS Still or sparkling white wine made from black grapes.
BOTRYTIS CINEREA Noble rot, is a fungus that reduces the water content of the grape, increasing its sugar levels, concentrating it to produce quality sweet wines, which are common in Sauternes. Noble rot also increases the acidity, viscosity, and flavor to give sweet, unctuous, and succulently aromatic wine.
BRUT French meaning “unsweetened”. Dry. Common in sparkling wines.
CHATEAU French meaning “castle”.
COTE French meaning “hillside”.
CREMANT French sparkling wine that is made using the Champagne method but made outside of Champagne. Cremants from Alsace, Die and Bourgogne are the best known.
DECANTING The process of pouring wine from its original bottle into another vessel or decanter. The technique is normally used for old or unfiltered wines to separate the liquid from the sediment deposited in the bottle. It can also be used for younger wines, to allow them to be exposed to air, or “breathe.”
DESERT/SWEET WINE Wine containing large amounts of sugar. It tastes sweet and is traditionally used to accompany dessert.
DOMAINE Estate.
EISWEIN Sweet wine made in Germany in tiny quantities from grapes that have naturally frozen on the vine. The berries are pressed immediately, leaving the moisture behind as ice and producing a luscious, intensely flavored liquid.
ESTATE BOTTLED Wine bottled on site.
FERMENTATION The process that turns the juice of crushed, pressed, or whole grapes into wine. The natural sugars contained within the berries are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide using yeast. Fermentation generally takes place in stainless steel, lined concrete, or large wooden vats, or in oak barrels.
FILTRATION A technique that removes the tiny solid particles from a wine before bottling, leaving it clear and bright. Some producers believe that filtration can strip a wine of its flavor and will avoid the technique – often including words such as “unfiltered” or “non-filtre” on their label. Wines that have not been filtered will generally require decanting.
FORTIFIED A wine that has been bolstered by the addition of a liquor, usually grape liquor. Examples include port, sherry, madeira, and liquor Muscat.
FRENCH OAK A type of wood originating from forests in France such as Allier and Vosges. French oak is widely considered to make the finest barrels for fermenting and maturing wine.
GRAND CRU French meaning literally “great vineyard.” In Burgundy and Bordeaux, the finest vineyards are classified as grand cru.
ICE WINE Eiswein produced outside of Germany. Canada produces perhaps some of the greatest ice wine in the world.
INDICAZIONE GEOGRAFICA TIPICA (IGT) Classification for Italian wines – recently developed and similar to that of vin de pays in France.
LATE BOTTLE VINTAGE (LBV) In Portugal, it is a port made from a specified vintage that has matured between four and six years in wood before bottling.
LATE HARVEST Similar to the French term vendange tardive, late harvest refers to grapes that have been harvested late. These grapes will be found to be riper, sweeter in style, producing more concentration.
MACERATION The process in which grape skins are soaked with their juice/must. Red wines are developed through the maceration process giving them color, stronger flavors and tannins.
MADEIRA Wine that has been fortified and produced on Madeira, an island near Portugal.
MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION Most red wines undergo malolactic fermentation, which is a process wine makers use to convert tart malic acids into lactic acids. Producers will use this process for white wines for specific styles but not as often as for red wines.
MATURATION The process of aging a wine.
MERITAGE Typically a Bordeaux style wine blending several varieties that are made in regions outside of Bordeaux as in California and South Africa.
MUST The juice, skins, stems, seeds, etc. from grapes, a combination of matter extracted and used before fermentation.
NEGOCIANT An individual or company that buys grapes, must, or wine from producers then bottles under its own company label.
NON-VINTAGE (NV) Wine or a blend of wines with different years. Example, Champagne.
OAK Wood used to ferment and mature wines. Wine can be stored in wood barrels to produce vanilla and creamy flavors.
OLD VINES Mature vines that produce quality grapes with wines that are regarded by the wine community to be more concentrated and complex.
ORGANIC Wines that are grown without using chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides.
PHYLLOXERA An insect that eats the roots of grapevines ultimately killing them. A devastating problem in Europe at the end of the 19th century, wine makers cannot rid the phylloxera. Therefore, European wine makers grafted vines onto rootstocks from American species, which are resistant to phylloxera. QPR (quality/price ratio) This is a calculation used often in purchasing and marketing and based on the rating, price, vintage, and various other characteristics of wine.
