Abbreviation for alcohol by volume.

ACIDITY is one of the most important parts of wine, giving wine a lot of its character. ACID is a natural component of wine; responsible for many of the qualities of wine that people find the most refreshing, acid also helps the wine to age. Wines with the proper amount of ACID relative to ACOHOL content are vibrant and lively to drink. Wines with little acid relative to alcohol are the opposite: FLAT. Wines with excess acid taste sharp and biting. There are multiple acids in wine, the three most important of which—tartaric, malic, and citric—all come from the grapes. Other acids may be produced during FERMENTATION.

Used to describe a wine with elegance and BALANCE. The term implies that the wine is polished and sophisticated. Hearty, rustic country wines would not be described as having finesse, while a well-made Champagne or top white Burgundy might be.

A process of clarifying wine by adding one or more agents, such as gelatin, egg whites, BENTONITE, or ISINGLASS, to the wine. As the clarifying agent slowly settles to the bottom of the container, it carries along with it unwanted particles suspended in the wine. Like FILTERING, overfining can strip a wine of flavor and texture.

The impression that a wine leaves in your mouth even after you have swallowed it. The finish may be almost nonexistent, short, or extremely long. It may be smooth and lingering or rough and choppy. A finish may also be dominated by one component in the wine, such as ALCOHOL (a HOT finish), ACID (a tart finish), or TANNIN (an ASTRINGENT finish). A great wine, as opposed to a good wine, always has a pronounced, very long, well-balanced finish.

Refers to wines that taste dull and uninteresting. Often, this is because the wine lacks ACIDITY.

Used to describe AROMAS and flavors, usually present in white wines, that are reminiscent of flowers.

A wine, such as Sherry or Port, that has had its ALCOHOL content increased by the addition of distilled grape spirits (clear brandy). Most fortified wines contain 16 to 20 percent ALCOHOL BY VOLUME.

An odd descriptive term for the wild, grapey flavor associated with wines that come from native American grapes of the VITIS labrusca species, such as Concord. The flavor is derived from an ESTER, methyl anthranilate.

The juice that runs—freely—simply as the result of the weight of the grapes, before any mechanical pressure is applied in a PRESS.

The part of a wine's AROMA and flavor that comes from grapes. The fruit in a wine is distinguished from the wine's ALCOHOL or AUDIT.

A catchall term for the pronounced flavor or AROMA that comes from the wine grapes themselves. Wines are generally most fruity when they are young. In addition, certain VARIETAL wines seem more fruity than others.

Delving a bit into the science behind wine, ACIDS contain positively charged hydrogen ions, the concentration of which determines the total acidity of a wine. The pH is the measure of the electrical charge of a given solution (positive acidity hydrogen buffered by negative alkalinity hydrogen ions). Thus the pH of a wine is a measure of its active acidity.

Having pronounced weight on the palate. Full-bodied wines are to LIGHT-BODIED wines as half-and-half is to water (using our earlier analogy). All other things being equal, the higher a wine''s ALCOHOL content, the more full-bodied it will seem.

EN PRIMEUR (Or Futures) is a method of buying, wherein the wine is bought before it is released. Also known as buying futures. Buying wine en primeur allows collectors to be more certain of securing given wines. The wines most likely to be sold en primeur are Bordeaux wines from top châteaux.

A category of inexpensive wine that has been given a general generic name that is not controlled by law. In the United States, terms such as "chablis," "sherry," and "burgundy" are all considered generic terms because they are not controlled by United States law. The fact that these are stringently defined terms in Europe is, sadly enough, beside the point. Thus, any inexpensive blended wine in the United States may be called "chablis" even though the wine itself will bear little if any resemblance to the real wine in France.

One of the minor by-products of FERMENTATION, glycerol, or glycerine, has no COLOR, no AROMA, and a light, faintly sweet taste. Its thick, syrupy quality is thought to contribute to a wine''s texture and VISCOSITY.

To splice one grape variety onto another variety. Grafting also makes it possible to splice a given variety, such as chardonnay, onto a disease-resistant variety of ROOTSTOCK. Without the ability to graft, many of the great vineyards of the world would have long ago succumbed to PHYLLOXERA, a disease that destroyed most native vines, but American ROOTSTOCK was resistant to.

A descriptive term for flavors and AROMAS reminiscent of those of just cut grass, meadows, fields of hay, and the like, often overlaid with a GREEN or VEGETAL note. Grassiness can be positive or negative depending on its degree and on the preferences of the taster. The VARIETAL most often described as grassy is sauvignon blanc.

A flavor in wine generally associated with grass, moss, or vegetables. Also a flavor found in wines made from underripe grapes, A certain amount of greenness can be a characteristic of and therefore positive in some varietals like sauvignon blanc. With most red varietals, however, obvious greenness is considered a fault.

The taste or smell suggested by wet metal. Often used to describe sauvignon blanc, particularly French ones.

When used to describe a wine with flavors or AROMAS slightly reminiscent of herbs, herbal is positive. Good sauvignon blanc, for example, is considered slightly herbal. When herbal flavors become extreme, they are often described as HERBACEOUS, a quality some wine drinkers like and others don''t. Herbal is different than VEGETAL, a term used negatively to describe a wine with a stewed vegetable flavor and aroma.

Refers to a wine with a level of ALCOHOL that is out of BALANCE with its ACID. The impression of excessive alcohol produces a slight burning sensation at the top of the nasal passages and on the palate.

Commonly seen around the world through either the use of a decanter or simply swirling a glass in your hand. AERATION is the process of intentionally exposing wine to oxygen to "open up" and soften it. Aeration occurs during the winemaking process, as when wine is poured or racked (see RACKING) from barrel to barrel.

Different from a CROSS, a hybrid is a new grape variety developed by breeding two or more varieties from different species or subgenera. The most common hybrids are part European species (vim vinifera) and part any one of several American species. These are commonly referred to as French-American hybrids since they were developed by French plant breeders after the massive PHYLLOXERA infestation in the late nineteenth century. Well-known hybrids include Baco noir, villard blanc, and seyval blanc.

A gelatinous material, obtained from the air bladders of sturgeons and other fish, that is used in clarifying wine and that, happily enough, is not left in it (see PINING).

Having the thick, concentrated berry AROMA or flavor of jam. Also, the thick, rich, mouthfilling texture of jam. Full-bodied, ripe, red zinfandel is often described as jammy.

Inexpensive wines sold in large bottles. Jug wines can be GENERIC blends or made from one variety of grape.

Labrusca is one of some sixty separate species of grapevines under the VITIS genus. Vitis labrusca originated in North America, and only a small perentage of American wines are made from this species. Generally, Vitis labrusca produces wines that are far less sophisticated and complex than those produced by the Vitis VINIFERA varieties. A prime example of a labrusca grape is the Concord, which is easily recognized by its pungent, candylike aroma and flavor, usually described as FOXY.

A wine that comes from grapes picked after the normal harvest period and therefore contain a greater percentage of sugar. Late harvested wines may also be infected with the noble rot, BOTRYTIS CINEREA and most DESSERT WINES are usually late harvest wines

The remnants of yeast cells that settle to the bottom of the container after FERMENTATION is complete. Leaving the fermented wine in contact with its lees (SUR LIES), rather than removing the lees right away, often adds complexity and flavor to a wine.

Also known as tears in Spain and cathedral windows in Germany, legs are the rivulets of wine that have inched up the inside surface of the glass above the wine, then run slowly back down. Myth has it that the fatter the legs, the better the wine. This is not true. The width of legs is determined by the interrelationship of a number of complex factors, including the amount of alcohol, the amount of GLYCEROL, and the rate of evaporation of the alcohol. But the most important point is this: Legs have nothing to do with quality.

The term that describes a wine that has very little weight on the palate. A light-bodied wine literally feels light in your mouth, while a FULL-BODIED wine feels just the opposite. Light-bodied wines are low in ALCOHOL.

A term for a wine that has been subject to a long period of OXIDATION and, usually, heat. The best-known example is Madeira, from which the term maderized comes from.

Living or occurring in the presence of Oxygen (air).

A 1.5-liter bottle, which contains the equivalent of two normal (750 milliliter) bottles.

This process has nothing to do with regular FERMENTATION since it does not involve yeasts or the production of ALCOHOL. Rather, malolactic fermentation is a chemical conversion of ACID instigated by beneficial bacteria. During the process, the strident, sharp malic acid in grapes is converted to softer lactic acid. This has the effect of softening the overall impression of acid when the wine is drunk. Malolactic fermentation may also contribute a buttery character to the wine and may add complexity (California Chardonnay). Malolactic fermentation can either occur naturally or be prompted by the winemaker. All red wines go through malolactic fermentation. White wines may or may not. If the winemaker wants to achieve a soft MOILITIFEEL in the white wine, then malolactic fermentation is induced. If he or she prefers to retain dramatic, snappy acidity, then malolactic fermentation is prevented, usually by use of SULFUR

Offensive-smelling compounds that result when hydrogen sulfide combines with the components of the wine—due to poor winemaking. The AROMAS can include putrid food, skunk, sweat, and burnt rubber.

A United States trademarked designation, adopted in 1988 by the Meritage Association, for California wines that are a blend of the varieties of grapes used in Bordeaux. A red Meritage might be made up of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and cabernet franc. A white Meritage would be a blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon. Meritage wines are usually expensive and are often given fanciful proprietary names. Such wines as Opus One, Rubicon, Insignia, Cain Five, and Soliloquy would all qualify as Meritage if their producers chose to have them so designated. Producers may choose not to use the term Meritage even if their wine meets the qualifications.

The physical impression of a wine in your mouth. Like fine cuts of cloth, wine can feel soft, rough, velvety, and so on.

The juice and liquidy pulp produced by crushing or pressing grapes before FERMENTATION.

A dank, old-attic smell in a wine, attributed to unclean storage containers and sometimes to grapes processed when moldy.

Négotiant is an individual or firm that buys grapes and/or ready-made wine from growers and/or cooperatives. The negociant then blends, bottles, labels, and sells the wine under its own brand or name. The first négociant houses were established in France around the time of the French Revolution. The sudden profusion of peasant growers who were inexperienced in sales created the need for firms that could bottle and sell the production from many small properties.

A descriptive term encompassing all of those wine-producing countries that do not belong to the OLD WORLD. The most important New World wine producers are the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, and Chile. By extension, New World techniques generally refer to modern viticultural and wine-making methods that rely heavily on science. Avant-garde, Old World wine producers are often said to use New World techniques.

A beneficial fungus, also known as NOBLE ROT, which is necessary to produce many of the world''s great sweet wines, including Sauternes. In certain years, when the degree of humidity is just right, Botrytis cinerea will attack grapes, covering them with a gray mold. The mold lives by penetrating the grapes'' skins and using up the available water in the juice. The act of withdrawing the water concentrates the sugar, flavor, and ACED so that a COMPLEX wine of exceptional sweetness can be made. Botrytis is unique in that, unlike other molds, it produces flavors that harmonize with the flavors of particular grapes.

