Wine speak is a distinct language that is unique to it. Once you’ve mastered the basics of it and discover the words you can use, It allows everyone to enjoy the experience with others.
The Wine Glossary/Wine Dictionary will help you understand the essential terms, such as wine terms, phrases, and terms, along with their meanings and wine-related definitions you must be aware of. These words can be used to describe the white and red wine-tasting experience.
These are the critical wine terms frequently employed by writers, critics, and enthusiasts when discussing Wine. Learn how to become more adept at wine tasting: How to taste Wine.
The terms within the “Dictionary of Wine Words and Wine Speak” contain all the critical wine terms and terms you should know and can assist you in discussing Wine and describing it in conversation. There are also the most frequently used phrases and terms connected to wine production and grape cultivation on this page and their definitions.
Understanding some of these wine terms can aid you in understanding why you prefer a particular bottle or Wine. Additionally, you’ll improve your memory of the styles and wines of wines you like to sample and drink. You can also buy.
They are also the exact words and phrases used by most winemakers and wine writers, and critics to write reviews of Wine tasting notes that are included with wine reviews and critiques. Check out the Davis Wine Aroma Wheel to help you become familiar with the flavors and aromas of the wines you are tasting.
Wine Glossary Dictionary and definitions from all of the Important Wine Speak terms you should be aware of:
Acetic Every Wine has certain traces of acetic acid, which give the scent of vinegar. Acetic acid can destroy the Wine. Acetic acids are the reason for volatile acidity or VA.
Acidic The Wine must have some acidity. This characteristic makes a wine feel fresh and gives it a lift. A high level of acidity can make the wine taste bitter and feels sharp, slim, or sharp and angular. There needs to be more acidity to make the Wine feel flabby.
Acidity It is possible to find a variety of kinds of acids that can be present in every Wine. They include tartaric, citric malic, lactic, and tartaric. Wines from hot climates or hot vintages tend to be less acidic. Acidity. More astonishing climate wines tend to be sarcastic.
Aeration What does happen to the Wine after you add air? This helps its aroma stand out.
Aftertaste The aftertaste is one of the main ingredients in an excellent wine. The time that Wine is in your mouth after you’ve had a chance to taste it is a large portion of the price you pay for a great wine. Naturally, the flavor must provide pleasure. Aftertaste can be described as length, end, or note.
Age wines that be aged are of top quality, as they become better by cellaring. Wines that have aged are those that have been stored.
Aggressive: “Aggressive” refers to a wine that typically has too much acidity. Time is also used to describe wines that have complex tannins.
Alcohol The ethanol component, also known as ethyl alcohol, is a byproduct of fermentation.
Allier: Forest region located in France in France where Troncais is a tree. The wood from Troncais oak trees Troncais oak trees yields the highest quality oak for making wine barrels because of its fine grain.
“alluvial” means Terroir or soil composed of stones, rocks, gravel, and sand.
American Viticultural Area: An AVA is a specific zone of vineyards distinct by its unique Terroir and the Wine from the region. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax, and Trade recognizes AVAs.
Angulous: Angular wines are light. They are opposite to soft or round.
Anthocyanin pigments that make red Wine appear more vibrant.
AOC Appellation d’Origine Controlee French Certification by the French government is given to specific areas for agricultural products that are typically used to identify cheese or Wine.
Appellation: Similar to AOC, it is a particular zone where Wine, as well as other crops, originate from. For instance, Pomerol in Bordeaux or Napa, located in California.
The term “aroma” is used for the aroma of a wine.
Assembly: French word for grapes used in the blend of wines.
Astringent: Astringent wines taste hard or sharp. This is usually when the tannins in Wine don’t fully develop.
Attack: The initial taste of a glass of Wine in your mouth.
Austere The wines of Austere are challenging, without charm, generosity, or roundness. Certain very plain wines first lose their quality as they age. For instance, this might be the case with some Bordeaux wines. Generally, very young wines will be highly even when old.
AVA abbreviation refers to American Viticultural Area. Wineries advertising their AVA must include grapes at least 85% of the AVA. If the Wine says it comes from a particular vineyard, at least 95 percent of the grapes must originate from the same vineyard.