RESIDUAL SUGAR Remaining sugar in wine after fermentation. Sweet wines are those with high residual sugar.
ROSÉ Rosé wines are usually pink in color and made by either processing red grapes through a short period of maceration or mixing red and white wines, which is allowed only in Champagne.
SEC Dry.
SEDIMENT Solid matter such as that from yeasts or grape skins or form naturally in wine. Matured wine can develop sediment.
SHERRY Spanish, fortified wine from the Jerez region.
SINGLE VINEYARD Wine sourced using grapes from just one vineyard.
SOLERA Spanish term for blending, typically in the Sherry industry.
SPUMANTE Italian for sparkling.
TANNIN The mouth-puckering, astringent feel on the palate. Tannins come from the skins, stalks, and seeds. Tannins provide structure and weight and complexity and act as a preservative.
TENUTA Italian for estate.
TERROIR French for describing the vineyard and the characteristics surrounding and involving the vineyard such as climate, soil, exposure, etc.
TROCKENBEERENAUSLESE (TBA) A classification in Germany representing the ripest grapes. The classified grapes are usually affected by noble rot. Trockenbeerenauslese wines are usually low in alcohol, sweet and pricy.
VARIETAL A wine labeled on the basis of its principal grape variety.
VINIFICATION The wine making process in which grape juice is converted into finished wine.
VINTAGE The year in which the grapes were grown to produce a wine. Also the same as “harvest.”
VITICULTURE The grape growing process and the science and research covering the process.
VITIS VINIFERA Vine species used to make wine.
WEINGUT German for estate.
YIELD The total quantity of wine made by a vineyard in a particular year. Lower yields generally mean quality wine.
Red Wine Varietals
Cabernet Sauvignon (CAB-err-nay SO-veen-yawn)
Considered the most successful red grape in California, Cabernet Sauvignon is responsible in large part for the great Châteaux wines of the Bordeaux region of France, as well as outstanding wines from all around the globe. The best examples are well structured, medium – to full bodied with rich, complex FLAVORS AND INTENSE BOUQUET. Flavors of berries, especially currants and blackberries, even cherries combine often with hints of cedar, tobacco, and chocolate to make this varietal appealing. Assertive tannins contribute often to tremendous aging ability. Most California versions of this wine have been made 100% of the grape variety, but in recent years many producers have blended in percentages of Merlot and Cabernet Franc to add complexity.
Gamay (Ga- MAY)
This is the red wine grape of the Beaujolais district in the southern Burgundy region as well as the Loire Valley of France. Gamay is a generally light-bodied, fresh, soft, fruity wine (no tannins) noted for charm and easy-to-drink-ability. It is extremely versatile with food.
Sangiovese (SAN-gee-o-vay-zay)
Sangiovese is the leading red wine grape in the Italian region of Tuscany. Chianti is its principal wine. It is also being grown to a small degree in California. Sangiovese produces a wine with medium body that is rarely very dark in color, slightly spicy, and very fragrant with aromas and flavors of bitter cherries, herbs and licorice.
Merlot (Mair-LOW)
Merlot is a distinguished red wine grape, as important as Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in the Bordeaux region, where it contributes softness, fruit and suppleness to many famous wines that would otherwise be less approachable. Merlots are wines that are medium or full-bodied, often velvety smooth, less tannic and astringent, allowing earlier maturity than Cabernet. Flavors of black cherry, raspberry and cocoa as well as toasty oak make this wine a big hit among customers. Merlot is very successfully grown in California, Australia, Washington, and South America, although because of its recent surge in popularity, you can buy Merlot from nearly anywhere in the world.
Pinot Noir (PEE-no nwar)
The great grape of the Burgundy region of France where it is responsible for some of the most famous wines in the world. It is also one of the principal grapes in Champagne and most sparkling wines. Pinot Noir produces a very different red wine than which Americans are generally accustomed. The nature of the grape produces a wine with less color and tannin. Its supple texture and elegant flavors usually emphasize berry and floral characteristics, though some styles lean toward earthy and spicy. The wines are typically dry and medium to medium–full bodied and are neither as powerful, deeply colored nor as tannic as Cabernet Sauvignons. However, well-made Pinot Noirs have been known to age well. California, Oregon and Australia have emerged recently as excellent producers of Pinot Noir.