After you have finished a wine, there is often a flavor and smell that reamins to excite your senses, this is the aftertaste. When pleasant, the aftertaste can be one of the most pleasing parts of the wine... on the other hand, a bad aftertaste can ruin a perfectly good glass of wine. The aftertaste can also be referred to as the FINISH.

When applied to Champagne, this type is made by blending the wines of several complementary years'' harvests. The majority of Champagnes are nonvintage. Most TABLE WINES today carry a vintage.

The smell of a wine, including both the AROMA from the grape and the BOUQUET from the NOSE

A descriptive term for the toasty, woody, and vanilla smells and flavors contributed to wine during its FERMENTATION or AGING in oak barrels. The newer the oak barrel, the greater the potential for the wine to have a pronounced oaky character. And, the longer the wine is left in oak, the greater the oaky influence. A wine that has an oak flavor that dominates all natural fruit flavors is considered over oaked and, hence, flawed.

The science and study of winemaking, differentiated from VITICULTURE, the study of grape growing. Also spelled ENOLOGY.

Slightly Sweet

Unpleasant smells like chemicals, dankness, moldiness, rotten eggs, burnt rubber, sauerkraut, etc. that suggest that the wine was stored in unclean containers or poorly made.

A vine disease also known as powdery mildew.

As applied to wine, Old World refers to those countries where wine first flourished, namely European ones and others ringing the Mediterranean basin. Old World techniques, by extension, refer to ways of growing grapes and making wines that rely more on tradition and less on science. The Old World is usually talked about in contrast to the NEW WORLD. Wine producers in the New World, however, are often fond of saying that they employ Old World techniques as a way of establishing that their wines are made at least in part by traditional methods.

The process of exposing wine to air, which changes it. A little oxidation can be positive; it can help to soften and open up a wine, for example. Too much exposure to air, however, is negative. It can make a wine turn brown and take on a tired flavor reminiscent of poor-quality Sherry. When too much exposure to air occurs, the wine is described as oxidized.

A measure of the degree of the relative acidity versus the relative alkalinity of wine (or any liquid) on a scale of 0 to 14. The lower the number is below 7 (neutral), the greater the relative acidity. Winemakers consider the pH of a wine in relationship to other factors (ALCOHOL, TANNIN, EXTRACT, and the like) to determine if the wine is in BALANCE. As grapes mature, plotting the change in the pH of their pulp is a way of determining ripeness.

This refers to a wine that retains finesse as it ages/matures, oftentimes improving as a wine gets older.

A group of chemical compounds occurring naturally in all plants. In wine, phenols are derived from grape skins, stems, and seeds, as well as from oak barrels. Among the most important phenols are TANNIN, coma pigments, and some flavor compounds, such as VANILLIN.

A highly destructive, small aphid that attacks a vine''s roots and slowly destroys the vine by preventing the roots from absorbing nutrients and water. Native American vines, such as those belonging to the species vim labrusca or Vitis riparia, tolerate the insect without adverse consequences. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, a phylloxera epidemic swept through Europe and eventually around the world. By the time a remedy was discovered, millions of acres of vines had been destroyed. That remedy, still the only known solution, was to replant each vineyard, vine by vine, with native American ROOTSTOCKS, then graft Vitis vinifera vines on top.

The mashed-up solid residue (skins, stems, seeds, pulp) that is left after grapes are pressed. When pomace is distilled, it can be made into grappa (Italy), tvuoic (France), or EAU-DE-VIE (France and the United States).

To press means to exert pressure on grapes to extract their juices. A press is a device used to do that. There are many kinds; one of the simplest and oldest is the hand-operated wooden basket press. One of the most modern presses—the bladder press—is essentially a horizontal tank with an inflatable membrane running through its middle. As the membrane swells, it gently squeezes the grapes against the side of the revolving tank. Grape bunches can be put whole into a press, but more often, they are crushed and the stems are removed first.

A term found on some NEW WORLD wine labels for which there is no legal definition. Sometimes a wine labeled private reserve is truly special and of high quality (such as Beaulieu Vineyards'' Georges de Latour Private Reserve, considered one of the best cabernet sauvignons from California). Other times, however, the phrase is simply a now hackneyed way of marketing an ordinary wine, so be choosy when you''re looking at Private Reserve (or Special Selection wines)...

Cutting back the CANES of the vine when it is dormant because pruning affects how the vine will grow, it can be used to regulate the size and quality of the next year''s crop. Pruning is usually done by hand with shears, but mechanical pruners do exist to speed up pruning in large vineyards.

Used to describe a wine that is so high in TANNIN that it causes your mouth to pucker from the astringency. Most often the wine will have been made from insufficiently ripe grapes.

The soft, fleshy part of the grape, which is infused with juice.

A process during the FERMENTATION of red wine in which the juice is pumped from the bottom of the container to the top and then sprayed over the CAP of skins to keep it wet. This process allows the juice to pick up even more COLOR, flavor, and TANNIN. Pumping over also helps prevent the growth of undesirable bacteria that might spoil the wine or create off flavors.

The opposite of PUMP OYER, this process accomplishes the same goals. During punching down, the CAP is pushed down with a paddle into the fermenting grape juice.

There are many points where a wine is aged in its lifetime. Wines are generally aged first in a BARREL and later in a bottle, evolving differently in the different storage containers. The length of time any wine is aged is initially up to the producer, though many of the top European wines by law must be aged a for a minimum number of months or years. Wines may then be aged by the person intending to drink the wine in order to allow the wine to eveolve more, becoming smoother and more complex over time.

A large wooden cask for storing wine, roughly equal to the size of two standard barrels, though as with barrels, puncheons come in different sizes.

The indentation (caved in area) found in the bottom of many wine bottles. The punt may be shallow or as in the case of Champagne bottles, quite pronounced. The punt adds stability by weighting the bottom of the bottle and strengthens the glass at its weakest point.

Racking is a method of clarifying a wine that has SETTLED by siphoning or pumping off solids and particulate matter, such as yeast cells and bits of grape skins, and pouring it into a different clean barrel. Racking also aerates a wine.

A descriptive term for a wine (generally a red) that tastes slightly like raisins because the grapes were overripe when picked. A small bit of this quality can add an interesting nuance to the wine, but too much is a flaw.

Many producers the world over make a reserve wine in addition to their regular offering, the reserve being of higher quality and higher price. In the United States, a reserve wine may be a selection of the best lots of wine from grapes grown in the best vineyards, and/or it may be a wine that has been allowed to age longer before release. But since the term reserve is not actually defined by United States law, many producers use it purely as a marketing ploy to raise the price of their normal wines. The one exception to this is Washington State, where in 1999, an industry group, the Washington Wine Quality Alliance, set forth its own stipulations regarding the term. Members of the alliance—virtually all of the top wine pro­ducers in the state—agreed to use the term reserve only for 10 percent of a winery''s produc­tion or 3,000 cases, whichever is greater. Additionally, a wine labeled reserve must be among the higher priced wines the winery produces and all of the grapes for the wine must be grown in Washington State. In contrast to the United States, most European countries strictly define the terms like riserva (Italy), reserva (Spain).

Natural grape sugar that remains in wine because it has not been converted into ALCOHOL during FERMENTATION. Wines that taste dry can nonetheless have a tiny amount of residual sugar in them. Winemakers often leave small amounts of sugar in wine to make it seem ROUNDER and more appealing.

Or REMUAGE in French, riddling is the process during the making of Champagne or SPARKLING WINE whereby the bottles are individually rotated and tilted a small bit day after day in order to concentrate the yeast sediment in the necks prior to DISGORGING. In the past bottles held in A-shape frames called pupitres were riddled by hand. Today it may also be done by a computerized machine called a gyropalette that rotates bottles automatically.

The part of the grapevine that is planted directly in the soil Rootstocks from different varieties have different tolerances to disease and climatic stress, and will be more or less suitable to a given type of soil. The variety of rootstock also affects how slowly or quickly the vine itself will grow. A vine need not grow from its own roots. In fact, most vines are not grown from their own roots but instead are grafted onto select rootstocks well known for their disease-resistant properties.

The term most often used to describe a wine that exhibits the fault of having excessive hydrogen sulfide.

Used to describe the coarse texture of a tannic red wine (usually a young wine). AGING can sometimes soften a rough wine.

A wine that is AGGRESSIVE is the opposite of soft and smooth and is a common trait in young wines.

French for DRY. In wine, however, the opposite is usually true. Champagne that is labeled sec, for example, is medium sweet to sweet.

A FERMENTATION that takes place after the first fermentation, either spontaneously or by intention. In the making of top Champagnes and SPARKLING WINES, the secondary fermentation takes place inside the bottle and produces the gas that eventually becomes the wines'' bubbles.

Fruit that matures after the first crop has been picked. This is usually not picked because the quantity is too small to be economically viable, and the grapes may not be sufficiently ripe.

The term for a secondary and usually less expensive wine made by a winery. For instance, Chateau Latour''s second label is called Les Forts de Latour. Most wineries that make a second label are highly respected for their primary label and may not want to actively market (or be known for) their second label. The wine that is sold under the second label is never as high in quality as wine of the primary label. The grapes may come from younger vines and/or lesser vineyards.

The particulate matter and color pigments that may precipitate out of a wine as it ages. The presence of sediment is not negative; many of the best wines in the world throw off sediment as they age.

The precipitation (seperation) of solid matter in wine. SEDIMENT, for example, settles out of a mature wine.

A new green stem that springs from the vine as it begins to grow in the spring. Shoots will ultimately sprout leaves and clusters of grapes.

In a sense, all red wines experience skin contact since in red wine FERMENTATION the juice and skins of the grapes are in contact. But in contemporary winemaking, the term skin contact generally refers to the process of letting crushed white grapes sit with the skins and the juice together, rather than immediately separating them. This process helps add flavor and AROMA to the final wine. A white wine may be given anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days of skin contact time.

A smoky smell and taste found in both white and red wines. Though wines can take on smoky characters from the barrels in which they are aged, certain wines just have a naturally smoky character. Many Pouilly-Fumes and Sancerres from France''s Loire Valley are smoky, for example.

The French term for a wine steward, also used for English speaking experts. In the United States, many sommeliers prefer the title wine steward, based on many sommeliers proclivity to make others feel inadequate about their choices of wine.

In wine terms, this is ethyl alcohol; a colourless flammable liquid. Alcohol is another component essential to the flavor and body of wine. Balancing the alcohol content to the ACID in a wine is key to influencing a wines character.

Generally used negatively, for a wine with a flavor that, as far as the taster is too sharp and acidic.

The most famous sparkling wine is Champagne, made in the region of the same name in France. Other types of sparkling wine include CAVA (from Spain), SENT (from Germany), and SPUMANTE (from Italy).

A descriptive term for a wine with an AROMA or flavor suggestive of aromatic spices. Spicy wines are also often peppery and can have a slight pleasantly scratchy texture.

A small wine bottle containing 6.4 ounces (187.5 milliliters), one fourth of a standard 750 milliliter bottle.

Wines with a small amount of sparkle from carbonation left or trapped in the wine.

Commercial yeasts used to initiate and ensure fermentation.