Backward: Backwards refers to a wine that is closed off, tight, or reserved. This means that the aromas and other attributes of the Wine are not accessible to the consumer. This is a common characteristic of young wines.
Balance: Balance is among the essential characteristics that all top wines possess, no matter the region from which they originate. The term refers to all the components in the wine acid,
Barnyard These wines with this smell are often described as earthy and have aromas of animals that remind people of the barn. In small quantities, this could be a beneficial trait. In larger doses, it is a problem. It can be caused by the natural aromas as the bottle ages, or in extreme cases, due to wines made in unclean barrels or factories.
Barrel (or Barrique): The vessel used to keep Wine, typically made of oak.
Barrels Fermented wines that have been fermented in barrels, not tanks or vats. It is more frequent when white wines are being made. But, certain producers ferment red Wine in barrels. This is referred to as micro vinification.
Taste of Barrel: When an individual tastes alcohol before it has been bottle-bottled.
Batonnage is a French expression for a stirring of lees.
BDX: Abbreviation for Bordeaux
Beefy, Big, muscular, and masculine-styled Wine. This is the same thing as the husky.
Berry The word “berry” is a different name for grapes.
Berry-scented: Wines are made out of grapes. But all red wine wines have a berry-like scent. They may bring to mind cherries, strawberries, blackberries, red raspberries, black raspberries, and even cranberry the mulberry.
Large: Large Wine contains plenty of ripe, usually alcoholic fruit. There is no issue if a wine’s balance is balanced and balanced. However, wines that are too big and out of balance aren’t enjoyable to drink.
Biodynamics: Strategies for managing the vineyard that is based on the works from Rudolph Steiner that, on one side, is the most organic practice, and on the other hand, can be a part of the moon phase, the relationship between the earth and moon, the planting of cow horns and many more. It’s okay. But it is working and is becoming slowly but becoming increasingly well-known and accepted.
Blend A grape variety or a combination of types is used to make the Wine.
Blind tasting: The identity of the Wine is kept from the tasting participant. Theoretically, this allows for an objective assessment of the quality of the Wine. Single-blind is when the type of Wine is available to the tasting participant, however, not the particular Wine. Double blind implies that the person tasting it has no prior information about the Wine.
Body“Body” refers to a term used to describe a wine’s quality and feel. Wines with full-bodied bodies are typically very high in alcohol.
Bold Wine with a dark red hue and high alcohol levels that are intense and concentrated, typically in the forward style.
Bordeaux Vine: The area of southwest France is known for producing numerous best wines. They are the central aspect of this website.
The age of the bottle The best wines require aging in the bottle before opening. For certain wines, this might be as long as a few years. Other wines (for instance, those from the First Growths from Bordeaux) in certain vintages need 30 or more years to mature.
Bouquet Aside from perfume This is maturing, mature Wine with secondary characteristics apart from primary fruit scents.
Botrytis Cinerea: This unique fungus, often called noble rot, is the main reason the world’s sweet wines are created. Check out Sauternes to get an explanation of the process in more detail.
Bouquet Bouquet refers to the word used to describe the aromas of berries or non-grape that the mature wine exhibits.
The Brawny is An enormous, masculine, and sometimes muscular-looking Wine. It is similar to the beefy.
Breathe: By allowing the Wine to breathe; you will enable it to live, enhancing the aroma, quality, and texture of the Wine.
Bricking: As red Wine becomes older or ripe, the color will lighten and shift from purple, dark red ruby, and finally to brick’s color. It’s the same thing as the process of browning.
Bright An expression used to describe acidic red fruits.
Brix is the measurement of sugar levels.
Brokers: In Bordeaux, brokers are similar to the term “courtier,” which is used to describe a Courtier, who is an individual who acts as an intermediary between the chateau and the négociants. Outside of Bordeaux, brokers function as intermediaries between sellers and buyers of Wine.
Brooding wines that brood feature dark hues and potent concentrations of flavor.
Browning: When red wines age, they become lighter in color and shift from deep red, dark purple to orange, and eventually to brown. It is also known as bricking.
Budburst is A term that describes when vines begin producing the first new shoots of the coming season. It happens in spring. It is also known as buds breaking.