Syrah (Sir- RAH)
Syrah grows in France’s Rhone region where it is one of the blending grapes uses in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It has been grown to great success in California and Australia (where it is known as Shiraz). Syrah makes a deep-colored wine, rough, highly tannic and peppery in its youth, but which can mature to a big generous, velvety wine. It is generally long live.
Zinfandel (ZIN-fan-del)
The most widely planted red grape in California, Zinfandel is European in origin, but there is much debate as to where the grape originates- the latest wisdom tells us it comes from the Dalmatian slopes of the Adriatic Sea in what is now Croatia. California has provided the ideal soil and climate for it to grow. Zinfandel leads to a number of wine styles, from light and fruity Beaujolais style, to medium-bodied wines with more character and structure, to ripe , rich, muscular, tannic, intensely-flavored and long –lived wines.
WHITE ZINFANDEL --NOT !!
White Zinfandel is not a red wine and not a white wine. It is a blush-colored wine make from the RED Zinfandel grape. The slight pink color results from fermenting the just-pressed juice in contact with the skins for a short time to lightly color the wine. For the most part, a White Zinfandel is semi-sweet and very east to drink, although, many have no complexity and little excitement. It can be great “training wheels” wine – a good starting point for new wine drinker and a fine out-on the patio wine.
White Wine Varietals
Chardonnay (SHAR-don-nay)
Chardonnay is considered the finest white wine grape variety in the worked. Responsible in France for all the great white Burgundies: Chablis, Meursault, Pouilly-Fuissé, Puligny-Montrachet are the basis for Champagne. It has become the most successful white grape grown in California, yielding a wine of tremendous character and magnificent flavor. We now have excellent Chardonnay’s appearing on our wine list from all over the world, especially Australia and New Zealand. Some tasters associate Chardonnay with apples, citrus fruits, roasted nuts, ripe figs, or melon, while others describe the wines as creamy or buttery. Winemakers play a particularly important role in the style of Chardonnay which can range from clean, crisp bottling with a hint of varietal fruit to rich, complex, oak-aged examples that need several years of bottle age to fully display their qualities.
Chenin Blanc (SHEN-ihn BLAHNK)
A fresh, light, fragrant and fruity wine which is very attractive and exceptionally versatile. It is one of the most widely planted grapes in the Loire Valley of France where Vouvray and Savenierres are produced. Fine examples are made in California and Washington and it is the most widely planted grape in South Africa. Chenin Blanc can be finished sweet, semi-sweet or even dry.
Pinot Grigio/ Pinot Gris (PEE-no GREE-gee-o / PEE-no GREE)
This almost red-colored grape variety, depending on the place of origin, can be made in remarkably different styles. In Italy, it is crisp, dry, fruity, generally light-bodied, and refreshingly pleasant. In Alsace (Eastern France) and in Oregon it can be richly flavored and full-bodied. Many producers in Oregon ferment it in oak barrels rounding out the flavors of the wine. Light straw in color, it is almost always very dry, but few detect it as dry since the fruitiness of the grape causes it to appear slightly sweet. Notes of citrus, green apple, and sometimes a little spice enliven the wine and with its pleasant fruitiness and lively acidity make it excellent with food.
Gewürztraminer (Guh-VURTZ –tra-mee-ner)
Gewürz means “spicy” and is an excellent and unusual grape that produces lush wines with a delicate spicy character. Widely grown in the Alsace region of France where it makes a spicy, dry wine and in Germany where it tends toward sweetness. In California and Washington, the finish can range between sweet and dry.
Sauvignon Blanc / Fumé Blanc (So-veen-yawn BLAHNK/ FOO- may BLAHNK)
These terms are synonymous. Generally this is an aromatic Grape variety that can offer a very wide range of flavor differences. The flavor styles range from herbaceous, and sometimes “grassy”, to grapefruit, melon, and passion fruit. Some have had the varietal aromas softened by barrel fermentation and aging. Often classically blended with the less aromatic but soft and fruity variety Semillon.
Sometimes labeled Fumé Blanc in California and Washington, this is an important white grape in France where it is blended with the grape Semillon to produce all of Bordeaux’s white wines from the dry Graves to the sweet dessert wines of Sauternes. It is also the grape of Sancerre and Pouilly – Fumé in the eastern Loire Valley of France. Popular, intense, very assertive, versions of this varietal are now being imported from New Zealand and Australia.