A descriptive term for a wine with the green odor of stems or, sometimes, wet grain.

All wines that are not SPARKLING WINES.

A natural chemical element that has been used as a wine preservative for most of history. Sulfur in all its forms is harmless to people except for the tiny number of individuals who are severely allergic to it. The most common form of sulfur used in winemaking is sulfur dioxide (SO2), which is formed when elemental sulfur is burned in air. Added to wine (usually as a gas), sulfur dioxide prevents OXIDATION as well as bacterial spoilage, and it inhibits the growth of yeasts. As a result of this, sulfur dioxide can be used to stop FERMENTATION in order to produce a sweet wine, and it can be used to prevent MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION. A form of sulfur dioxide known as metabisulfite is often added to freshly picked grapes (and fruit juices in general) as a preservative. Sulfur dioxide''s disadvantage is that it has an unpleasant odor, which can be smelled at low concentrations, although people vary widely in the thresholds at which they can detect it. The detectability of sulfur dioxide also varies based on the type of wine, since in some wines the compound reacts to or combines with other compounds, rendering it more difficult to perceive. In any case, during the last few decades, winemakers the world over have sought to minimize the amount of sulfur dioxide they use in winemaking, mostly in response to health concerns voiced by wine drinkers. Nonetheless, it''s virtually impossible to produce a wine that is entirely sulfur free because a small amount of sulfur dioxide is a by-product of the metabolic action of yeasts during fermentation The United States law mandates that the term "contains sulfites" appear on all labels of wines that contain more than 10 parts per million of sulphur dioxide. The word sulfites in the warning is a catchall term for sulfur in all its various forms, including sulfur dioxide, sulfurous acid, bisulfate ion, and sulfite ion, as well as other complex forms.

The term used around the world to describe wines of moderate alcoholic strength (usually 9 to 16 percent ALCOHOL BY VOLUME) as opposed to FORTIFIED WINES, which have grape spirits added to them and thus have a greater alcoholic strength. In common speech, however, the term table wine is often used to indicate dry, STILL WINES served to accompany dinner, rather than sweet wines intended for dessert or SPARKLING WINES.

When a wine has too much alcohol, it may be referred to as alcoholic. The riper the grapes, the more sugar they contain and the higher the potential alcohol content of the wine will be. Wines with low alcohol are LIGHT BODIED; wines with high alcohol are FULL BODIED (which may result in a CHEWY characteristic). A high ALCOHOL wine with too little FRUIT and a low ACID content, will taste out of BALANCE and give off a HOT sensation in a drinker''s mouth.

A PHENOL (a kind of compound) derived from the skins, seeds, and stems of grapes and from barrels. The presence of tannin is beneficial, for it gives certain red wines a firm structure as well as the potential for long aging. Tannin is not tasted as much as it is felt. Highly tannic wines can have a slight PUCKERY quality when young. If the wine has been made from mature, ripe grapes, however, this puckery quality will mellow and soften over time. Harsh tannin, often called green or unripe tannin, most often results when grapes have been picked before they are completely physiologically mature. Most white wines have only tiny amounts of tannin because they are not fermented on their skins nor are they barrel aged for long periods.

Tasteless, odorless, harmless salts of tartaric ACID that can precipitate out of a wine that has not been cow STABILIZED. Tartrates look like small white snowflakes.

Tastevin is a shallow, silver tasting cup used by a SOMMELIER. The cup was designed with dimpled sides that would reflect candlelight in dark cellars and thereby allow the sommelier to see the color of the wine.

Terroir is the French term for the sum entity and effect (no single word exists in English) of a vineyard''s soil, slope, orientation to the sun, and elevation, plus every nuance of climate: rainfall, wind velocity, frequency of fog, cumulative hours of sunshine, average high temperatures, average low temperatures, and so on. Each vineyard is said to have its own TERROIR.

Used to describe a wine lacking body, because it is low in ALCOHOL, as well as lacking fruit flavors, possibly because it was made from grapes produced at a very high YIELD. An extremely thin wine is called watery.

Charring the inside of new or relatively new barrels over an open flame. Charring caramelizes the staves of the wood. Wine stored in barrels treated this way will pick up a VANILLIN, toasty character.

To add more wine to a barrel or container to replace any wine lost through evaporation and thereby prevent the wine from experiencing OXIDATION. The term is also used in more general circumstances to mean adding wine to a glass in which there's only a sip or two left.

A less expensive way of making SPARKLING WINE than the traditional METHODE CHAMPENOISE. In the transfer process the secondary fermentation takes place in the individual bottles (as it does in Champagne), but then instead of RIDDLING and DISGORGING each bottle, the wine is emptied into large tanks where these two processes take place under pressure. Finally, the wine is filtered, a DOSAGE is added, and the wine is rebottled.

A quality that a wine possesses if it is typical of its region and reflects the characteristics of the grape variety from which it came. Whether or not a wine demonstrates typicity is pretty subjective. It also has nothing to do with how good the wine tastes. A wine can be quite delicious and nonetheless show no typicity. In certain OI.D WORLD countries, an evaluation of typicity, even though it''s subjective, is required by law in order for a wine to obtain APPELLATION status.

The space that develops at the top of bottles or containers when wine is lost by leakage or evaporation. When ullage is significant, the wine often experiences OXIDATION and becomes spoiled.

The wine is easier to drink/unerstand. Exhibits no great barriers of TANNIN, ACIDITY, or undeveloped extract to prevent enjoyment of drinking. This term is often used for young, fine-quality wine that will undoubtedly improve with age but whose tannins are supple and thus approachable.

In the United States, The percentage of the ALCOHOL content by volume in a wine must, by law, appear on every wine label. In other regions, it may or may not appear on the label (though most do). However, because alcohol can be difficult to measure precisely and because wineries often need to print their labels before they know the exact alcohol content, the percentage stated on the label need only be accurate within 1.5% as long as the amount is not more than 14%. If greater than 14 percent, it must be accurate to within 1 percent.

A wine that has not been FILTERED to clarify it. Winemakers who believe that filtering strips wine of some flavors and texture may leave their wines unfiltered and may even label them as such. An unfiltered wine often still undergoes FINING to remove large particles in suspension.

An unlined wine is one that has not gone through FINING to clarify it. As with FILTERING, many winemakers believe fining can harm the flavor and texture of the wine. An unfined wine may still be filtered.

Vanillin is a compound in oak barrels that is ultimately imparted to wine as a flavor and smell reminiscent of vanilla. New barrels have more vanillin than older barrels and hence wine stored in new barrels has a more pronounced vanilla character.

A varietal is a wine made from a particular variety of grape. Chardonnay, riesling, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, and so on are all varietal wines. In general, each varietal has a unique flavor, distinct from other varietals. When a wine has a pronounced varietal flavor it is said to have varietal character. On January 1, 1983, United States law established that a wine named after a grape—a varietal—must contain 75 percent or more of that grape variety. Prior to that date, a varietally labeled wine had to contain 51 percent or more of the named grape.

Vegetal is used to describe a wine with off-putting AROMAS and flavors reminiscent of stewed vegetables: bell peppers, green beans, asparagus, arti­chokes, and the like.

Vinegary describes a wine with the harsh aroma of vinegar, usually produced by ACETIC acid. This is considered a major fault in a wine.

Viniculture is the science of winemaking. The term is used much less frequently than ENOLOGY.

See VITIS.

Vinuous means winelike. Europeans sometimes criticize California wines as being too fruity and so not vinous enough.

The vintage refers to the year the grapes were grown and harvested. A vintage year appears on the labels of most wines, though some famous wines—nonvintage Champagne, Sherry, and many styles of Port, for example—never carry a vintage date because they are blends of wines from several different years. In the United States, most wines bottled with a vintage date are made up entirely of grapes from that year. Technically, however, United States law requires only that 95 percent of the wine come from grapes harvested in the year appearing on the label.

Produced naturally during FERMENTATION, aldehydes contribute to the flavor and quality of wine but in if there is too much is unwanted.

Vintage Champagne refers to Champagne made from a single year's harvest. These are aged a minimum of three years and often four or five. It is called Millésime in French.

A vintner is a person who makes or sells wine. Often used to describe the owner of a winery who may also employ a winemaker.

Viscosity refers to the character some wines possess of being somewhat syrupy and slow to move around in the mouth. A spoonful of honey, for example, is more viscous than a spoonful of water, and ALCOHOL, by its nature, is viscous. Thus both sweet wines and wines with high alcohol are more viscous than dry wines and wines low in alcohol.

Viticulture is the science of growing grapes.

All wines have a tiny amount of VOLATILE ACIDITY, which is usually, with any luck, imperceptible. In excess, VA., as it is known, causes a wine to have an unpleasant sharp vinegary aroma Volatile acidity occurs because unwanted bacteria have produced ACETIC acid, which is the result of poor winemaking.

In still wines, YEASTY describes an AROMA suggestive of the yeasts used in FERMENTATION. The quality should not be pronounced. In Champagne and SPARKLING WINES, it refers to the aroma of bread dough, considered positive and often the result of long aging on the LEES.

The Appellation d''Origine Controlee (AOC) is the French wine law system established by the Institut National des Appellations d''Origine (INAO). The system sets standards for specific categories of wine as well as various foods. Even though it has become a model system for wine-producing countries around the world, but it has also recevied criticism for being too rigid and preventing creativity.

Assemblage is a CHAMPAGNE or SPARKLING WINE term that refers to the blending, or assembling, of STILL WINES before the SECONDARY FERMENTATION, which creates the bubbles.

Blaumé is the scale used in France and much of the rest of Europe for measuring sugar in grapes and, hence, their ripeness. Other scales for measuring sugar include BRIX (used in the United States) and OECHSLE (used in Germany).

Blanc de Blancs literally translates to "white from whites". It refers to a golden CHAMPAGNE or SPARKLING WINE made entirely from chardonnay grapes.

The science of the identification and classification of grapevines according to their physical properties, such as the size and shape of their leaves and grape clusters. Increasingly, grapevines are also being identified by DNA fingerprinting.

Blanc de Noirs literally translates to "white from blacks". It refers to a golden CHAMPAGNE or SPARKLING WINE made from black (noir) grapes (the French refer to red grapes as black). It is possible to make a white wine from red grapes because the juice and PULP of red-skinned grapes is white. Blanc de noirs are usually made from pinot noir, but pinot meunier may be used in some cases. Very few CHAMPAGNE houses produce blane de noirs CHAMPAGNES. The practice is more common among makers of Californian sparkling wines.

Brut is a DRY to very dry Champagne or SPARKLING WINE. EXTRA BRUT is slightly drier than brut.

Cepage means grape variety. The so-called noble grape varieties—cepages nobles—are those that consistently make fine wine, such as cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, or chardonnay.

Chai(s) are above-ground facilities that are used to store wine.

A château is a building where wine is made and around which vines grow. Despite the images most of us have of palatial estates, such as Bordeaux''s regal Château Margaux, a château can be as hum­ble as a garage. The names of most Bordeaux estates are preceded by the word château, though the word is used infrequently elsewhere in France and never in Burgundy, where the roughly equivalent term would be DOMAINE.