Buttery It is typically used in Chardonnay with butter or buttered popcorn flavor. Buttery characteristics are present in more affluent varieties of Chardonnay that are usually aged in barrels and finished malolactic fermentation.
CABERNET Franc A key blending grape grown to blend Wine in Bordeaux within the Right Bank and the Medoc.
Cabernet Sauvignon: The key grape used to make Bordeaux wine is the Medoc.
Cap The name for the substance that forms in the middle of a fermentation vat made of stems, seeds, and skin.
Carbonic maceration is a way to create softer and more fruit-forward wines. Whole grape clusters are put in vats, then filled with carbonic gas when winemakers want to highlight the fruit instead of structure and tannin.
Cedar is a popular scent found in Bordeaux wines of the Medoc appellations. The smell is reminiscent of cedar wood or an old chest of cedar.
Cepage is a French expression for the grape variety planted in vineyards.
Chai is a French expression to refer to a barrel cellar.
ChaptalizationTerm describes adding sugar to the juice before or during fermentation to increase the sugar content of under, to increase sugar levels in grapes that aren’t yet fully ripe. This helps in the process of fermentation and aids in the production of more prosperous, sweet wines.
Chardonnay is The most sought-after white wine variety.
Chateau is a French expression for estate. Chateau is most commonly used in Bordeaux.
Chateaux Chateau is a plural word.
Chewy wines are spongy or meaty and have many tannins, textures, and concentrations.
Cigar Box The term that describes typical odors within more seasoned Bordeaux wine.
Claret, An archaic word used mainly throughout Great Britain, refers to Bordeaux wine. The term is derived from the phonetic combination of red and clear Wine.
Classic: The term “classic” is commonly used to describe Bordeaux and California Wine, when the Wine is less alcohol-based, less ripe, and more refined than modern palates can enjoy. It is similar to the traditional. It could be a derogatory word.
Clay is the type of soil most commonly used on the outskirts of Pomerol or Saint Emilion that is perfect for Merlot.
Clos: French word meaning walled in vineyard.
Closed: The term refers to wines that are the reverse of the open. If a wine is sealed, it doesn’t let the drinker experience the aromas or flavors it can provide. This is the case for most wines with young Wine. Particularly those from Bordeaux and the like, which may experience the closure phase before the development of secondary aromas.
Cloying The Cloying wines are sweet and have no acidity, making them spongy.
Cluster Grapes in a bunch.
CNDP: Abbreviation for Chateauneuf du Pape. Also known as CDP.
Coarse: Coarse Wines have a rough texture and are rustic.
Cold Maceration A process before alcohol fermentation, where the temperature of fermentation should be kept low to get the maximum extraction to add flavor, aromas, and raw ingredients.
Comune is a French term for a small village, typically an element of the appellation.
Complex Complexity is an essential quality of a good wine. Most often, it is ascribed to aromatics. The term is employed when various aromas or scents are present in a wine’s perfume.
Concentrated It is the reverse of light. Wines that are concentrated show a bounty of fruit, richness, and richness of flavor, and also raw materials.
Concentrator machine that extracts the excess liquid from grapes to assist in concentrating the Wine.
Cooked: A wine that had heat damage while in storage.
Cooper: Barrel maker. A barrel maker operates in the cooperage.
Cooperative: Group of vintners from certain areas who share production and marketing costs. Certain wines are made from grapes cultivated by several members of the cooperative.
Corked Wines that are corked can be imperfect. They may smell like a dog that has been wet or a stale newspaper. It is due to the problem of a dirty cork or poor quality cork infected with TCA.
“Cote: French term for slope.
Couture is a French phrase for the problem that arises during flowering, causing flowers to fall off the cluster. When this occurs, the grape cluster decreases its yield, and the berries grow differently in maturity and size.
Courtier, the broker in Bordeaux, acts as a mediator between the chateau and the parties in negotiations.
“Creamy”: The Creamy has a creamy texture and richness of cream.
Crisp Like bright. Crisp fruits are generally rich in acidity.
Cru is the French word for the growth of a vineyard, which is commonly used to describe classified wines.
Crush It is the time when fermentation and harvest are taking place.
Cuvee It is commonly used to describe the unique blend barrel, bottling, or bottle of a specific wine.