Climat is the term used especially in Burgundy to mean a specific field or plot. Each climat is distinguished by its own soil, climate, orientation to the sun, slope, drainage capacity, and so on.

Clos is a term used especially in Burgundy to indicate a vineyard enclosed by a wall. One of Burgundy's largest and most famous walled vineyards is Clos Vougeot.

A commune is a small village that is often an APPELLATION. In Bordeaux the communes of Margaux, Pauillac, St.-Julien, and St.-Estephe are famous appellations.

Today the word CRÉMANT is reserved for French SPARKLING WINES made outside the CHAMPAGNE region using the METHODE CHAMPENOISE. Important examples include Cremant d''Alsace, Cremant de Bourgogne, and Cremant de Loire. Since 1994 the term has not been permitted to be used in CHAMPAGNE. It was once used to describe a CHAMPAGNE with about half the usual effervescence, often called a creaming wine. These half-sparkling CHAMPAGNES are still made, but today they are given proprietary names.

Cru is translated in English as growth. However, the word cru can mean a vineyard or an estate, usually a superior one, that has been classified geographically or by reputation. A classified cru is known as a cru classé. Within any given classification (such as those in Bordeaux and Burgundy), there are Premiers Crus (first growths), Grands Crus (great growths), and so on.

AMINO ACIDS Proteins formed by a combination of fruit esters, amino acids are found naturally in grapes and are both created and consumed during fermentation and autolysis. They are essential precursors to the complexity and finesse of a sparkling wine. See also Maillard Reactions.

Cuvée refers to the wine from a selected barrel or vat (the term is derived from the French cuve, meaning vat). In Champagne, however, the word cuvée is used to describe a blend of wines. A CHAMPAGNE cuvée is often made up of different varieties of grapes, or grapes from different vineyard plots, or both. The term prestige cuvée is used in CHAMPAGNE to refer to a house''s most expensive and prestigious wine. Dom Pérignon, for example, is the prestige cuvée of Moet & Chandon.

A cuverie is the building that houses FERMENTATION tanks or vats. It is the place where the wine ferments.

Dégorgement: Disgorgement (see DISGORGING)— the process of removing the yeasty sediments from a CHAMPAGNE bottle after the second, bubble-forming FERMENTATION.

A Demi-Sec is a sweet CHAMPAGNE or SPARKLING WINE. Demi-sec is sweeter than EXTRA DRY, which is sweeter than BRUT.

De Primeur wines are wines that are sold and drunk very young. The most famous of these is Beaujolais Nouveau, although more than fifty French wines are allowed by law to be sold the year the grapes were harvested. Not to be confused with EN PRIMEUR.

A domaine is a wine-producing estate. Many wineries throughout France incorporate the word in their names, especially Burgundian estates, the most famous of which is the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

The dosage is the degree of sweetness of the LIQUEUR D''EXPÉDITION, which is used to TOP UP CHAMPAGNE before its final corking. The dosage is what determines whether a CHAMPAGNE will be BRUT, EXTRA DRY, DEMI-SEC, etc.

Eau-de-Vie literally means water of life. Eaux-de-vie (the plural) are grape spirits, or clear brandies, that have been made by distilling wine or POMACE.

Encépagement is the various grape varieties used in any given wine.

En Coteaux are vines planted on slopes, which usually make superior wine.

An expert who studies, records, and identifies grapevines.

En Primeur is a method of buying, wherein the wine is bought before it is released. Also known as buying futures. Buying wine en primeur allows collectors to be more certain of securing given wines. The wines most likely to be sold en primeur are Bordeaux wines from top châteaux.

Extra Brut is a very DRY CHAMPAGNE or SPARKLING WINE, with minimal (less than 0.6 percent) added sweetness or DOSAGE. It is drier than BRUT.

Extra Dry is easily confused with EXTRA BRUT, but its meaning is the opposite. Extra dry CHAMPAGNE or SPARKLING WINE is slightly sweeter than BRUT.

Garigue is a word used to describe the arid land­scape of Provence and the southern Rhone, which is covered with dry scrub and tough, resiny wild herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, and lavender. The wines of Provence and the southern Rhône are said to smell and taste of garigue, garrigue in French.

Goût de Terroir refers to the distinctive taste imparted by the combination of a given grape variety grown in a specific TERROIR.

Grande Marque is a member of a particular association of about thirty of the longest-established CHAMPAGNE HOUSES. The Syndicat de Grandes Marques is devoted to upholding a written charter of high standards in the production of CHAMPAGNE .

As used in the CHAMPAGNE region, HOUSE refers to a producer selling Champagne under its brand name. The grapes may come from its own vineyards, from independent growers, or most often from a combination of the two. Such firms as Veuve Clicquot, Moët & Chandon, and Taittinger are all referred to as houses.

Liqueur de Tirage is the mixture of wine and sugar added along with yeasts to the blend of still wines in a CHAMPAGNE bottle in order to induce the second, bubble-forming fermentation.

Liqueur d''Expédition is the wine added to the Champagne bottle after DISGORGING to top it up and, usually, to add some sweetness (see DOSAGE). The liqueur d''expedition is often made up of wines reserved from previous years.

CARBONIC MACERATION, as it is referred to in English, is a type of FERMENTATION in which uncrushed grapes are placed whole into vats that are then closed. As the weight of the grapes on top crushes grapes on the bottom, juice is released and fermentation begins. This in turn releases the gas CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2), which causes other grapes to ferment, in effect, within their skins. Carbonic maceration is commonly used to ferment fruity red wines for early drinking, typically in Beaujolais and sometimes in the Loire and Languedoc-Roussillon.

AMYLIC The peardrop, banana, or bubble-gum aromas of amyl or isoamyl ACETATE. In white wines, excessive amounts can he produced if the fermentation is conducted at a very low temperature, and in red wines made by MACERATION CARBONIQUE.

Marc is the French term for an EAU-DE-VIE made specifically by distilling the POMACE (grape skins, stems, and seeds) left over after pressing, not by distilling wine. Marc is generally a slightly more powerfully flavored spirit than eau-de-vie.

Mas is the southern French term for a DOMAINE, sometimes translated as "farm".

Méthode Champenoise is the labor-intensive method used to make Champagne and other fine SPARKLING WINES. The wine undergoes a SECONDARY FERMENTATION, which creates the bubbles in individual bottles rather than in one large cask or vat.

Millésime is a VINTAGE CHAMPAGNE.

Moelleux is a term commonly used in the Loire for very sweet, luscious white wines that can be almost syrupy.

Monopole is used most frequently in Burgundy and to a lesser extent in CHAMPAGNE , a monopole is a vineyard owned entirely by one estate.

Mousse is the French term for the actual effervescence, froth, foam, or sparkle of CHAMPAGNE or SPARKLING WINES,

Mousseux is French for sparkling. Some VIN MOUSSEUX are made by the MÉTHODE CHAMPENOISE (with SECONDARY FERMENTATION taking place in the bottle); other less expensive mousseux are made in large tanks.

Muselet is the wire cage holding a CHAMPAGNE cork onto the bottle.

Négotiant is an individual or firm that buys grapes and/or ready-made wine from growers and/or cooperatives. The negociant then blends, bottles, labels, and sells the wine under its own brand or name. The first négociant houses were established in France around the time of the French Revolution. The sudden profusion of peasant growers who were inexperienced in sales created the need for firms that could bottle and sell the production from many small properties.

ANAEROBIC Occurring in the absence of oxygen. Most maturation processes that take place in a sealed bottle are considered to be anaerobic,

Nouveau refers to young wine meant for immediate drinking, usually seven to ten weeks after being made. The most famous wine made in a nouveau style is Beaujolais Nouveau.

Oeil de Perdrix literally means partridge eye. It is the term used to describe the color of a pale rosé.

Rémnage refers to the RIDDLING (rotating and tilting) of CHAMPAGNE bottles to concentrate yeast sediments in their necks. Riddling is done by hand in A-shape frames called PUPITRES or by a computerized machine called a gyropalette.

Saignée is a process used to make rosé by drawing pink-colored juice off fermenting red grapes. This process also results in concentrating the remaining red wine since the ratio of skins to juice in the tank is increased when some juice is drawn off.

Sec means DRY. However, when sec appears on a CHAMPAGNE or SPARKLING WINE label, the wine inside will be medium sweet to sweet.

Sélection de Grains Nobles is the term used in Alsace wines made from very late picked berries that have been affected by BOTRYTIS CINEREA.

Sur Lie literally means "on the LEES". For a period of time after fermentation is complete some white wines, notably white Burgundies, are left in contact with the lees (spent yeasts). Wines that have been left sur lie take on a creamy, rounder MOUTHFEEL and generally display more COMPLEX flavors.

Tastevin is a shallow, silver tasting cup used by a SOMMELIER. The cup was designed with dimpled sides that would reflect candlelight in dark cellars and thereby allow the sommelier to see the color of the wine.

Terroir is the French term for the sum entity and effect (no single word exists in English) of a vineyard''s soil, slope, orientation to the sun, and elevation, plus every nuance of climate: rainfall, wind velocity, frequency of fog, cumulative hours of sunshine, average high temperatures, average low temperatures, and so on. Each vineyard is said to have its own TERROIR.

Vendange Tardive is the term used in Alsace for wines made from late-picked, very ripe grapes.

ANTHOCYANINS The second-most important group of phenolic compounds found in wine, anthocyanins are colour pigments located in the grapes'' skins.

Vin de Garde is a wine to save—in other words, a wine that can and should receive AGING.

Vin de Pays: Country wine—an everyday wine from a specific region, but less rigorously controlled than an APPELLATION D''ORIGINE CONTRÔLÉE or VIN DÉLIMITÉ DE QUALITÉ SUPÉRIEURE wine.

Vin de Table refers to table wine. Generally used to indicate a simple wine without APPELLATION D'ORIGINE CONTRÔLÉE status.

Vins Délimités de Qualité Supérieure (VDQS) is the group of wines that falls slightly below those of the AOC in quality. The yields may be higher and alcohol levels may be lower.

Vin Gris is a very pale rosé wine, sometimes light gray in color.

Vin Liquorenx is a very sweet, syrupy white wine, generally made from grapes affected by BOTRYTIS CINEREA.

Vat Mousseux is a sparkling wine, made either by SECONDARY FERMENTATION in bottle or in tank, or for inexpensive wines, the addition of carbon dioxide.

Vin Ordinaire literally means "ordinary wine"—a plain wine with no regional or VARIETAL characteristics. An everyday drinking wine, vin ordinaire is the opposite of VIN DE GARDE, a wine to save, which is a wine with aging potential.

Abbadia is the term for abbey, sometimes shortened to just badia. Buildings that were once abbeys have often been converted into renowned Italian wine estates, such as Tuscany''s Badia a Coltibuono.

Abboccato means slightly sweet.

Generally looking to assess CLARITY and COLOR, the appearance of the wine is used to judge certain characteristics of wine.

Amabile means a little sweeter than ABBOCCATO.

Amaro means bitter. Many Italian wines, both white and red, have a slight amaro character, which is considered a positive attribute by Italians.

Annata refers to the year of the vintage.

Asciutto means totally dry.

Azienda Agricola means wine estate. This term, some­times abbreviated Az. Ag., often appears on wine labels, along with the actual name of the wine estate, when the grapes were grown on that estate and the wine was produced there as well.

Azienda Vinicola is the term for a winery. It often appears on wine labels.

Azienda Vitivinicola is a grape-growing and wine?making company. Like AGENDA AGRICOLA and AZIENDA VINICOIA, the term often appears on wine labels.

Bianco means white, as in vino bianca, meaning white wine.

Botte means cask or barrel.

Bottiglia means bottle.

Used simply to indicate the place where the grapes for a given wine were grown and subsequently made into wine. Technically, however, the word has much broader significance and importance. Starting with the French system (APPELLATION D''ORIGINE CONTROL or AOC). France''s AOC regulations have become the world''s model for the laws that define and protect geographically named wines, spirits, and even certain foods. For any given wine the AOC laws stipulate, among other things, the precise area where the grapes that make the wine can be grown, the grape varieties that the wine can be made from, the permissible YIELD, aspects of VITICULTURE, such as PRUNING and irrigation, the minimum alcoholic strength of the wine, plus various details of how the wine can be made. Today, most European wine-producing countries have similar, fairly stringent systems that define and govern the wines produced. These are clearly outlined in the

Cantina Wine cellar or yet another term for a winery.

Cantina Sociale is a growers'' cooperative cellar. Italy, like France and Spain, has hundreds of wine co-ops, some of which make good but rarely great wine. Also referred to as a Cooperativa.

Casa Vinicola is a wine firm, usually making wine from wine or grapes it has purchased (as opposed to grapes grown on its own estate). The word casa itself means house.

Cascina is a northern Italian term for a farmhouse or estate.

Castello is the word for castle. Several famous Italian wine estates are housed in what were once castles—Castello dei Rampolla in Tuscany, for example.

Chiaretto is a very light red or even a rosé wine.

Classico is an official designation, referring to the heart of a DOC zone—by implication the classic or best part. In Chianti, the classico zone is so highly regarded that it has a DOC of its own—Chianti Classico.

Consorzio is a consortium of producers of a certain wine, who join forces to control and promote it.

Cooperativa is another word for CANTINA SOCIALE. It is a growers'' cooperative cellar. Italy, like France and Spain, has hundreds of wine co-ops, some of which make good but rarely great wine.

Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) is a category within the Italian wine regulation system, which is similar to the French APPELLATION D''ORIGINE CONTRÔLÉE laws. It is overseen by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. There are three main categories of - DOC, DOCG, and IGT. DOC rules are somewhat more lenient than DOCG rules.

Produced naturally during FERMENTATION, acetaldehyde is a colorless volatile substance with a pungent odor. It can add to the pleasure of slightly oxidized wines, such as Sherry, but a detectable amount in table wine is considered a flaw and undesirable.

A term broadly used to describe a wine''s smell. Technically, however, the difference between smell and BOUQUET, is that smell is from the grapes and BOUQUET is a more complex smell that a wine acquires after AGING.

Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) is a category within the Italian wine regulation system, which is similar to the French APPELLATION D''ORIGINE CONTRÔLÉE laws. It is overseen by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. There are three main categories of - DOC, DOCG, and IGT. DOCG rules are somewhat more strict than DOC rules.

Dolce means fully sweet. Italy produces countless sweet wines from many different grape varieties.

Enoteca is a wine library where bottles of wine from different regions are displayed. Often these wines are also available for tasting. The most famous enoteca in Italy is in Siena.

Etichetta means label.

Fattoria is a Tuscan term for a farm or wine estate. Many top Chianti producers use this term as part of their names—Fattoria di Felsina, for example.

Fiasco literally means a flask; more often used for the straw-encased Chianti bottle that was a fixture of the bohemian lifestyle in the 1960s in the United States. Chiantis sold in fiaschi (the plural) were usually pretty thin and quite cheap. Today very few Chiantis are sold in straw-covered bottles.

Frizzante means slightly fizzy, but less so than SPARKLING WINE. The Veneto''s prosecco is frizzante.

Gradazione Alcoolica is the percentage of ALCOHOL BY VOLUME.

Grappa is a clear brandy (EAU-DE-VIE in French) made by distilling the POMACE left over after MUST or wine is pressed. Grappa di monovitigno is a grappa from a single grape variety, such as moscato or picolit. Because grappas made this way have a subtle suggestion of the aroma and flavor of the original grapes, they are considered superior.

Imbottigliato all''Origine means "bottled at the source". The term may be used only by estates that produce and bottle the wine on the property where the grapes were grown.

A positive description, indicating that a wine has a pronounced AROMA. Some VARIETAL wines, such as muscat and gewiirztraminer, are well known for being especially aromatic, often having SPICY and/or FLOWERY (floral smelling) scents.

Imbottigliato da means "bottled by", which will be followed by the producer''s name. It does not denote an ESTATE BOTTLED wine.

Imbottigliato dal Viticoltore means "bottled by the grower". It may be used only by growers bottling their own wines.

Indicazione Geogralica Tipica (IGT) is a category within the Italian wine regulation system, which is similar to the French APPELLATION D''ORIGINE CONTRÔLÉE laws. It is overseen by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. There are three main categories of - DOC, DOCG, and IGT. IGT is somewhat similar to the French designation VIN DE PAYS. IGT rules are generally much less stringent than DOC or DOCG rules.

Liquoroso means strong, often but not necessarily FORTIFIED wine, which can be sweet or not.

Metodo Tradizionale means the Champagne method (METHODE CHAMPENOISE) for making SPARKLING WINE. It is also referred to as metodo classico. Most top Italian sparkling wines are made this way.

Nero means black or very dark red, and is used to describe both grapes and wines.

Passito is an intensely flavored, usually sweet wine made from grapes half-dried to concentrate them.

Pastoso means medium (not very) dry.

Podere refers to a farm, often turned into a wine estate. These often use the word podere in their names, as in the Tuscan Podere Il Palazzino.

Produttore means producer.

A term describing the MOUTHFEEL of a wine with a considerable amount of TANNIN; a dry sensation provoked by some wines and certain foods (think the taste of tea that has been steeped too long). Often used negatively to describe red wines with a lot of green or unripe tannin. Excess astringency is unpleasant and causes the mouth to pucker.

Riserva is a wine that has been matured for a specific number of years, according to DENOMINAZIONE DI ORIGINE CONTROLLATA regulations.

Rosato means Rosé.

Rosso means red. Vino rosso is distinguished from vino bianco (white wine) and vino rosato (rose wine).

Secco means DRY.

Semisecco means semidry, or medium sweet.

Spumante means sparkling, or foaming.

Stravecchio means very old, a term more frequently applied to spirits than wine.

Superiore generally indicates a wine of higher quality, often because it has more alcohol than the minimum required and/or it has been aged longer than regulations stipulate. Valpolicella Superiore, for example, is a Valpolicella with at least one year of aging in contrast to basic Valpolicella, which has no minimum.

Tenuta is a holding or estate. Wine estates often incorporate the word tenuta into their names, as in the Tuscan estate Tenuta San Guido.

Ue is a softer, lighter type of GRAPPA achieved by distilling actual grapes rather than POMACE.

The decomposition of spent yeast cells by enzymes they contain. When a wine is SUR LIE, or on the LEES, it is left in contact with the spent yeasts that performed the FERMENTATION. As the yeast cells break down, they add an extra dimension of FLAVOR, VISCOSITY, and COMPLEXITY to the wine.

Uva means grape.

Vecchio means old, and is used to describe mature wines.

Vendenunia is the vintage, and can be used in place of ANNATA on labels.

Vigna means vineyard, also referred to as a vigneto.

Vignaiolo is a grape grower, also called a viticoltore.

A villa is a country manor, often one where wine is produced.

Vino da Arrosto is a wine for a roast, implying a red that is FULL-BODIED and has a deep COLOR.

Vino da Pasto is everyday wine.

Vino da Tavola is table wine—the regulation term for non-DOC wines.

Vino Novello is the wine of the current year, now used in the same sense as Beaujolais Nouveau, although Italy''s vino novellos are not as highly pro­moted as France''s Beaujolais Nouveau.

"AVA" or "American Viticultural Area" is defined as a ''delimited grape-growing region, distinguished by geographical features, the boundaries of which have been recognized and defined.'' Specific to the USA, there are now more than 140 AVAs in the United States (such as Napa, Sonoma, etc.)

Vite means vine.

Vitigno means grape variety.

Añada means vintage.

Año means year.

Bodega is a wine cellar or wine-producing company. Curiously, a single wine company may nonetheless use the plural form bodegas in its name, as in Bodegas Ismael Arroyo.

Cava is the name for Spanish SPARKLING WINE made by the Champagne method (MÉTHODE CHAMPENOISE). Cava is a specialty of the Penedès region of north central Spain near Barcelona. The two largest cava producers, Freixenet and Codorníu, each produce far more sparkling wine by the Champagne method than any Champagne house makes.

Consejo Regulador is a local governing body that enforces the wine policy for a given area, including the boundaries of the area, the grape varieties permitted, maximum YIELD, and so forth. Every Spanish wine region with a DENOMINACIÓN DE ORIGEN has a Consejo Regulador.

Cosecha is the year of harvest, or vintage.

Criadera literally means nursery. Criadera refers to a layer of Sherry casks, all of which contain wine of approximately the same age and blend. Multiple criaderas—sometimes more than a dozen—make up a SOLERA.

Crianza is the basic-quality wine produced by each BODEGA. Crianzas are considered every-night drinking wines. They are less prestigious, less costly, and aged for shorter periods than RESERVAS or GRAN RESERVAS. While national law stipulates that crianzas must be aged for a minimum of six months in oak barrels, each DENOMINACIÓN DE ORIGEN or DENOMINACIÓN DE ORIGEN CALIFICADA can set higher standards. In Rioja, for example, a crianza must be aged for at least two years, one of which must be in oak barrels.

Negative term used when a wine''s AROMA and/or FLAVOR seems overripe, caramel-like, or even burnt. Poorly made TABLE WINES allowed to get too warm or to become oxidized often taste baked. For certain wines, such as Sherry and Madeira, however, some "bakedness" or baked flavors are considered positive, especially when combined with the wines'' tangy nuttiness.

Denominación de Origen (DO) are the Spanish wine laws, which were first enacted in 1932 and then revised in 1970. These are similar to the French APPELLATION D''ORIGINE CONTRÔLÉE laws.

Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOC) means Qualified Denomination of Origin. In Spain, Rioja is the only DOC.

Dolce means sweet. Spain has less of a reputation for making top-quality sweet wines than France, Italy, or Germany, although several styles of Sherry, Spain''s extraordinary FORTIFIED wine, can be sweet.

Elaborado por means "produced by".

Embotellado por means "bottled by".

Extra Seco refers to SPARKLING WINE that is not quite as dry as BRUT (SECO).

Flor literally translate to flower. It refers to a layer of yeast cells that forms naturally on top of manzanilla and fino Sherries as they age in the cask. Flor acts to prevent OXIDATION and also contributes a unique flavor to the wine.

Gran Reserve is a BODEGA''s top wine, produced only in excellent years and then subject to lengthy AGING. Though national law stipulates that red gran reservas must be aged two years in oak barrels, each DENOMINACIÓN DE ORIGEN or DENOMINACIÓN DE ORIGEN CALIFICADA can set higher standards. In Rioja, for example, red gran reservas must be aged for two years in barrel followed by three years in bottle, and in practice, many Rioja producers exceed this requirement.

Lágrima literally means tears. It also refers to a wine made from free-run juice without any mechanical pressing.

Método Tradicional is the Spanish term denoting SPARKLING WINE made by the Champagne method (MÉTHODE CHAMPENOISE). CAVA must be made this way.

An equilibrium among the main components of a wine (ACID, ALCOHOL, FRUIT, TANNIN) such that no one characteristic stands. Great wines are often said to have balance, besides multiple layers of COMPLEXITY.

Pasada is the term used to describe a well-aged Sherry.

Reserva is a wine produced only in excellent years. Though national law stipulates that red reserves must be aged for one year in oak barrels, each DENOMINACIÓN DE ORIGEN or DENOMINACIÓN DE ORIGEN CALIFICADA can set higher standards. Red reservas from Rioja, for example, must be aged for a minimum of three years, one of which must be in barrel. Many Rioja producers nonetheless exceed these requirements.

Roble means oak. Despite Spain''s proximity to France, many Spanish producers age their wines in American oak.

Rosado means rosé. It's still a well-kept secret that Spain makes some of the best rosés in Europe. The rosés from Navarra are especially well thought of.

Seco means dry.

Semiseco means medium dry.

Solera is a complex network of barrels used for aging Sherry by progressively blending younger wines into older wines. Since the barrels are not completely filled, the wine is allowed to be gently subjected to OXIDIZATION during the process. Wine held in a solera is said to undergo the solera process.

Vendimia means vintage.

Viejo means old.

Viña literally means vineyard, but the word is often used as part of a brand name, like in Viña Arana.

Used to describe a wine (usually a white) that has undergone FERMENTATION in small oak barrels as opposed to in more neutral large casks, cement vats, or stainless steel tanks. Fermentation in a small barrel can impart a richer flavor and creamier texture to some wines, though these characteristics may be acquired at the expense of the wines'' total. To mitigate against too intense a barrel-fermented character, wine?makers may mix up the types of barrels used, and/or ferment only a portion of the wine in barrels and then BLEND this portion with wine that has not been barrel-fermented.

Vino de Mesa means table wine.

Vino Espumoso is the general term for SPARKLING WINE.

Vino Generoso refers FORTIFIED wine developed under FLOR.

Colheita literally means harvest. However, colheita is also the name for an aged tawny Port from a single harvest. Coiheita Ports are rare.

Denominação de Origem Controlada (DOC) means denominations of controlled origin. These are Portugal''s wine laws, and are based off France''s APPELLATION D''ORIGINE CONTRÔLÉE laws. To qualify for DOC status wines must meet stringent requirements set forth by the Instituto da Vinha e do Vinho (Institute of Vines and Wines), as well as local commissions.

Estufagem is the step in the process of making Madeira that involves heating the wine. Depending on the quality of the Madeira being produced, there are several estufagem methods. The most basic involves placing the FORTIFIED base wines in containers that are then heated to an average temperature of 105°F for three to six months. To make the very finest Madeiras, however, the containers may be placed in a warehouse attic, which builds up tremendous heat thanks to the intense Madeiran sun. There the Madeira-to-be may be left for twenty years or more.

Garrafeira is used in reference to Portuguese still wines, the word garrgfeira indicates a wine of especially high quality. But the word also means wine cellar or bottle cellar (from the Portuguese garrafa—bottle). In addition garrafeira is a style of Port, albeit a rare one. Rich and supple, garrafeira Ports are usually from a single outstanding year and are aged briefly in wood and then a long time—as many as twenty to forty years—in large glass bottles. After aging, the garrafeira is decanted and transferred into standard 750 milliliter bottles and sold.

Lagar is a shallow stone or cement trough in which grapes are trodden by foot (usually for several hours) in order to crush them and mix the skins with the juice. Tredding grapes by foot, an ancient practice, is still widely practiced in Portugal and thus many wineries have lagares.

Quinta literally means farm. In Portugal, the word quinta is used to refer both to a specific vineyard and to a wine estate. Quinta do Noval, for example, is the name of a highly regarded wine estate in the Douro region. Ports known as single vintage quinta Ports come from grapes grown on a single estate in a single year.

Amtliche Prüfungsnummer is a quality-control test number (the AP number) signifying that a wine has passed official analytical and taste tests. It appears on every bottle of quality German wine in the category of QUALITÄTSWEIN BESTIMMTER ANBAUGEBIETE or QUALITÄTSWEIN MIT PRÄDIKAT.

A type of light clay, usually from the United States, mixed into wine to fine or clarify it (FINING). As the bentonite settles, it absorbs and carries particles suspended in the wine along with it to the bottom of the vessel.

Anbaugebiet is one of thirteen specified wine?growing regions in Germany. The plural is anbaugebiete.

Ausbruch is a category of wine made in Austria, in Burgenland. Ausbruche (the plural) are slightly more opulent than BEERENAUSLESEN, and must be made from overripe, BOTRYTIZED grapes.

Auslese means "select harvest". Auslesen (plural) are made from very ripe grapes harvested in select bunches. Generally, auslesen can only be made in sufficiently warm years.

Beerenauslese (BA) means "berry selected harvest". Beerenauslesen (plural) are rare and expensive wines made from individual grapes selected by hand. Usually these grapes have been affected by BOTRYTIS CINEREA, which gives them a rich honeyed flavor.

Bereich is one of forty official districts. Germany''s thirteen wine regions (ANBAUGEBIETE) are officially broken down into forty bereiche (the plural of bereich), which in turn are broken down into GROSSLAGEN, which are broken down into EINZELLAGEN.

Berg means hill or mountain.

Blau means blue. When used to describe grapes, it means red.

Bocksbeutel is a flagon-shaped bottle used for the wines of Germany's Franken region.

Burg means fortress.

Buschenschenk is the name for a small rustic restaurant in the southern Austrian country­side. Elsewhere it is called a HEURIGE. A buschenschenk is easily identified by the buschenschenk (also the name for a swag of fir branches) tied to its doors.

A descriptive term used for FULL-BODIED, robust wines that are usually high in ALCOHOL.

Classic is a term sometimes used on the labels of Germany''s regional/varietal wines (e.g., Rheinhessen riesling) to indicate that the wine is dry. To be considered classic, the wine must have less than 1.5 percent RESIDUAL SUGAR. The term, which can be used or not at the producer''s discretion, first appeared on German wine labels from the 2000 vintage onwards.

Edelfäule means BOTRYT1S CINEREA. Germany's and Austria's luscious DESSERT WINES BEERENAUSLESEN and TROCKENBEERENAUSLESEN are made with the help of edelfäule.

Einzellage is the official name for an individual vineyard site. There are more than 2,500 of them in Germany. Germany''s 13 wine regions are officially broken down into 40 BEREICHE, which in turn are broken down into 163 GROSSLAGEN, which are bro­ken down into einzellagen, the plural of einzellage.

Eiswein is a rare and especially intense DESSERT WINE made by pressing frozen grapes that have been left hanging on the vine into midwinter (sometimes as late as February). These are gently pressed while still frozen, so that the ice is separated from the remaining concentrated, very sweet, high-acid juice. Because of their ACIDITY, eiswein are usually less unctuous but more vibrant than BEERENAUSLESEN or TROCKENBEERENAUSLESEN. Eiswein age for decades and are extremely expensive.

Erstes Gewachs literally means first growth. A designation used in the Rheingau (but not in other German wine regions) for vineyards considered exemplary. Only vineyards planted with riesling or spätburgunder are eligible to be classified Erstes Gewachs. For the term to appear on a wine label, the wine made from the Erstes Gewachs vineyard must itself be produced in a way that meets exacting standards and it must pass a sensory examination.

Erzeugerabfüllung refers to wines produced and bottled by a grower or a cooperative. You won't see erzeugerabfüllung on the labels of well-known estates.

Federspiel is a term used only in the Wachau region of Lower Austria to indicate natural unchaptalized wines with no more than 11.9 percent ALCOHOL. Federspiel wines are more or less equivalent to wines that in other Austrian regions are known as KABINETTS.

Flasche means bottle. The English word flask is derived from flasche.

Grosslage refers to one of approximately 163 collections of vineyards. Germany''s 13 wine regions are officially broken down into 40 BEREICHE, which in turn are broken down into 163 grosslagen (the plural of grosslege), which are broken down into more than 2,500 EINZELLAGEN.

Gutsabfüllung means estate bottled.

Wine with an unpleasant, sharp, vinegar-like smell and taste is considered to be acetic. A wine becomes acetic as a result of the presence of ACETOBACTER, a bacteria that causes the natural conversion of wine to vinegar by producing ACETIC ACID in the presence of air. Also see VOLATILE ACIDITY.

A flavor usaully derived from sterns and seeds that have been carelessly or inadvertently crushed along with the grapes. Bitterness can also be caused by unripe grapes or unripe TANNIN. In certain BIG, SMOKY red wines, a slight bitterness is considered a positive nuance, just as it would be in a good espresso.

Halbtrocken literally means half-dry. This term is used in Germany, but rarely in Austria, where most wines are very dry. Wines labeled halbtrocken usually still taste extremely DRY because of the high corresponding ACIDITY in German wines. A wine of KABINETT, SPÄTLESE, or AUSLESE ripeness levels can be halbtrocken or TROCKEN.

Heurige is a rustic type of restaurant often attached to a winemaker''s home in Austria. Traditionally, all of the food at a heurige is made from scratch by the winemaker and his family. Similarly, the wine offered (which is also referred to as heurige) is the winemaker''s.

Kabinett is a wine made from grapes picked during the noraml harvest. This is usually a light-bodied, low-alochol, dry wine. These are usually more polished than a simple QbA and are probably the most food-friendly of Germany''s wines. In Austria, Kabinett refers to a wine that has qualified as a Qualitätswein, but one which is made from slightly riper grapes and is not chaptalized.

Keller means cellar.

KMW is an acronym for Klosterneuburger Mostwage. In Austria the KMW scale is used to measure sugar in grapes and hence their ripeness. In Germany, sugar is measured in OECHSLE; in France, in BAUMÉ; and in the United States, in BRIX.

Landwein is a category of simple, neutral TABLE WINE above TAFELWEIN in quality but below QUALITÄSWEIN BESTIMMTER ANBAUGEBIETE in Germany and below QUALITÄTSWEIN in Austria.

Lese means harvest. Harvest dates range from September to December, according to the variety of grape, weather conditions, and the kind of wine being produced (KABINETT, SPÄTLESE, AUSLESE, and so forth).

Oechsle is the scale used in Germany to indicate the ripeness of grapes. Developed in the nineteenth century by the physicist Ferdinand Oechsle, Oechsle measures the weight of the grape juice, or MUST. Since the contents of the must are primarily sugar and ACIDS, the must weight is an indication of ripeness. According to German law, ripeness categories are based on Oechsle levels that are specified according to the grape variety and wine region. For example, in order for a riesling wine in the Mosel to be considered a SPÄTLESE, it must have 76 degrees Oechsle. In the Rheingau, a riesling must have 85 degrees Oechsle to be a spätlese.

Prädikat is the special attribute of ripeness. In Germany, there are six prtidikat levels, from KABINETT to TROCKENBEERENAUSLESE.

Prädikatswein is wine with special attributes. In Austria, there are six pradikatswein levels, from SPÄTLESE to TROCKENBEERENAUSLESE.

To combine two or more lots of wine in hopes of enhancing flavor, BALANCE, and/or complexity. Often these are wines from different grape varieties (like cabernet sauvignon and merlot). However, blends may also be made up of wines that come from grapes grown in different soil or microclimates, wines that come from vines of different ages, wines from different CLONES, or wines made by different winemaking methods (some aged in one kind of barrell, some in another). Virtually all Bordeaux wines and Champagnes are blends, as are wines from the southern Rhone and numerous other wines from elsewhere around the world.

Qualitätswein is an Austrian wine category.

Qualitatswein bestinunter Anbangebiete (QbA) is a German wine category.

Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP) is a German wine category.

Rotwein means red wine. Germany and Austria are famous for their whites, but a good deal of red wine is made in each and consumed locally.

Schilcher is an Austrian name for a high-acid rosé made from the blauer wildbacher grape, which grows almost exclusively in west Styria.

Schloss means castle—many German wine estates are housed in what were once medieval castles.

Sekt means SPARKLING WINE.

Selection is a term indicating that the wine con­tains less than 1.2 percent RESIDUAL SUGAR and therefore is DRY. The word selection may be used only on German wine labels that site the specific village and vineyard where the grapes were grown. However, use of the term selection is at the producer''s discretion. Some producers prefer the term TROCKER, which stipulates an even lower percentage of allowable residual sugar.

Smaragd is an Austrian term used exclusively in the Wachau region of Lower Austria for the ripest grapes and hence fullest bodied wines. Smaragd wines must have a minimum of 11.3 percent alcohol. They are roughly equivalent to wines that elsewhere in Austria would be labeled SPÄTLESE. The word smaragd is also the name of a bright green lizard that suns itself in the Wachau vineyards.

Spätlese means late harvest, made from late-picked, fully ripened grapes. Spätlesen have greater intensity and strength than kabinett wines. A spätlese may be dry or have a hint of sweetness.

The perceived weight of a wine in your mouth, dependent on the ALCOHOL in a wine; the higher the alcohol content, the more FULL-BODIED the wine. As a point of reference, consider the relative weights of common liquids water, milk, and half-and-half. Light-bodied wines feel like water, medium-bodied ones like milk, and full-bodied ones like half-and-half.

Steinfeder are natural unchaptalized wines with no more than 10.7 percent alcohol from the Wachau region of Lower Austria. These come from the least ripe grapes and hence are the lightest bodied of Wachau wines.

Strausswirtschaft are German wine pubs, often attached to growers'' homes, where they can sell their own wines and light foods for a total of only four months of the year, so as not to take business away from full-fledged restaurants open twelve months a year. A strauss - wreath - is usually hung over the door.

Süssreserve is grape juice that has been held back from the harvest and left unfermented so that it has all of its natural sweetness. In Germany, small amounts of süssreserve may be added to very high ACID wines in order to BALANCE them.

Tafelwein means TABLE WINE, the humblest category of wine. Although the ALCOHOL content, grape varities, and origin of grapes are all controlled by law, tafelwein is extremely light relative to wines. In Germany, when the word Deutsche (German) appears before tafelwein, it means the grapes were grown in Germany. Without this designation, the grapes may come from one of several other European Economic Community countries.

Trocken means dry. Wines labeled trocken from both Germany and Austria must have less than 0.9 percent RESIDUAL SUGAR.

Trockenbeerenausleses (TBAs) are dry, berry selectred harvest. These are the richest, sweetest, rarest, and most expensive of all German and Austrian wines. It is produced only in exceptional years, and made from individual grapes shriveled almost to raisins by BOTRYTIS.

Weingut means wine estate.

Weinkellerei is a winery that buys grape MUST or wine from a grower, then bottles and markets the wine.

Weinstube is German for wine tavern. They are usually comfortable, casual restaurants where Germans go for simple food and a bottle of wine.

Weissherbst is a rosé wine from Germany of at least QUALITÄTSWEIN BESTIMMTER ANBAUGEBIETE status made from red grapes of a single variety. This is a specialty of Baden.

A beneficial fungus, also known as NOBLE ROT, which is necessary to produce many of the world''s great sweet wines, including Sauternes. In certain years, when the degree of humidity is just right, Botrytis cinerea will attack grapes, covering them with a gray mold. The mold lives by penetrating the grapes'' skins and using up the available water in the juice. The act of withdrawing the water concentrates the sugar, flavor, and ACED so that a COMPLEX wine of exceptional sweetness can be made. Botrytis is unique in that, unlike other molds, it produces flavors that harmonize with the flavors of particular grapes.

Winzer is a grape farmer.

Aszú is the term for shriveled grapes that have been attacked by the beneficial mold BOTRYTIS CINEREA. More commonly, however, you''ll encounter aszú as part of the name of Hungary''s most famous wine: Tokay Aszú. Rich and honeyed, Tokay Aszú is to Hungary what Sauternes is to France—a renowned sweet wine that is both difficult and expensive to make.

Edes means slightly sweet, a term usually applied to Szamorodni, the type of wine made in Tokay from vineyards where the grapes have not been sufficiently affected by BOTRYTIS CINEREA to make Tokay Aszú. Szamorodni may be slightly sweet or dry (SZÁRAZ).

Gönci are the traditional barrels, which hold about 140 liters of wine, used to make Tokay Aszü (named after the village of Gönc, which is known for its barrel makers).

Primae Classis means first class. A Latin designation used by the Hungarians since the 18th Century to indicate a Tokay vineyard of first-class stature. The Tokay Aszü wines produced from grapes grown in such a vineyard would by extension be considered superior.

Pro Mensa Caesaris Primus literally means "chosen from the royal table". Around 1700 two Tokay vineyards were given this designation. These vineyards, Csarfas and Mézes Mály, ranked above those designated PRIMAE CLASSIS.

Puttony is the traditional basket in which Aszü grapes were gathered. The word puttony has given rise to puttonyos, the manner by which the sweetness of Tokay Aszd is measured. Tokay Aszü wines are labeled from 2 to 6 puttonyos - the more puttonyos, the sweeter the wine.

Semando Classis means second class in Latin, This term was first used in Hungary around 1700 to indicate a Tokay vineyard considered second best and hence a Tokay Aszü wine that was second in quality compared to wines made from grapes grown in PRIMAE CLASSIS vineyards but still well above most other vineyards.

Száraz means dry. The term is usually applied to Szamorodni, the type of wine made in the Tokay region from vineyards where the grapes are not sufficiently affected by scrrimis CINEREA to make Tokay Aszú.

Amphora is an earthenware vessel used by the ancient Greeks and Romans to store and ship wine. An amphora was oval in shape, with two large handles at the top for carrying and a pointed bottom so that the vessel could be pushed into the soft earth where it would remain upright. Amphorae range in size from that of a milk can to a refrigerator.

Affected by the fungus: BOTRYT1S CINEREA.

Archondiko is a word appearing on the labels of TOPIKOS OENOS wines, archondiko roughly trans­lates as CHÂTEAU.

Epitrapezios Oenos (E.O.): The simplest category of Greek wine, equivalent to VIN DE TABLE, or TABLE WINE in France.

Krater is a shallow bronze or pottery bowl used in antiquity to hold wine, wine would be poured from an AMPHORA into a krater to be served.

Ktima means estate; this can appear on the labels of TOPIKOS OENOS wines.

Kylix is a shallow, two-handled, often beautifully decorated cup from which wine was drunk in antiquity.

Kythos was, in antiquity, a ladle used to scoop wine from the KRATER and transfer it into a KYLIX.

Monastiri means monastery. Several Greek wine estates are located in former monasteries, and several Greek monasteries still produce wine. The word monostiri sometimes appears on the labels of TOPIKOS OENOS wines.

Stefáni is a way of training grapevines that is especially common on windswept Greek islands. The vines are trained in a circle low to the ground (stefáni means crown), so that the grapes grow in the center protected from the wind.

Topikos Oenos (T.O.) is one of the simpler categories of Greek wine, equivalent to that of VIN DE PAYS, or country wine, in France.

The process of allowing a wine to rest over a long period of time (often years) in a bottle. Wines that have been bottle aged taste more mature, and their flavors can become so integrated that it''s no longer easy to identify such specific fruit flavors. Bottle aging makes a wine more complex overall, but it is important to not mistake AGE for MATURITY (The time when a wine is at its most drinkable - determined by the winemaker)

A temporary condition that occurs following the bottling process, when after months or years in an undisturbed environment (usually a barrel), a wine is suddenly pumped, possibly undergoes FINING and/or filtration (see FILTER), and then is run through a bottling machine. The shock of all this activity causes what is called bottle sickness. A wine with bottle sickness can temporarily taste FLAT, dull, or out of BALANCE. The condition usually goes away in a few weeks, occasionally after months.

The bouquet refers specifically to the aspects of a wine's scent derived from the winemaking process and BOTTLE AGING (as compared to the AROMA).

A term used to describe a briar patch, peppery taste in a wine. Often briary wines have a slightly scratchy texture, rather than being soft and round.

When applied to a wine''s color, it means the wine is absolutely clean

ACETIC ACID is the most important volatile acid found in wine, apart from carbonic acid. Small amounts of acetic acid contribute positively to the attractive flavour of a wine, but large quantities produce a taste of vinegar.

A measure of the sugar content of grapes before they are harvested. Used to estimate the ALCOHOL content of the resulting wine.

French term indicating a CHAMPAGNE or SPARKLING WINE that is dry to very dry, defined as less than 1.5 percent residual sugar.

An inexpensive and quick way of making SPARKLING WINE. The bulk process (Or CHARMAT METHOD), involves placing wine in large, pressurized tanks for its SECONDARY FERMENTATION. In an alternative, and far more expensive method, known as the METHODE CHAMPENOISE the secondary fermentation takes place inside individual bottles.

Wineries of all types, sizes, and levels of quality buy and sell wines in bulk. Some sell all of their production that way. Often, small, prestigious wineries will sell grapes to large producers to enhance their wines. Most large producers buy significant amounts of bulk wines from other wineries and then BLEND, bottle, and distribute those wines under their own labels.

A plug for stoppering a wine barrel.

Used to describe a wine that has an AROMA and flavor reminiscent of butter, generally the "buttery characteristic" is found in chardonnay that has been put through MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION

A SHOOT (stem on a vine) that has turned from green to tannish brown and has become hard and fibrous. Shoots turn to canes in the fall in order to withstand the oncoming winter. The canes will ultimately be pruned back, usually in the late winter (Pruning)

The group of leaves and SHOOTS forming an "umbrella" on top of the grapevine.

The crusty layer, up to two feet or more deep, of grape skins, pulp, stems, and seeds that rises and floats on top of the juice during a red wine''s FERMENTATION. The cap must be kept in con­tact with the juice by one of several methods. It may be PUNCHED DOWN into the juice, or the juice can be PUMPED OVER (drawn up from the bottom of the tank and then showered over the cap). Only if the cap is thoroughly in contact with the ALCOHOL in the fermenting juice can COLOR, AROMA, flavor, and TANNIN be extracted. In addition, if the cap is not broken up and kept wet with the juice, it dries out and can become a home for bacteria and ultimately affect the quality of the wine.

The molded plastic, bimetal, or aluminum cover that fits over the cork and top part of the neck of a wine bottle. Historically capsules were made of lead to keep animals and bugs away from the cork, but the health risks posed by lead led to a change.

ACETIFICATION is the production of ACETIC ACID in a wine.

Along with ALCOHOL, the gas carbon dioxide (CO2) is a by-product of FERMENTATION. Sometimes the small amounts of CO2 remaining in a wine make it slightly SPRITZY. In making a SPARKLING WINE, when a second fermentation occurs in a closed vessel, such as a bottle, the CO2 becomes trapped in the wine and will ulti­mately form bubbles.

More accurately called semicarbonic maceration, carbonic maceration is a type of FERMENTATION in which bunches of uncrushed grapes are placed whole inside a closed tank. The weight of the bunches on top crushes those on the bottom, releasing juice that ferments in the standard manner. For the intact bunches on top however, fermentation takes place inside each grape, leading to an extremely juicy style of wine.

The addition of cane or beet sugar to wine MUST before or during FERMENTATION in order to increase the total amount of sugar and hence raise the potential ALCOHOL content. Chaptalization is legal and widely practiced in many cooler northern European wine regions, where colder temperatures in some years lead to grapes that aren''t fully ripe and, in turn, to wines that are thin and lacking in BODY. By increasing the alcohol content of such wines, the winemaker can make them fuller bodied and therefore make them seem more substantial. Chaptalization is not permitted in many warm wine regions, including California, where there is no worry of unripe fruit.

An inexpensive and quick way of making SPARKLING WINE. The bulk process (Or CHARMAT METHOD), involves placing wine in large, pressurized tanks for its SECONDARY FERMENTATION. In an alternative, and far more expensive method, known as the METHODE CHAMPENOISE the secondary fermentation takes place inside individual bottles.

A term for FULL-BODIED wines, chunky and viscous enough to seem almost chewy, even after a drinker has swallowed a wine. Certain grape varieties such as zinfandel produced in very warm areas like California, often take on a chewy character.

The verb to clone means to use a group of vines from a "mother" vine that has desirable characteristics to grow more vines that will have similar characteristics. The noun "clone" refers to plants of the same species that have identical physical characteristics and hence probably can be traced to a common "mother" plant. Clones are critical in viticulture because two clones of the same grape variety can taste remarkably different.

Refers to a wine that seems to have considerable potential, yet its AROMAS and flavors are temporarilynot showing. A wine can be closed in for a variety of reasons. Two common ones: It''s young or it''s densely concentrated and needs time and/or oxygen to open up. In the first instance, the closed in wine may need additional BOTTLE AGING before it opens up; in the second case, pouring the wine into a carafe or decanter and giving it an hour or so to breathe will help.

A term for a wine that looks hazy rather than brilliantly clear, this is not necessarily negative. A wine can be slightly cloudy because it has not undergone FINING or filtration (see FILTER). Some wines, however, are cloudy as the result of faulty winemaking.

Describes a wine with unbearable, candy-like sweetness that often sticks to your tongue in an unpleasant way. Dessert wines should not be cloying.

Descriptive term for a harsh, unsophisticated wine that attacks a drinker''s mouth, a wine lacking in finesse

ACETOBACTER The vinegar bacillus (rod-shaped bacterium), which can cause ACETIFICATION.

FERMENTATION that takes place in a vessel that can be cooled, usually a stainless steel tank. Because cold fermentation is a slower and more gentle proces than those that occur at warm temperatures, it helps preserve the wine''s fresh FRUIT AROMAS and flavors. Many light- and medium-bodied white wines are cold fermented.

A common winemaking technique whereby harmless TARTRATE crystals and small protein molecules are intentionally removed from the wine. This is done by quickly chilling it. Unstabilized wines sometimes become hazy or form snowflakelike crystals, which are odorless and tasteless, but can ruin the appearance and feel of the wine.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of wine, color is derived primarily from grape skins. White wines vary from pale straw to greenish-yellow to yellow-gold to amber, reds from garnet to crimson to brick red to lipstick red to purple. While the color of a wine is a tip-off to its variety and an indication of its age (white wines get darker as they get older; red wines get lighter), color is not a predictor of a wine''s flavor or quality.

Describes a multifaceted wine with compelling nuances and character. The range of expression for a complex wine can be great and diverse. All great wines are complex.

Containers a winery uses for storing wine, usually barrels or wood casks, though the term cooperage can also apply to concrete or stainless steel vessels.

A term used to describe a wine that smells like a wet dog in a basement or, sometimes, like wet cardboard. Wines become corked when certain bacteria in the cork cells interact with minute amounts of chemical residues that may remain in corks or wine bottles after they are cleaned. A corked wine has a defective AROMA and flavor, although it will not harm the drinker. Corked wine cannot be predicted. Any wine regardless of its quality or price can be corked

A grape created by fertilizing one variety of grape with another variety from the same species. While a cross may be the result of breeding, most crosses occur spontaneously in nature. Most modern grape varieties, for example, are natural crosses. Within the European species vms vinifera two highly regarded man-made crosses are scheurebe (riesling x silvaner) and pinotage (pinot noir x cinsaut). A cross is not the same as a HYBRID.

Used as a verb, to crush means to break the grape skins so that FERMENTATION can more easily begin. As a noun, crush is the general term used for all of the steps (harvesting, and so on) that take place just prior to fermentation.

A segment of a CANE or SHOOT that is cut off a growing vine and used to grow a new plant through grafting or direct planting.

The act of pouring a wine (generally an older wine) off any SEDIMENT or deposits that may have precipitated out and settled in the bottle. Sometimes the term is used to describe the action of pouring a young wine into a decanter to mix it with oxygen and open it up, but this is more correctly referred to as AERATION.

ACID is a natural component of wine; responsible for many of the qualities of wine that people find the most refreshing, acid also helps the wine to age. Wines with the proper amount of ACID relative to ACOHOL content are vibrant and lively to drink. Wines with little acid relative to alcohol are the opposite: FLAT. Wines with excess acid taste sharp and biting. There are multiple acids in wine, the three most important of which—tartaric, malic, and citric—all come from the grapes. Other acids may be produced during FERMENTATION.

With European wines, the decision to place a wine in a category that is lower in status than seems appropriate given the quality of the wine. European wines may be declassified for a variety of reasons. In France, for example, wines that do not meet the strict requirements of AOC laws are declassified, usually to TABLE WINE.

Literally "half-dry" in French. Demi-Sec is used for a SPARKLING WINE or Champagne that is moderately sweet.

Intensity and concentration. An especially intense and concentrated cabernet sauvignon, for example, might be described as having depth.

General term for a wine that is sweet and, as such, could accompany, or be, dessert. In the United States, such wines often fall into the category of LATE HARVEST. There are many ways of making dessert wines, from French Sauternes and German trockenbeerenausiesen, grapes that are infected with the noble rot BOTRYTIS CINEREA to icewines from Canada with late harvest grapes picked at freezing temperatures.

A machine that separates stems from the grapes. When combined with a crusher, it is called a crusher-destemmer.

Wines with off flavors and odors resulting from faulty winemaking. The implication is that something is present in the wine that shouldn't be.

Referred to in French as DESGORGEMENT, this is the process used in the making of Champagne or Champagne-method SPARKLING WINE by which yeasty sediment is removed from the bottle after the second bubble-forming FERMENTATION.

Used to describe any wine that doesn't contain significant grape sugar. Commonly a dry wine is one fermented until less than 0.2 percent of natural (RESIDUAL) sugar remains.

Describes a wine that temporarily has little taste. This can be a wine, usually white, that is served so cold that it tastes as though it''s not altogether there. Or it can be a wine, usually red, in an awkward stage of its development when it tastes neither young nor mature. In this strange state, sometimes called adolescence, the wine seems dull or nonexpressive. Why some wines go through dumb phases and others do not is a mystery.

Used to describe a wine, the AROMA or flavor of which is reminiscent of the earth. It refers to flavors that evoke soil or things that grow in soil (like moss or truffles).

A process practiced in warm wine regions where a winemaker adds ACID to GRAPE MUST before FERMENTATION to give a wine that has a low acid content, a higher acid content resulting in a more balanced wine. Acidification is legal and widely practiced in many parts of the world. (also called ACIDULATION).

A term used for a wine with such FINESSE and BALANCE that it tastes refined (SMOOTH/BALNCED) rather than rustic (EARTHY/strong).

The science and study of winemaking, differentiated from VITICULTURE, the study of grape growing. Also spelled OENOLOGY.

Exact definitions of estate bottled differ depending on the country of origin for the wine. In the United States the term may be used by a winery only if its wine is entitled to use a viticultural area or appellation of origin on its label and only if the winery is located in that area; grew all of the grapes used in the wine on land owned or controlled by the winery within that area; and completely produced the wine, aged it, and bottled it at the winery.

Aromatic compounds produced by yeasts and bacteria primarily during FERMENTATION. Esters may be complementary to or negative for the wine.

The ALCOHOL that results when yeasts convert the natural sugar in ripe grapes during FERMENTATION. Commonly referred to simply as ALCOHOL.

The soluble particles (little solid bits) in wine that would remain if all the liquid were drawn off.

Extra dry actually refers to Champagne or SPARKLING WINE that is slightly sweet, althought this may be a bit confuing… extra dry wines contain 1.2 to 2.0 percent residual sugar.

A descriptive term for the texture of a FULL BODIED wine with saturated fruit. Although being fat is generally considered a positive wine trait, being FLABBY is not. A FLABBY wine is a fat wine that lacks acidity so that it seems gross and unfocused.

The process during grape fermentation whereby yeasts convert the natural sugar in the grapes into ALCOHOL and CARBON DIOXIDE. The alcohol will remain a constituent of the wine that results, but in most cases, the carbon dioxide will be allowed to escape as a by-product.

A filter is a porous membrane or other device used to remove particles from a liquid. In winemaking, a filter can be used to remove yeast cells and bacteria from the wine. Winemakers may filter a wine extensively, not at all, or to any degree in between. Some critics contend that too often, in an effort to produce "clean" wine, some winemakers filter wines excessively, thereby stripping them of positive flavors and textures.